title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: Winnemucca is also a setting in two "Tales of the City" novels – "More Tales of the City" and "The Days of Anna Madrigal", a series of nine novels by American author Armistead Maupin. Over 6 million copies of the novels have been sold worldwide. A character in the series, Mother Mucca, takes her nickname from the town. The series began as a newspaper column in the "Pacific Sun" in 1975, before moving to the "San Francisco Chronicle". It features some of the first positive portrayals of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender lives. Anna Madrigal, a transgender character, was depicted as having been born as Andy Ramsey in Winnemucca, Nevada. The series was made into a TV series with the character of Anna Madrigal played by Olympia Dukakis.


title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: In 2021, the town once again caught the attention of Armistead Maupin, after an article in the "Nevada Independent News" wrote about Winnemucca Pride- a planned LGBTQ pride parade and festival being planned by Winnemucca residents Shawn Dixon, Kat Dixon, Christina Basso and Misty Huff. The article prompted Maupin to write "This story is inspirational on so many levels!  I stand in awe of these women."


title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: In the movie "The Encounter", Jaci Velasquez's character Melissa is on a trip to Winnemucca when the primary plot unfolds.


title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: Rod McKuen's poem "Winnemucca, Nevada", in his book "Come to Me in Silence", describes his first desk in school.


title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: The town serves as the namesake for the alternative country band Richmond Fontaine's 2002 album, "Winnemucca", which prominently features the town in the opening track "Winner's Casino".


title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: The C.W. McCall song "Night Rider" features the line "Just a Winnemucca trucker with a load a' black sheep".


title: Winnemucca, Nevada

text: In the Dark Horse comic, Alter Nation: The Mystery of Whining Winnie, the soldiers of GK Delta are dispatched to Winnemucca to investigate a cryptid sighting.


title: Padrón peppers

text: Padrón peppers, also called Herbón peppers, are a variety of peppers ("Capsicum annuum") from the municipality of Padrón in northwestern Spain.


title: Padrón peppers

text: Padrón peppers are small, about 2 inches (5 cm) long and have an elongated shape. They are often picked, sold and eaten unripe, when they are still green. The taste is mild, but some exemplars can be quite hot. This property has given rise to the popular Galician aphorism ""Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non"" ("Padrón peppers, some are hot, some are not"). Drought-stressed plants tend to produce hotter peppers. Like several other peppers, Padrón peppers become spicier as they mature. Their ripe colour is red.


title: Padrón peppers

text: Padrón peppers originate from the municipality of Padrón in the province of A Coruña, Galicia, northwestern Spain. European Union law has protected the name "pemento de Herbón" as a protected designation of origin since 2010. Padrón peppers are now also grown elsewhere in the Mediterranean and in the United States.


title: Padrón peppers

text: Padrón peppers are customarily fried in olive oil until the skin starts to blister and the pepper collapses.


title: Padrón peppers

text: In and around the town of Padrón, the stems are removed before frying. Removing the stems is recommended by major Galician pepper producers and the head of the Galician tourism association on the grounds that they cause bitterness in fried peppers. Elsewhere, the stems are generally left on the peppers, and the stems are used to hold the peppers while eating.


title: Padrón peppers

text: Fried Padrón peppers are typically served hot with a dusting of coarse salt, sometimes accompanied by chunks of bread, as tapas.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man, known as in Japan, is the title character and the protagonist of the "Mega Man" series by Capcom. He was created by Akira Kitamura for the first "Mega Man" game released in 1987, with artist Keiji Inafune providing detailed character artwork based on Kitamura's pixel art design.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man has become one of Capcom's mascots, one of the company's primary original characters, and continues to be one of the video game industry's most recognizable icons. Having appeared on many consoles since the Nintendo Entertainment System, Mega Man has had a wide gaming audience. Mega Man's fictional universe can be divided into seven categories, each featuring different variations and incarnations of a robot boy hero. Although "Mega Man", or "Rockman", is usually the name for the original Mega Man from the classic series, it can also be the Mega Man series of fictional works, or the group of adherently named main characters within.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: The several spin-off series that have emerged over the past years, each one continuing the Mega Man storyline in some unique way, includes but is not limited to the "Mega Man X", "Mega Man Legends", "Mega Man Battle Network", and "Mega Man Star Force" series. Mega Man has also appeared as a playable character in the "Super Smash Bros." series. A resulting animated series was also produced originally in Japan as well as a number of toys, comics, and collectables available both in and outside Japan.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man's role in the original story was to be an assistant to his creator Dr. Light. When Light's colleague goes mad, Dr. Light repurposes Mega Man to battle the mad scientist Dr. Wily and his ever-growing army of robots, and stop them from taking over the planet by using their own special abilities against them. Utilizing his "Mega Buster" arm cannon and his ability to copy the special weapons of the boss robots he defeats, Mega Man must travel the world and traverse harsh environments in order to bring Wily's menace to an end. With the help of his creator Dr. Light and his assorted cybernetic companions, Mega Man's eventual goal is to one day achieve everlasting peace for both humans and robots.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Although originally the names "Mighty Kid", "Knuckle Kid", and "Rainbow Battle Kid" were proposed, Capcom eventually settled on "Rockman" as Mega Man's Japanese moniker. The word "Rock" in Rockman is a reference to the music genre "rock and roll", and is meant to work in tandem with his sister robot, Roll. However, Capcom Consumer Products Division president Joe Morici changed the name from Rockman to Mega Man because he felt "The title was horrible." In addition, the original "Mega Man" titles intentionally incorporated a "Rock, Paper, Scissors" gameplay mechanic into defeating certain enemies. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, Akira Kitamura (credited under the pseudonym "A.K"), and later turned into a refined illustration by Keiji Inafune. Kitamura originally intended Mega Man to be colored white, but instead settled on blue to make his animations more clear. Mega Man's design had a lot of little influences from various manga, anime, and tokusatsu shows, specifically "Ninja Captor". Nobuyuki Matsushima, lead programmer for the original game, came up with the idea for Mega Man changing colors when his weapons changed.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: During a special event at TGS 2007, Inafune commented on the creation of Mega Man. "I'm often called the father of Mega Man, but actually, his design was already created when I joined Capcom," he explained. "My mentor (Capcom senior member Akira Kitamura), who was the designer of the original Mega Man, had a basic concept of what Mega Man was supposed to look like. So I only did half of the job in creating him. I didn't get to completely design a Mega Man [protagonist] from scratch until Zero (Mega Man X, SNES). Back when the SNES was coming out, I was asked to give Mega Man a redesign, so I created this character. But I realized that this design wouldn't be accepted as Mega Man, so I had another designer create the new Mega Man, and I worked on Zero to release him as the 'other main character' that would steal all the good scenes!"


title: Mega Man (character)

text: The team decided to incorporate anime elements for the game's animation. Inafune explained, "[Mega Man's] hand transforms into a gun and you can actually see it come out of his arm. We wanted to make sure that the animation and the motion was realistic and actually made sense. So with Mega Man, we had this perfect blending of game character with animation ideas." Across the series Mega Man was given new skills to add more variety to the gameplay. For "Mega Man 6", after having implemented so many different mechanics to the gameplay of past entries, Inafune thought that Rush adapter assembly was inevitable. The artist struggled with the adaptor designs and ultimately found them to be unrealistic. According to Inafune, "If you think about it, they shouldn't be able to combine like this. It would be awkward if parts of Rush like his neck were left over after they combined, so what was I supposed to do?"


title: Mega Man (character)

text: In the cover of the North American copies, Mega Man's appearance greatly differs from his original one. Veteran video game cover illustrator Marc Ericksen painted the North American box art of "Mega Man 2", which included Mega Man firing a pistol instead of his trademark Mega Buster. Ericksen explained, "I didn't know anything about Mega Man, and [after looking at the character in action] I said to the art director, 'What is he shooting with?' ... He said, 'Well, he must have a pistol, because I don't see a rifle.' ... I said, 'So, a pistol? Do you want me to do a pistol?' And he said, 'Yeah, let's put a pistol in there.' So I did what I was told and I put the pistol in there. Add to the fact that they only had, like, a day and a half for me to do the painting and what you wound up with was not the greatest result. But certainly a result that was not my fault. I mean, they told me to put the pistol in his hand!"


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man's most notable appearances have been within his own self-titled games, beginning with "Rockman" for the Family Computer in 1987. This, and all future Mega Man games released in North America and Europe, would bear the title ""Mega Man"" due to Capcom USA's early decision to change the name. Prior to decision on the name "Mega Man" which was proposed by Joseph Morici, Capcom had even considered the name "Rainbow Man" as a possible title due to the nature of Mega Man's color change when using different Robot Master weapons.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Nearly all of the classic series Mega Man titles have been two-dimensional sidescrollers involving horizontal movement through various levels. This mechanic continues even on titles developed for high performance platforms, such as the Sony PSP release of "Mega Man Powered Up", which features 3D graphics, yet movement to both the background and foreground is restricted. The main series on both the NES and Nintendo Game Boy would follow this approach in the design of every game developed on those systems, and set the standard for all platformer "Mega Man" games to come. Mega Man himself has evolved very little cosmetically since his initial release, but has often been given new techniques in each game. The New Mega Buster, for instance, which was introduced in "Mega Man 4", allowed him to charge up a shot. The slide was introduced in "Mega Man 3". It was these


title: Mega Man (character)

text: which were needed in order to help him exceed any new challenges added by the level designers. In "Mega Man 9" and "10", Mega Man's abilities were restricted back to that of the original game. However, Mega Man can charge his shots again in Mega Man 11, and he gained the ability to increase its power and speed with the Double Gear System.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Capcom, recognizing Mega Man's versatility, has placed him in several different video game genres outside of his usual series. He has since been seen as a sports star in the Super NES game "Mega Man Soccer", a race car driver in "Mega Man Battle & Chase", and a board game piece in "". A limited release arcade fighting game series containing "" and "" pitted Mega Man against several boss characters from his original series.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Though Capcom owns the rights to all Mega Man games and has been responsible for the development of all of his console titles, it has in the past licensed the Mega Man character to other companies for PC releases. "Mega Man" and "Mega Man III" were not ports of the NES games of the same name, but significantly different original games, and were developed by the US-based Hi Tech Expressions. The "Mega Man" game on the Game Gear was published by Sega. "Rockman Strategy" was developed and released exclusively in China by AcerTWP.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man was to have appeared in several iterations in the canceled "Mega Man Universe". These included a redesigned Mega Man simply called 'Mega Man', the classic Keiji Inafune styled Mega Man referred to as 'Rock Man', and 'Bad Box Art Mega Man', who was based on the box-art featured on the North American version of the original "Mega Man" game. An updated version of the latter iteration, now sporting a noticeable round stomach, appeared as a playable character in the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of "Street Fighter X Tekken".


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man has made appearances in several game projects outside of his original series. He appears as a playable character in "" and "" assisted by Rush and Beat as a representative of the Capcom brand. Mega Man makes another fighting game appearance in "Street Fighter X Tekken" but as an aged, obese depiction of the character on the North American box art of "Mega Man", complete with pistol. Here he has the name "Mega Man" even in the Japanese version.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man also appears a special playable guest character in Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U" and "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". He is a very unorthodox character, as his moveset, animations, movement and playstyle are almost completely based upon the gameplay and graphical style of the original "Mega Man" games. He relies much more on ranged projectiles than he does on physical combat, and he utilizes abilities copied from various Robot Masters.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: He has also been featured in the 3D shooter "Cannon Spike", the collectible card game simulators "" and "".


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Non-playable cameo appearances by Mega Man occur most often in other Capcom licensed games, and he's often seen as a background character. Such appearances include "Capcom World 2", "Street Fighter Alpha 3", "Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter", "Pocket Fighter", "Mighty Final Fight", "Power Stone 2", "", "", "Lunar Knights", "The Misadventures of Tron Bonne", "Onimusha Blade Warriors", and "". Animated incarnations of Mega Man were common in the early 1990s, particularly in North America.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man appeared in a crossover event in Dragalia Lost called “Mega Man Chaos Protocol, where Dr. Wily had transported to the Dragalia Lost world and used technology to mind control the Dragons Brunhilda, Mercury, Jupiter, Midgardsomr and Zodiark and Mega Man has to help Prince Euden and his team save them. During the event, Mega Man could be obtained as a character in the gacha. As a playable character, Mega Man is a Wand type Attack Unit character of the Fire element who like most characters has his own Dragon known as Rush, who is from the actual Mega Man series.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: His first animated appearance was as a main character in the series "", which features a myriad of characters that had appeared on Nintendo consoles up until that time. They all aid the title character, , in his quest to save the world of Videoland, encountering many villains, including Mega Man's own enemy Dr. Wily. Mega Man is voiced in this series by Doug Parker, and his character had a tendency to add the prefix "mega-" to words for emphasis. He also appeared in the animated "Mega Man" TV series, in which he is voiced by Ian James Corlett.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: A three-episode Japanese anime OVA titled "" was produced in 1993 in an attempt to help spread information on Japanese culture. In it, Mega Man crosses paths with his adversary, Dr. Wily, while learning various facts about Japanese society, and receiving occasional help from Proto Man.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: The story of Mega Man's origin and his bittersweet victory over the robotic forces of Dr. Wily has been adapted by The Protomen, a band from Tennessee who perform an original dystopian rock opera based on the dynamic between Mega Man and Proto Man. During the show, the band members wear costumes inspired by their take on the series, including motorcycle helmets with built-in microphones fashioned to look like those of Mega Man and Proto Man, and the iconic arm-blaster.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: In May 2010, a live action full feature film was released directed by Eddie Lebron. The film using a mix of CGI and people in extreme sport equipment for the fighting robots based itself on the first game with slight modifications to the story and character designs to work. The film can currently be viewed for free at its own website.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Mega Man is referenced in Super Meat Boy Forever by a playable character known as Mega Bandage, where the character Bandage Girl is dressed like Mega Man. She is obtained by completing a Cursed Warp Zone where she must fight the main villain Dr. Fetus in a battle similar to bosses in Mega Man, where she must shoot her blaster while dodging the buzzsaws, as since she in the fight only has 1 HP, she would die in one hit.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: In April 2011, Archie Comics released their first issue in an ongoing series of licensed comics based on the "Mega Man" franchise which features the titular character going against his nemesis Dr. Wily in various, original story arcs. The overall concept is created and almost exclusively written by Ian Flynn, who is also the current head writer for Archie Comics' other video game licensed comic series "Sonic the Hedgehog". Consequently, as of May 2013, both series have been crossed-over in a major story arc called "Worlds Collide", which spans twelve issues between the "Mega Man" comics, the main "Sonic the Hedgehog" comics, and the latter's side-series "Sonic Universe". The popularity of this crossover is such that another meeting of the two series, "Worlds Unite", was announced for spring of 2015.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: Overall, the character of Mega Man has been well received by critics. IGN called him an icon of Capcom. "Nintendo Power" listed Mega Man as their fourth favourite hero, citing his ability to steal weapons from downed Robot Masters. Mega Man was also listed as the best robot in video games by many sources such Joystick Division, UGO Networks, and "Complex". GameDaily ranked him as the best Capcom character of all time. UGO Networks listed Mega Man as one of their best heroes of all time, and called him "one of the most iconic video game heroes of all time". He was included in GameSpot's "All Time Greatest Video Game Hero" contest and reached the "Elite Eight" round before losing to Mario. In a "Famitsu" poll done in February 2010, Mega Man was voted by readers as the twenty-second most popular video game character. The 2011 "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" lists Mega Man as the 23rd most popular video game character. In 2012, GamesRadar ranked him as the 12th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: "Complex" ranked him as having the tenth best fighting game cameos for his guest appearances in "Street Fighter X Tekken" in 2012. Joystick Division cited his rivalry with Dr. Wily as seventh of the ten greatest in video games, adding giving "great credit to this rivalry for its open-endedness" and GamesRadar listed him and Proto Man as having one of the best brotherly rivalries in gaming. UGO Networks have placed Mega Man as the eighth character who most deserves his own movie.


title: Mega Man (character)

text: 1UP.com described Mega Man as "Capcom's ill-treated mascot", and "one of the most incongruous characters of all time", saying "it wouldn't be completely incorrect to assume that the popularity of the series has almost nothing to do with Mega Man himself", but with "his rivals, his enemies, and their abilities." IGN agreed with his dependency on support characters, saying Zero is "cooler than Mega Man". Den of Geek listed Mega Man's incarnation from "Street Fighter X Tekken" as the 15th best cameo in fighting game history due to how it represented Capcom's lack of interest in featuring other games as of 2012, as well as the apparent self-mockery of it due to Mega Man's poor characterization. Destructoid described this Mega Man as "legit" stating it was "an unexpected and interesting creative decision by [Capcom] using this version of Mega Man to represent them in what may be one of their biggest games of 2012". Jeremy Parish of "Polygon" ranked 73 fighters from "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" "from garbage to glorious", placing Mega Man at 23rd, stating that "most Smash Bros. brawlers are weirdos who probably don’t even register as human. Even if Mega Man’s presence here goes against his basic programming, it’s great to see him reunited with his old pals Simon and Pit, just like in the Captain N days." Gavin Jasper of "Den of Geek" ranked Mega Man as 10th on his list of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" characters, stating "The games still hold up and the Blue Bomber remains one of video games’ greatest icons. Including him in Smash is a no-brainer, but it’s also rather important."


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: The Palestinian "keffiyeh" () is a chequered black and white scarf that is usually worn around the neck or head. This "keffiyeh" has become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, dating back to the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. Outside of the Middle East and North Africa, the "keffiyeh" first gained popularity among activists supporting the Palestinians in the conflict with Israel and is an icon of Palestinian solidarity.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: Traditionally worn by Palestinian farmers, during the Ottoman period the "keffiyeh" signalled that the wearer was rural, in contrast to the tarboosh worn by the urban classes.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: The black and white "keffiyeh" worn by Palestinian men of any rank, became a symbol of Palestinian nationalism during the Arab Revolt of the 1930s. This reached a peak in 1938, when the leadership of the revolt ordered that the urban classes replace their traditional tarbush hats with the keffiyeh. The move was intended to create unity, as well as allow the rebels to blend in when they entered the cities.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: Its prominence increased during the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: The black-and-white fishnet pattern "keffiyeh" would later become Arafat's symbol and he would rarely be seen without it; only occasionally would he wear a military cap, or, in colder climates, a Russian-style "ushanka" hat. Arafat would wear his "keffiyeh" in a semi-traditional way, wrapped around his head via an "agal". He also wore a similarly patterned piece of cloth in the neckline of his military fatigues. Early on, he had made it his personal trademark to drape the scarf over his right shoulder only, arranging it in the rough shape of a triangle, to resemble the outlines of the territory claimed by Palestine. This way of wearing the "keffiyeh" became a symbol of Arafat as a person and political leader, and it has not been imitated by other Palestinian leaders.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: Another Palestinian figure associated with the "keffiyeh" is Leila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Several photographs of Khaled circulated in the Western newspapers after the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the Dawson's Field hijackings. These photos often included Khaled wearing a "keffiyeh" in the style of a Muslim woman's "hijab", wrapped around the head and shoulders. This was unusual, as the "keffiyeh" is associated with Arab masculinity, and many believe this to be something of a fashion statement by Khaled, denoting her equality with men in the Palestinian armed struggle.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: The colors of the stitching in a "keffiyeh" are also vaguely associated with Palestinians’ political sympathies. Traditional black and white keffiyehs became associated with Fatah. Later, red and white "keffiyehs" were adopted by Palestinian Marxists, such as the PFLP.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: The wearing of the "keffiyeh" often comes with criticism from various political factions in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The slang "keffiyeh kinderlach" refers to young left-wing American Jews, particularly college students, who sport a "keffiyeh" around the neck as a political/fashion statement. This term may have first appeared in print in an article by Bradley Burston in which he writes of “the suburban-exile "kaffiyeh" kinderlach of Berkeley, more Palestinian by far than the Palestinians” in their criticism of Israel. European activists have also worn the "keffiyeh".


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: While Western protesters wear differing styles and shades of "keffiyeh", the most prominent is the black-and-white "keffiyeh". This is typically worn around the neck like a neckerchief, simply knotted in the front with the fabric allowed to drape over the back. Other popular styles include rectangular-shaped scarves with the basic black-and-white pattern in the body, with the ends knitted in the form of the Palestinian flag. Since the Al-Aqsa Intifada, these rectangular scarves have increasingly appeared with a combination of the Palestinian flag and Al-Aqsa Mosque printed on the ends of the fabric.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: In 2006, the prime minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero gave a speech in which he criticized Israel harshly, then accepted a "keffiyeh" from members of the audience and had his photo taken wearing it.


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: The keffiyeh print has been many times used in fashion by brands such as Topshop, ASOS, Cecilie Copenhagen, Boohoo or the Israeli brand Dodo Bar Or, bringing controversy and debates about cultural appropriation. In 2007, the American clothing store chain Urban Outfitters stopped selling "keffiyehs" (sold under the name of "anti-war scarves") after facing criticism from "a pro-Israel activist ... [who] complained about the items". The company stated they had not intended "to imply any sympathy for or support of terrorists or terrorism" and that offence "was by no means [their] intention".


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: British-Palestinian hip-hop rapper Shadia Mansour denounced cultural appropriation of the "keffiyeh", defending it as a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, in her first single, "" ("The "keffiyeh" is Arab"). She performs wearing a traditional Palestinian "thawb" and proclaims in her song: "This is how we wear the "keffiyeh"/The Arab "keffiyeh"" and "I'm like the "keffiyeh"/However you rock me/Wherever you leave me/I stay true to my origins/Palestinian." On-stage in New York, she introduced the song by saying, "You can take my falafel and hummus, but don't fucking touch my "keffiyeh"."


title: Palestinian keffiyeh

text: Today, this symbol of Palestinian identity is now largely imported from China. With the scarf's growing popularity in the 2000s, Chinese manufacturers entered the market, driving Palestinians out of the business. For five decades, Yasser Hirbawi had been the only Palestinian manufacturer of "keffiyehs", making them across 16 looms at the Hirbawi Textile Factory in Hebron. In 1990, all 16 of the looms were functioning, making around 750 "keffiyehs" per day. By 2010, only 2 looms were used, making a mere 300 "keffiyehs" per week. Unlike the Chinese manufactured ones, Hirbawi uses 100% cotton. Hirbawi's son Izzat stated the importance of creating the Palestinian symbol in Palestine: "the "keffiyeh" is a tradition of Palestine and it should be made in Palestine. We should be the ones making it."


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, the purification of chemicals and separation of substances.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchange usually describes a process of purification of aqueous solutions using solid polymeric ion-exchange resin. More precisely, the term encompasses a large variety of processes where ions are exchanged between two electrolytes. Aside from its use to purify drinking water, the technique is widely applied for purification and separation of a variety of industrially and medicinally important chemicals. Although the term usually refers to applications of synthetic (man-made) resins, it can include many other materials such as soil.


title: Ion exchange

text: Typical ion exchangers are ion-exchange resins (functionalized porous or gel polymer), zeolites, montmorillonite, clay, and soil humus. Ion exchangers are either cation exchangers, which exchange positively charged ions (cations), or anion exchangers, which exchange negatively charged ions (anions). There are also amphoteric exchangers that are able to exchange both cations and anions simultaneously. However, the simultaneous exchange of cations and anions is often performed in "mixed beds", which contain a mixture of anion- and cation-exchange resins, or passing the solution through several different ion-exchange materials.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchangers can have binding preferences for certain ions or classes of ions, depending on the physical properties and chemical structure of both the ion exchanger and ion. This can be dependent on the size, charge, or structure of the ions. Common examples of ions that can bind to ion exchangers are:


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchange is a reversible process, and the ion exchanger can be "regenerated" or "loaded" with desirable ions by washing with an excess of these ions.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchange is widely used in the food and beverage industry, hydrometallurgy, metals finishing, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical technology, sugar and sweetener production, ground- and potable-water treatment, nuclear, softening, industrial water treatment, semiconductor, power, and many other industries.


title: Ion exchange

text: A typical example of application is preparation of high-purity water for power engineering, electronic and nuclear industries; i.e. polymeric or inorganic insoluble ion exchangers are widely used for water softening, water purification, water decontamination, etc.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchange is a method widely used in household filters to produce soft water for the benefit of laundry detergents, soaps, and water heaters. This is accomplished by exchanging divalent cations (such as calcium Ca and magnesium Mg) with highly soluble monovalent cations (e.g., Na or H) (see water softening). Another application for ion exchange in domestic water treatment is the removal of nitrate and natural organic matter. In domestic filtration systems ion exchange is one of the alternatives for water softening in households along with reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. Compared to RO membranes, ion exchange requires repetitive regeneration when inlet water is hard (has high mineral content).


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion-exchange chromatography is a chromatographical method that is widely used for chemical analysis and separation of ions. For example, in biochemistry it is widely used to separate charged molecules such as proteins. An important area of the application is extraction and purification of biologically produced substances such as proteins (amino acids) and DNA/RNA.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion-exchange processes are used to separate and purify metals, including separating uranium from plutonium and the other actinides, including thorium, neptunium, and americium. This process is also used to separate the lanthanides, such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium, europium, and ytterbium, from each other. The separation of neodymium and praseodymium was a particularly difficult one, and those were formerly thought to be just one element didymium – but that is an alloy of the two.


title: Ion exchange

text: There are two series of rare-earth metals, the lanthanides and the actinides, both of whose families all have very similar chemical and physical properties. Using methods developed by Frank Spedding in the 1940s, ion-exchange processes were formerly the only practical way to separate them in large quantities, until the development of the "solvent extraction" techniques that can be scaled up enormously.


title: Ion exchange

text: A very important case of ion-exchange is the plutonium-uranium extraction process (PUREX), which is used to separate the plutonium (mainly ) and the uranium (in that case known as reprocessed uranium) contained in spent fuel from americium, curium, neptunium (the minor actinides), and the fission products that come from nuclear reactors. Thus the waste products can be separated out for disposal. Next, the plutonium and uranium are available for making nuclear-energy materials, such as new reactor fuel (MOX-fuel) and (plutonium-based) nuclear weapons. Historically some fission products such as Strontium-90 or Caesium-137 were likewise separated for use as radionuclides employed in industry or medicine.


title: Ion exchange

text: The ion-exchange process is also used to separate other sets of very similar chemical elements, such as zirconium and hafnium, which is also very important for the nuclear industry. Physically, zirconium is practically transparent to free neutrons, used in building nuclear reactors, but hafnium is a very strong absorber of neutrons, used in reactor control rods.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion-exchange resins in the form of thin membranes are also used in chloralkali process, fuel cells, and vanadium redox batteries.


title: Ion exchange

text: Ion exchange can also be used to remove hardness from water by exchanging calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ions in an ion-exchange column. Liquid-phase (aqueous) ion-exchange desalination has been demonstrated. In this technique anions and cations in salt water are exchanged for carbonate anions and calcium cations respectively using electrophoresis. Calcium and carbonate ions then react to form calcium carbonate, which then precipitates, leaving behind fresh water. The desalination occurs at ambient temperature and pressure and requires no membranes or solid ion exchangers. The theoretical energy efficiency of this method is on par with electrodialysis and reverse osmosis.


title: Ion exchange

text: During the filtration process, water flows through the resin column until the resin is considered exhausted. That happens only when water leaving the column contains more than the maximal desired concentration of the ions being removed. Resin is then regenerated by sequentially backwashing the resin bed to remove accumulated suspended solids, flushing removed ions from the resin with a concentrated solution of replacement ions, and rinsing the flushing solution from the resin. Production of backwash, flushing, and rinsing wastewater during regeneration of ion-exchange media limits the usefulness of ion exchange for wastewater treatment.


title: Ion exchange

text: Water softeners are usually regenerated with brine containing 10% sodium chloride. Aside from the soluble chloride salts of divalent cations removed from the softened water, softener regeneration wastewater contains the unused 50–70% of the sodium chloride regeneration flushing brine required to reverse ion-exchange resin equilibria. Deionizing resin regeneration with sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide is approximately 20–40% efficient. Neutralized deionizer regeneration wastewater contains all of the removed ions plus 2.5–5 times their equivalent concentration as sodium sulfate.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama "The Wire", played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a determined and capable police detective in the Baltimore Police Department. Openly lesbian, she often displays a hardened, cynical demeanor, and has had problems with infidelity, alcohol, and relationships. She plays a key role in all of her BPD details' main cases.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a narcotics detective working alongside Herc and Carver, under the command of Cedric Daniels in Major Foerster's narcotics division. She outshines her colleagues on several occasions, earning high esteem from them due to her abilities. Kima lives with her partner Cheryl, a broadcast journalist, who has pressured Kima into studying pre-law.


title: Kima Greggs

text: After D'Angelo Barksdale's acquittal, Kima is assigned to the Avon Barksdale detail and made lead detective by Daniels. She cultivates a relationship with Bubbles, a drug addict with an extraordinary memory for faces, and uses his information to identify Barksdale Organization members and begins to work out their methods. Kima befriends fellow detective Jimmy McNulty, and they convince legendary stick-up man Omar Little to testify against Barksdale soldier Bird for a murder in revenge for the Barksdale Organization's murder of Omar's partner.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Working with detective Lester Freamon, Kima persuades D'Angelo Barksdale's new girlfriend Shardene Innes to turn against him by providing her with evidence that the Barksdale crew are responsible for the death of her friend.


title: Kima Greggs

text: At the end of the season, Kima is shot and critically wounded in an undercover buy bust operation ordered by Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell. The shooters flee before backup arrives. Of the three shooters, Kima can only positively identify Little Man.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Originally, the writers of "The Wire" planned for Greggs to be killed rather than wounded in the first season. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO Entertainment at the time, prevailed upon David Simon to keep the character around; in her opinion, Greggs was a strong character, and having her alive would open more possibilities in later seasons.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima takes a desk job in the narcotics unit because Cheryl fears she could get injured again. Although she has reached second year in law school, she misses the action of street work. At Daniels's request, Kima joins his investigation of Frank Sobotka, which upsets Cheryl. Cheryl becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, although Kima is reluctant to be a parent.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Greggs works with Roland Pryzbylewski to investigate the vice aspects of the smuggling ring linked to Sobotka. They locate a brothel that operates out of a high-class apartment building and uses trafficked women as prostitutes against their will. When McNulty rejoins the team, he goes undercover as a customer to infiltrate the brothel, allowing Kima to arrest the madam. Kima moves on to investigating the leaders of the smuggling ring, but the trail runs dry just as the detail is closing on "The Greek" and his lieutenant Spiros Vondas.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Bubbles is arrested by Santangelo near the end of Sobotka case and asks Kima to help get him out of trouble. He turns Kima and McNulty onto investigating the link between East side drug kingpin Proposition Joe and their old target Stringer Bell. Kima and McNulty soon get photos of the two meeting together.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima continues to work for the now firmly established Major Crimes Unit, reporting to Daniels. The unit initially tries to build a case against Proposition Joe but makes little progress through their wiretaps, because the key members of Joe's organization do not talk on the phone. The case breaks down when the detail arrests Joe's nephew Cheese on suspicion of murder, due to misunderstanding a tapped conversation in which he was talking about putting down his pet dog. With Proposition Joe now aware of the wiretaps, Daniels decides the unit has to move on.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima becomes something of a rogue element alongside McNulty. The two pursue the Barksdale Organization even when the unit is supposed to be focused on the Park Heights drug dealer Kintel Williamson, and Freamon becomes exasperated with Greggs' lack of respect for Daniels.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Greggs also becomes dissatisfied with her personal life now that Cheryl has had her baby and is starting to cheat on Cheryl. Kima goes so far as to admit that she only agreed to the baby as a means of appeasing Cheryl. Eventually Kima admits that she has made a mistake, and the two reconcile.


title: Kima Greggs

text: The Barksdales become involved in a turf war with Marlo Stanfield, and with intervention from McNulty, the unit shifts their focus back to them. The unit infiltrates the Barksdale Organization with wiretaps and ties many of their key players, including Stringer, to a case. However, Stringer is murdered before the Major Crimes Unit can arrest him, having been given up by Avon to Brother Mouzone and Omar, as Avon and Stringer's friendship broke down.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Avon gets arrested, but on the basis of a tip Stringer had made to Major Colvin, rather than the unit's casework. At the close of the season Daniels gets promoted to Major and leaves the unit.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima and Freamon became the "de facto" leaders of the unit now that Daniels has been promoted to Major for the Western District. Their new commander Lieutenant Jimmy Asher is a friend of Freamon's, and is a lenient commander focused on his retirement and building a beach house. As a result, Asher does not mind what the detail does, leaving them to go about the investigation without any chain of command interference.


title: Kima Greggs

text: As elections approach, Freamon picks up the investigation of the Barksdale money trail and serves subpoenas for financial records on many high-ranking political figures. Kima is responsible for delivering a subpoena to campaign fundraiser Andy Krawczyk. Freamon convinces his team that they ought to be protected from politicians under close scrutiny at election time.


title: Kima Greggs

text: The unit focuses on Marlo Stanfield's organization now that he has control of West Baltimore. They quickly gather probable cause for wiretaps on key Stanfield lieutenants Fruit and Monk Metcalf. Fruit gets murdered, but Bunk Moreland from Homicide faithfully delivers his cellphone to the unit allowing them to identify more of the Stanfield network.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima surveils Old Face Andre, a drug dealer supplied by Marlo, and notices that his re-supply is delivered to his convenience store. The detail feels they are making progress when they record Marlo talking to Andre on Monk's phone. Kima recognizes the sound of gunshots in the background, maybe the sound of target practice, and wonders why Marlo's crew would engage in shooting practice.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Because of the subpoenas, Mayor Clarence Royce threatens Commissioner Ervin Burrell for trying to charge campaign fundraisers weeks before the election. Deputy Commissioner William Rawls suggests solving the problem by giving the unit "proper supervision". This involves removing Asher and replacing him with the hostile Lieutenant Charles Marimow.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Marimow orders the unit to stop investigating the Barksdale money trail and to close down their investigation of Marlo. Marimow reasons that they should be making faster cases against street level dealers tied to violence.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Dismayed at this change in direction, Kima decides to transfer out of the unit. She asks Daniels for a position in the Western District, but Daniels insists that Kima is too skilled an investigator for district work but offers to help her move laterally. By calling in a favor with Rawls, he is able to get Kima transferred to Homicide.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima and Freamon are transferred into Jay Landsman's squad. Kima faces merciless teasing from her colleagues and is further embarrassed when she is ordered to take over the Braddock case - an investigation of a murdered state's witness - because of political pressure to slow the investigation. A further indignity occurs when the story of the reassignment is leaked to the press and the original investigator, Ed Norris, is reassigned as the primary. Kima, Norris, and Landsman are forced to attend a press conference intended to defuse the story with the facade that Kima and Norris were working together all along.


title: Kima Greggs

text: When Kima and Norris attempt to interview a prisoner who claims to have information about the shooting, their investigation is again scuppered by Rawls, who orders Landsman to detail the two to uniform duty at a polling station. Rawls explains to Landsman that whichever way the case goes, it will hurt the chances of one of the mayoral candidates who are neck and neck in the polls.


title: Kima Greggs

text: After the election, Kima is able to proceed with the investigation. She interviews the main suspect in the case but comes to the conclusion that he is innocent. Kima then picks out a detail in the case which leads her back to the crime scene, where she spots a ricochet mark in a nearby brick wall. Kima realizes that Braddock was killed accidentally by a stray bullet and was not murdered.


title: Kima Greggs

text: When Freamon quietly inquires how she's enjoying working Homicide, Kima tells him she's loving it, causing him to move along without offering her a position on the newly restructured Major Crimes Unit. However, after witnessing Bubbles, her former CI, recovering from an attempted suicide Kima appears to have a change of heart and at the end of the season is seen back with the old unit once more.


title: Kima Greggs

text: A major alliance in previous seasons, Kima and Bubbles do not come in contact with each other again after Bubbles decides to pursue a full rehabilitation following the events of season 4.


title: Kima Greggs

text: The reconstituted Major Crimes Unit spends a year investigating the Stanfield Organization and their potential links to the vacant house murders. Kima is frustrated when financial problems at City Hall lead to withholding of the department's overtime pay. Eventually, Mayor Tommy Carcetti closes down the Major Crimes Unit, and Kima is transferred back to Homicide.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima is assigned as the primary investigator on a home invasion and triple homicide. The murder has been committed by Chris Partlow and Snoop on Marlo's orders, and the victims are a drug dealer named Junebug, his partner, and his bodyguard. Junebug's two children are witnesses to the crime. One child has fled the scene, but Kima finds the other still hiding in the closet. She arranges for the child to be taken in by Social Services.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima and her partner on the case, Michael Crutchfield, recognize that the killings are professional in nature because of the disabling of the security cameras outside the house and the pattern of the wounds.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Continuing budget constraints mean that Crutchfield is quickly taken off the case, and Kima is left to work alone. She visits the child witness to try to get a statement, but the child remains withdrawn.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima decides to try and reconnect with Cheryl and her son Elijah, and arranges to babysit while Cheryl is at work. Initially Elijah ignores Kima, but unlike her experience with the child witness, Kima is able to engage Elijah in making Legos buildings with her.


title: Kima Greggs

text: After McNulty confesses to Kima that he has created the fake serial killer, Kima is stunned and angry about the deception and waste of resources. She reports McNulty and Freamon to Daniels, which leads to the end of McNulty and Freamon's careers in the Baltimore Police Department.


title: Kima Greggs

text: At the "wake" commemorating the end of McNulty and Lester's police careers, Kima arrives late and admits to them both that she blew the whistle. McNulty says she did the right thing and shakes her hand before going home; Freamon invites her into the bar to drink with him and his former colleagues.


title: Kima Greggs

text: Kima is last seen on a homicide call with Bunk, enjoying lighthearted conversation with him that echoes Bunk's earlier conversations with McNulty.


title: Hap and Leonard (TV series)

text: Hap and Leonard is an American drama television series based on the characters "Hap and Leonard", created by novelist Joe R. Lansdale and adapted from his series of novels of the same name. The series was written and developed by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle, who had previously adapted Lansdale's "Cold in July" and was directed by Mickle. The series premiered on the American cable network SundanceTV on March 2, 2016. The series received favorable reviews.


title: Hap and Leonard (TV series)

text: The series was renewed for a final six-episode third season which premiered on March 7, 2018. The third season was inspired by the third novel in the "Hap and Leonard" series, titled "The Two-Bear Mambo".


title: Hap and Leonard (TV series)

text: Filming of the show took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, although the series is set in 1980s in the fictional town of LaBorde in East Texas. Two of the locations used were the old Woman's Hospital and the Celtic Media Centre.


title: Hap and Leonard (TV series)

text: The first season is inspired by "Savage Season". The second episode "The Bottoms" was released online on March 2, 2016, a week before its scheduled airing.


title: Hap and Leonard (TV series)

text: The third season is inspired by "The Two-Bear Mambo". The second episode, "Ho-Ho Mambo" was released online at AMC.com and Sundancetv.com a week before the scheduled March 14 on-air premiere.


title: Hap and Leonard (TV series)

text: A collection called "Hap and Leonard" made up of previously published short stories ("," "," "Dead Aim") by Joe Lansdale as well as new content was published by Tachyon Publications in March 2016 as a tie-in to the TV series.


title: Suikoden II

text: "Suikoden II" takes place 3 years after the events of the original "Suikoden" and centers on an invasion of the City-States of Jowston by the Kingdom of Highland. The player controls a silent protagonist who is the adopted son of Genkaku, a hero who saved the City-States of Jowston in a war against Highland years ago. The protagonist and his best friend, Jowy Atreides, each gain one half of the Rune of the Beginning, one of the 27 True Runes of the "Suikoden" setting, and become caught up in the intrigues of the invasion and the dark fate of those who bear the halves of that Rune. As with other "Suikoden" titles, the game also centers on the recruitment of the 108 Stars of Destiny, who together have the power to alter fate.


title: Suikoden II

text: The game was initially released to lackluster sales and somewhat tepid critical reception, with some criticism (and lack of widespread appeal) being directed at the game's simpler and more retro 16-bit sprite visuals at a time when 3D graphics were heavily emphasized across the industry. Since, the game has become a cult classic, in retrospect being cited as a classic of the role-playing genre and one of the greatest video games of all time.


title: Suikoden II

text: A remastered version along with a predecessor of the game, "Suikoden I and II HD Remaster: Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars", is scheduled to release for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2023.


title: Suikoden II

text: "Suikoden II" is a role-playing video game with strategic elements, with multiple gameplay formats ranging from one-on-one combat to large scale confrontations between two armies. The player controls a silent protagonist, advancing the plot by completing tasks and talking with other characters. The player can also recruit over 100 new characters to his cause, often involving a short sidequest to do so. In towns, the player can gather information, sharpen characters' weaponry, and buy equipment and runes; wilderness areas generally feature random encounters with monsters.


title: Suikoden II

text: Like other games of the series, "Suikoden II" employs a unique character leveling system from most RPGs. There is a fixed amount of experience points needed to gain each level, and experience gained after battles is determined by the difference in levels between the party members and enemies. This allows for low-level characters to catch up to the levels of enemies at later points in the game quickly, and reduce the need for level grinding.


title: Suikoden II

text: Runes, the source of all magic in the world of "Suikoden II", are handled the same as the original "Suikoden". Characters have a certain number of spell usages per "spell level"; for instance, a character with four level 1 spell slots and a Fire Rune could cast "Flaming Arrows" (the level 1 Fire Rune spell) four times. Some specialized runes or skill-based runes have different rules, such as unlimited use or a single use per battle.


title: Suikoden II

text: Updates from the original "Suikoden" include a grid and unit based tactical battle system, the addition of a three rune slot system which allows for three different runes to be equipped at once, a party inventory system, a "dash" button that allowed the player to move around the screen quicker, and vast graphical improvement. Also notable is the inclusion of a variety of mini-games including one quite reminiscent of "Iron Chef". A transfer of data from the prior game in the series enables returning characters to enter the fray with higher levels and improved weapons. References to the original "Suikoden" are also adapted accordingly for a greater feel in continuity.


title: Suikoden II

text: The story of "Suikoden II" centers around the protagonist, Riou (any name can be chosen by the player), his childhood best friend Jowy Atreides, and his adopted sister Nanami. The story revolves around Riou and Jowy each acquiring one half of the Rune of the Beginning, one of the 27 True Runes that each govern an aspect of the "Suikoden" universe and are the source of all magical powers. The Rune, whose name references the creation myth of the "Suikoden" universe, governs conflict and war, and steers the destinies of Riou and Jowy so they must fight each other until one is defeated and the two halves are reunited. Their fated conflict causes much pain for Nanami, who wishes for the three friends to run away and live a quiet and happy life together.


title: Suikoden II

text: The main conflict of the story centers on a war between the nations of Highland and the City-States of Jowston. The antagonist for the majority of the game is Luca Blight, heir to the throne of Highland. Luca is a brutal and bloodthirsty madman who developed a strong hatred for Jowston at a young age after witnessing his mother's rape by City-State soldiers during an earlier war.


title: Suikoden II

text: As with all "Suikoden" games, the principal cast of the game is the 108 Stars of Destiny, who play important or minor roles in the plot of the game. Some prominent Stars of Destiny from the original "Suikoden" appear in "Suikoden II" and play key roles in the game, including Viktor and Flik. If the player loads save data from the original "Suikoden" at the beginning of the game, the protagonist of the previous game can be recruited.


title: Suikoden II

text: The game begins with Riou and Jowy as members of the youth brigade of the Highland army. The bloodthirsty, maniacal Prince Luca Blight orchestrates the slaughter of the youth brigade under the false flag of the neighboring City-States of Jowston, giving the prince an excuse to justify an invasion. After promising to return to that spot if they are separated, Riou and Jowy escape the slaughter by jumping from a cliff into a river.


title: Suikoden II

text: Riou is rescued from the river by a group of mercenaries working for Jowston, led by Viktor and Flik from the first "Suikoden" game, but is detained as an enemy soldier of Highland. Jowy is rescued by keepers of a mysterious shrine in a nearby town and is nursed back to health. Learning of Riou's imprisonment, Jowy rescues Riou and they escape back to their hometown in Highland. After reuniting with Nanami, the two are captured, accused of espionage, and sentenced to death by the Highland army to cover up the truth of the youth brigade massacre. They are saved by Viktor and Flik, and the three return to Jowston to fight against the invading Highland army. No match for Blight and the Highland army, they are forced to flee, and the Highland army razes the towns and villages in the region. Fleeing from the advancing Highland army, Riou and Jowy return to the now-destroyed town where Jowy was rescued, and are drawn to the mysterious shrine that is the resting place of the Rune of the Beginning. Entering the shrine, they each receive half of the Rune—the Bright Shield Rune and the Black Sword Rune—and continue to flee to the capital city of Jowston, Muse.


title: Suikoden II

text: After arriving in Muse, Riou and Jowy are asked to participate in a spy mission to the Highland army camp, and while returning Jowy is captured by the enemy. Jowy is able to escape back to Muse but begins to act strangely after returning. Meanwhile, while trying to rally into battle against Highland, the individual leaders of the City-States collapse into petty bickering and infighting. As the Highland army approaches to attack Muse, however, Jowy murders the leader of Muse, Anabelle, and opens the city gates to let the Highland army in. Riou and Nanami, distraught over Jowy's betrayal, flee with the surviving members of Viktor's mercenary group south across Lake Dunan to regroup.


title: Suikoden II

text: After liberating a ruined castle on the lake shore from the vampire Neclord, the group uses the castle as a new base to build their forces against Highland. Leknaat, the magician and True Rune bearer from the original "Suikoden" who oversees fate, appears and tells Riou that he has been chosen to gather the 108 Stars of Destiny to alter the fate the True Runes impose on the world. Riou and the recruited Stars of Destiny work to rally the remaining City-States under the banner of the New State Army.


title: Suikoden II

text: During this time, it is learned that Jowy had made a deal with Luca Blight while captured to be allowed to assist Highland in defeating the City-States, in exchange for helping Luca achieve his personal ambitions. Jowy rises through the ranks of the Highland army after capturing Greenhill without even a battle, marries Luca's sister Princess Jillia, and plots with Luca to murder the King of Highland. However, Jowy reveals to some trusted lieutenants within the Highland army that his support for Luca is a ruse, that he believes Luca's insanity and cruelty are a threat to both Highland and Jowston, and he intends to betray Luca after building his own base of support. After becoming King of Highland, Luca launches an attack against the New State Army. Jowy uses the pending attack to betray Luca by warning the New State Army and giving Riou information on Luca's whereabouts. Riou and the New State Army ambush Luca and he is killed. Jowy then becomes king of Highland through his marriage to Jillia.


title: Suikoden II

text: However, after the fall of Luca Blight, Jowy is still not willing to make peace with Jowston, as he is convinced that a new nation controlling both Highland and Jowston is needed to prevent the horror of war. He urges Riou to surrender, but Riou also can't betray the trust of his followers, and the two are destined to continue fighting. After successfully freeing the occupied City-States from Highland control, the New State Army defeats the Highland army and invades the capital city, causing Jowy to flee. After entering the Highland royal castle, Riou learns that Jowy had been using his Black Sword Rune to suppress the power of the Beast Rune, another of the 27 True Runes kept in the castle that governs animalistic rage, passion, and blood sacrifice. Luca's bloodthirsty ruthlessness was thought to be aided by the Rune, and Luca had been sacrificing the lives of citizens of Jowston to awaken the Rune's power. After defeating the activated Beast Rune, Riou returns to the cliff from the beginning of the game, where Jowy is waiting for him. The two duel one final time, with Jowy, Nanami, and Riou's ultimate fate depending on the player's choices and whether the player had recruited all 108 Stars of Destiny.


title: Suikoden II

text: In the winter of 1993/1994, Konami newcomers Yoshitaka Murayama and Junko Kawano were tasked with creating an RPG for an internally developed video games console. This game was scrapped in the early stages of development and despite the popular belief was not the basis for the script of Suikoden. Murayama, Kawano and ten other employees were instead assigned with developing Konami's first games for Sony's upcoming console, the PlayStation. With the pick of making a baseball game, a racing game or an RPG, Murayama and Kawano decided to reopen their RPG project, although Murayama has stated that given the opportunity, he would have preferred to make a shoot 'em up, citing his preference for arcade action titles such as Taito's "Metal Black". Committed from the start to make a franchise to rival series such as Enix's "Dragon Quest" and Square's "Final Fantasy", Murayama wrote the scenario of the first Suikoden. With the success of the first game a sequel gained a green-light. After reading fan letters Murayama decided that the selling point of the first game was its story, and thus it became the main focus of the second title. The story for Suikoden 2 was conceived after Suikoden 1 and was mostly written by Murayama himself.


title: Suikoden II

text: Konami later released "Genso Suikoden I & II", a compilation of the first two games of the series, in 2005 on the PlayStation Portable. However, it was released only to the Japanese market. "Suikoden II" was made available for download on the PlayStation Network on December 9, 2014.


title: Suikoden II

text: "Suikoden II" saw a limited print run, and the lackluster initial response prevented a reprinting of the game. Despite this, the game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Francesca Reyes of "Next Generation" called it "One of the best RPGs to hit PlayStation this year."


title: Suikoden II

text: Since the 2010s, reanalysis of the game is often met with critical praise, and many video game critics and players alike consider it to be one of the best Konami games as well as one of the best console RPGs from outside of the Square-Enix canon, and the best of all "Suikoden" games.


title: Wassailing

text: The tradition of wassailing ("alt sp" wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail is the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts; this practice still exists, but has largely been displaced by carolling. The orchard-visiting wassail refers to the ancient custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England, reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. Notable traditional wassailing songs include "Here We Come a-Wassailing", "Gloucestershire Wassail", and "Gower Wassail".


title: Wassailing

text: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "wassail" originated as a borrowing from the Old Norse salutation "ves heill," corresponding to Old English "hál wes þú or wes hál" – literally meaning 'be in good health' or 'be fortunate'. It was initially used in the sense of 'hail' or 'farewell'. Later it developed into the first part of a drinking formula "wassail...drinkhail". By 1300, the sense had extended to the drink itself, especially to the spiced ale used in Twelfth-night and Christmas Eve celebrations, and by 1598 it was being applied to the custom of drinking healths on those nights.


title: Wassailing

text: Traditionally, the wassail is celebrated on Twelfth Night (variously on either January 5 or 6). Some people still wassail on "Old Twelvey Night", January 17, as it would have been before the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752.


title: Wassailing

text: In the middle ages, the wassail was a reciprocal exchange between the feudal lords and their peasants as a form of recipient-initiated charitable giving, to be distinguished from begging. This point is made in the song "Here We Come A-wassailing", when the wassailers inform the lord of the house that


title: Wassailing

text: The lord of the manor would give food and drink to the peasants in exchange for their blessing and goodwill, i.e.


title: Wassailing

text: This would be given in the form of the song being sung. Wassailing is the background practice against which an English carol such as "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" can be made sense of. The carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carollers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy puddings'.


title: Wassailing

text: Although wassailing is often described in innocuous and sometimes nostalgic terms—still practised in some parts of Scotland and Northern England on New Years Day as "first-footing"—the practice in England has not always been considered so innocent. Similar traditions have also been traced to Greece and the country of Georgia. Wassailing was associated with rowdy bands of young men who would enter the homes of wealthy neighbours and demand free food and drink (in a manner similar to the modern children's Halloween practice of trick-or-treating). If the householder refused, he was usually cursed, and occasionally his house was vandalized. The example of the exchange is seen in their demand for "figgy pudding" and "good cheer", i.e., the wassail beverage, without which the wassailers in the song will not leave; "We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here". Such complaints were also common in the early days of the United States, where the practice (and its negative connotations) had taken root by the early 1800s; it led to efforts from the American merchant class to promote a more sanitized Christmas.


title: Wassailing

text: In the cider-producing West of England (primarily the counties of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) wassailing also refers to drinking (and singing) the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive. Wassailing is also a traditional event in Jersey, Channel Islands where cider (cidre) made up the bulk of the economy before the 20th century. The format is much the same as that in England but with terms and songs often in Jèrriais.


title: Wassailing

text: The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in autumn. The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. A wassail King and Queen lead the song and/or a processional tune played or sung from one orchard to the next. The wassail Queen will then be lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she will place toast soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year). Then an incantation is usually recited, such as:


title: Wassailing

text: This incantation is followed by noise-making from the assembled crowd until the gunsmen give a final volley through the branches. The crowd then moves onto the next orchard.


title: Wassailing

text: As the largest cider producing region of the country, the West Country hosts historic wassails annually, such as Whimple in Devon and Carhampton in Somerset, both on 17 January, or old Twelfth Night. Many new, commercial or "revival" wassails have also been introduced throughout the West Country, such as those in Stoke Gabriel and Sandford, Devon. Clevedon in North Somerset holds an annual wassailing event at the Clevedon Community Orchard, combining the traditional elements of the festival with the entertainment and music of the Bristol Morris Men.


title: Wassailing

text: Nineteenth-century wassailers of Somerset would sing the following lyrics after drinking the cider until they were "merry and gay":


title: Wassailing

text: A folktale from Somerset reflecting this custom tells of the Apple Tree Man, the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard, and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside. In the tale a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard and is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried gold.


title: Wassailing

text: Wassail bowls, generally in the shape of goblets, have been preserved. The Worshipful Company of Grocers made a very elaborate one in the seventeenth century, decorated with silver. It is so large that it must have passed around as a "loving cup" so that many members of the guild could drink from it.


title: Wassailing

text: In the English Christmas carol "Gloucestershire Wassail", the singers tell that their "bowl is made of the white maple tree, with a wassailing bowl we'll drink to thee". As white maple does not grow natively in Europe, the lyric may be a reference to sycamore maple or field maple, both of which do, and both of which have white-looking wood. This is reinforced by an 1890s written account from a man describing the wassailing bowl of his friend from Gloucestershire:


title: Wassailing

text: Alternatively however, many formal publications from the 1800s list the lyric simply as saying "maplin tree", without mentioning "white". Additionally, the lyric appears to have varied significantly depending on location and other factors, calling into question how literal the term was and/or how varied the construction of wassail bowls was. For example, a 1913 publication by Ralph Vaughan Williams, who had recorded the lyric in 1909 by a wassailer in Herefordshire, recorded it as "green maple". Another version from Brockweir listed the bowl as being made from mulberry.


title: Wassailing

text: There are surviving examples of "puzzle wassail bowls", with many spouts. As you attempt to drink from one of the spouts, you are drenched from another spout. The drink was either punch, mulled wine or spicy ale.


title: Father Figures

text: Father Figures (known as Who's Your Daddy? in the United Kingdom) is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Lawrence Sher (in his directorial debut), written by Justin Malen, and starring Owen Wilson, Ed Helms, J. K. Simmons, Katt Williams, Terry Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, Harry Shearer, June Squibb, Christopher Walken, and Glenn Close. The film follows two adult brothers who set out to find their biological father.


title: Father Figures

text: Principal photography began on October 5, 2015, in Atlanta, and the film was released in the United States on December 22, 2017, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was poorly received by critics, who called it devoid of "energy or purpose" and grossed $25 million against its $25 million budget.


title: Father Figures

text: Kyle and Peter Reynolds are fraternal twins who were raised by their mother Helen as their father died before they were born. Kyle is dating his pregnant girlfriend Kaylani and is wealthy from royalties for his image on BBQ sauce labels. Peter is a divorced proctologist with a teenage son Ethan who resents him.


title: Father Figures

text: Shortly after Helen's wedding to Gene, Peter recognizes an actor on "" from photos of his supposed father and confronts Helen. Helen explains that she had been promiscuous at the time of their conception, and did not want their father involved. When they keep pressing, Helen reveals that their father is Terry Bradshaw.


title: Father Figures

text: The brothers fly to Florida to meet Bradshaw, who they encounter at a signing event. Bradshaw is excited to have them as sons. As Bradshaw recounts stories with former teammate Rod Hamilton, the brothers realize that Bradshaw had been in Australia at the time of their conception (a trip Helen had backed out of at the last minute), and thus isn't their father. Bradshaw points out that Roland Hunt, a New York investor, also dated Helen.


title: Father Figures

text: As they travel north after contacting Helen about him, Kyle finds that his BBQ sauce royalties deal is ending. Arriving at what they assumed was Hunt's office, they find a boarded-up house. Hunt confronts them at gunpoint until they reveal why they were looking for him. He invites them inside, but expresses his dissatisfaction at having children in front of his mother. As the brothers prepare to depart, they offer to help their father with his repossession service. However, they realize that Hunt is a criminal when he breaks into a Ferrari. As the brothers argue with the owners of the Ferrari, Hunt flees only to feel remorse for abandoning his sons. The brothers steal the Ferrari and hit Hunt who was returning to them. At the hospital, the brothers find that they are incompatible to give Hunt blood, indicating that he cannot be their father. Hunt realizes that he was in prison at the time of their conception, but directs them to find Sparkly P, another of Helen's ex-boyfriends.


title: Father Figures

text: Unable to find Sparkly P, the brothers start driving for home. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker, who provides advice as they travel. After accidentally parking on railroad tracks, Peter and the hitchhiker narrowly escape getting hit by a train, while Kyle is stuck in the car and presumably killed. Initially devastated, Peter is surprised to see Kyle walk away from the car, only to be punched by Kyle for abandoning him. As they are being treated, police officers recognize the name Sparkly P as a sting alias of Patrick O'Callaghan, a retired police officer. The brothers stop at a hotel where Peter falls for a girl named Sarah.


title: Father Figures

text: The brothers arrive at the house where there is a wake for Patrick. Patrick's daughter is invited to speak and Peter realizes that it is Sarah, his possible half-sister. Disgusted, Peter runs out of the wake. Patrick's twin brother Kevin clears things up by saying that Patrick can't be the father as he didn't believe in premarital sex, though Kevin directs them to another of Helen's ex-boyfriends named Dr. Walter Tinkler, who is a family friend and veterinarian in their home town.


title: Father Figures

text: Returning home, Kyle and Peter confront Dr. Tinkler. After being called down, Helen arrives and reveals that she is not their biological mother. She and Tinkler had been working at a shelter when a young woman came in and gave birth. The woman died during childbirth and Helen chose to adopt Kyle and Peter instead of having them separated by adoption; Helen also reveals she never knew their father at all. The brothers are happy to have learned their history.


title: Father Figures

text: A year later, Kyle, Peter, and Helen are on vacation in Maui. Peter is now dating Sarah and Ethan respects him. Kyle and Kaylani have twin daughters. The brothers have gone into business together and created an app that provides advice from the universe spoken by the hitchhiker.


title: Father Figures

text: On June 14, 2011, it was announced that Paramount Pictures had acquired the rights to the comedy spec script "Bastards", written by Justin Malen. The story is about two brothers who learn their father did not die when they were young. The Montecito Picture Company was set to produce the film, and on August 7, 2014, Alcon Entertainment also came on board to produce and finance the film, for Warner Bros., after Paramount left the project and the script went into turnaround. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher was attached to make his directorial debut, and Ivan Reitman, Tom Pollock, and Ali Bell produced the film through Montecito.


title: Father Figures

text: Jason Sudeikis was originally attached to star. On July 15, 2015, Owen Wilson and Ed Helms were cast to play the brothers, while Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove were also set to produce the film, through Alcon. J. K. Simmons and Terry Bradshaw also joined the cast on August 13, 2015, to play the lead characters' potential biological fathers, with Bradshaw playing himself. On August 18, 2015, Ving Rhames signed on to play Rod Hamilton, a friend and ex-teammate of football player Bradshaw. On September 11, 2015, Katt Williams joined the cast, on September 17, 2015, Glenn Close was in final negotiations to join the film, and on October 7, 2015, Katie Aselton was also in final talks to sign on. On October 22, 2015, Zachary Haven also joined the cast.


title: Father Figures

text: Principal photography on the film began on October 5, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia. Filming also took place in Miami, and wrapped on December 5, 2015.


title: Father Figures

text: After poor test screenings, the film's initial ending was reshot to make it funnier and more consistent with the rest of the film. The reshoots took place in Rutledge, Georgia in April 2017. Despite high scores from test audiences after the reshoots (which also removed Bill Irwin from the film as Doctor Tinkler and replaced him with Christopher Walken), the film still received negative reviews from critics and audiences upon its release.


title: Father Figures

text: "Father Figures" was originally scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. on November 4, 2016; it was later changed to January 27, 2017. In January 2017, weeks before the film's planned release, the film was removed from the schedule. It was later moved again to December 22, 2017.


title: Father Figures

text: On September 15, 2017, the film was renamed from "Bastards" to "Father Figures". The title was changed because television advertisers would not play ads for the film with profanity in the title, as well as so that posters could be displayed in movie theaters.


title: Father Figures

text: "Father Figures " grossed $17.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $8.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $25.6 million.


title: Father Figures

text: In the United States and Canada, "Father Figures" was released alongside the openings of "Downsizing" and "Pitch Perfect 3", and the wide expansions of "The Shape of Water" and "Darkest Hour", and was projected to gross around $10 million from 2,902 theaters in its opening weekend. It grossed $1.4 million on its first day and $3.2 million over the three-day weekend, finishing 9th at the box office. When factoring in inflation, it was the sixth-worst opening of all-time for a film playing in at least 2,500 theaters. "Deadline Hollywood" attributed the film's weak performance to audiences' diminished interest in R-rated comedies, the "been there, done that" plot line, and the possibility of outdated jokes, because the film was shot in 2015. The next weekend, the film grossed $3.8 million (an increase of 16%), finishing 10th.


title: Father Figures

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 17% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Success has many fathers, but failure is "Father Figures"". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 22 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while social media monitor RelishMix noted online responses to the film were "leaning toward the negative".


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Maven Klint Huffman (born November 26, 1976) is an American professional wrestler and television personality best known for his time with WWE under his first name. He is known for co-winning the inaugural season of Tough Enough alongside Nidia Guenard. He also became a three-time WWE Hardcore Champion.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Huffman began his professional wrestling career in 2001 upon being selected to participate in the inaugural season of "Tough Enough", a reality television show used by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to find new WWF stars. Ultimately, Maven would become the co-winner of the competition alongside Nidia Guenard, and he was sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) to receive further training.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On the October 4 episode of "SmackDown!", Maven made his in-ring debut against Tazz, one of his "Tough Enough" trainers, who forced him to submit to the "Tazzmission". Following the match, Tazz helped Maven to his feet before clotheslining him, thus starting a feud between the two. After losing to Tazz via submission in a rematch the following week on "SmackDown!", Maven clotheslined Tazz following the match. On the October 18 episode of "SmackDown!", Maven won his first wrestling match as he defeated Tazz with assistance from "Tough Enough" co-winner Nidia Guenard. Following this brief feud, Maven began a feud with The Undertaker after he eliminated Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble by dropkicking him from behind; Undertaker responded in turn by returning to the ring, eliminating Maven. He proceeded to hit him with a steel chair, and beating him all the way back to the concession stand area.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On the January 28, 2002, episode of "Raw", Maven was awarded a title bout by WWF co-owner Ric Flair against Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship by virtue of never actually being eliminated from the Royal Rumble, but lost after submitting to the "Walls of Jericho". After the match, Maven was attacked by The Undertaker. On the February 7 episode of "SmackDown!", Maven faced Undertaker for his WWF Hardcore Championship, and after interference from The Rock and his "Tough Enough" trainer Al Snow, Maven defeated Undertaker to win the Hardcore Championship, the first championship of his career. Their feud ended after The Undertaker defeated Maven and Al Snow in a 2-on-1 handicap match when The Undertaker made Maven submit to the Dragon Sleeper. At WrestleMania X8, Maven lost the Hardcore Championship to Spike Dudley during a match with Goldust due to the title's unique 24/7 rule, but won the title back the same night from Christian due to the same rule. The following night on "Raw", Maven was attacked by a debuting Brock Lesnar during his Hardcore Championship defense against Al Snow and Spike Dudley. Maven was the tenth pick for SmackDown! in the WWF draft due to being the Hardcore Champion, but he was punished by Vince McMahon after he lost the title to Raven on the March 28 episode of "SmackDown!". Maven was traded to the Raw brand on November 4, 2002, where he confronted Christopher Nowinski with his former trainer Al Snow.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Maven entered the 2003 Royal Rumble. He attempted to eliminate The Undertaker by using a dropkick like he did the previous year, but failed and was eliminated by The Undertaker. Maven fought World Heavyweight Champion Triple H on the March 10 episode of "Raw", but lost. In 2004, Maven received the biggest push in his career, even gaining a victory over then-Evolution member Batista. Maven then took part in an Elimination Match at Survivor Series, teaming with Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho to face Triple H, Batista, Gene Snitsky, and Edge for the power to control Raw for one month. Maven was attacked backstage by Snitsky prior to the match, but after Benoit was eliminated, Maven arrived to join his teammates. He was eventually eliminated by Triple H. Orton was the sole survivor and as a result, he and his team had control of "Raw" for one month.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Maven was the first to control "Raw", booking himself in a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H on the November 15 episode of "Raw", who tried to get out of it by offering Maven a place in Evolution. He declined, but despite interference from Jericho, Benoit, and Orton, Triple H retained the title due to interference from Snitsky and Ric Flair.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On the November 29 episode of "Raw", Maven competed in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was eliminated by Eugene. The following week on "Raw", Maven faced Eugene in a singles match, which he lost by disqualification after attacking Eugene's injured knee during the match before choking him out. After the match, Maven attacked Eugene's tag team partner William Regal as Regal came to help him, thus turning heel in the process.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Following this, Maven began feuding with Shelton Benjamin over Benjamin's Intercontinental Championship, culminating at New Year's Revolution in a singles match for the title. Before the start of the match, Maven proceeded to blast the Puerto Rican crowd before Benjamin quickly defeated him in just a matter of minutes by using a roll-up. Maven then cut a promo on Benjamin, stating that the match "didn't count", and challenged him to a re-match. Benjamin accepted, and Maven was defeated in only seconds yet again following the "T-Bone Suplex".


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Following his feud with Benjamin, Maven formed a tag team with Simon Dean, where he acted as a dedicated user of Dean's "Simon System" brand of nutritional products. After being jobbers for a month, at Backlash, Maven and Simon Dean competed in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship which was won by The Hurricane and Rosey. The team came to an end when Dean was traded to the SmackDown! brand, while Maven was subsequently released by WWE on July 5, 2005.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On November 19, 2005, Maven wrestled his first match following his WWE departure, where he lost to Slyck Wagner Brown via disqualification in a match for NWA Cyberspace. On February 10, 2006, Maven joined United Wrestling Federation Live and teamed alongside Jeff Jarrett to defeat Team 3D. On March 31, 2006, Maven wrestled his first match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he and Jarrett lost to Jeff Hardy and Kip James in a tag team match. After wrestling sporadically for the UWF and on house shows for TNA throughout the year, Maven wrestled his final match on October 5, 2007, where he lost to Test in a match for Full Throttle Wrestling.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On July 11, 2015, Maven announced his return to pro wrestling. His return match took place at Brian Myers' Create A Pro Wrestling Academy in Long Island, New York on July 19, 2015. Maven teamed with Johnny Clash to defeat The Warren Cousins (Mikey Warren and TJ Warren) in his first match since 2007.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On September 26, 2015, Maven teamed with Brian Myers in a losing effort against The Cam-An Connection (Anthony Greene and Cam Zagami).


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On April 16, 2016, Maven teamed with Myers and Pat Buck in a six man tag team match losing to Aesthetic Males (Beefcake Charlie, Damian Gibbs and Mike Del) in a match for the WrestlePro promotion. He has not wrestled since 2016.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Currently Maven is the manager for rising star and ISPW Champion Justin Corino. He previously was the manager for the superstar Danny Morrison, where he also managed the wrestler who held the Heavyweight Championship.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: In July 2005, Huffman was featured in episode three of MTV's The 70s House where he and other WWE wrestlers competed in a game of dodge ball.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: In March 2006, it was announced by VH1 that Huffman would be a participant in the sixth season of "The Surreal Life". On the first episode, he was picked by the existing castmates as the seventh and final cast member in a "15 More Minutes of Fame Reality Hunk Pageant," beating four other reality "hunks", including former "American Idol" contestant Corey Clark.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Subsequently, Huffman was a host for a show on BET J called BET's J List. He also appeared on the Home Shopping Network's weekday morning show, "HSN Today", as its exercise and wellness expert as well as the co-host of HSN's NFL Pro Football Fan Shop.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: Huffman's father is African-American and his mother was Argentinian. After his mother died, he was adopted by his maternal uncle and his wife. According to fellow professional wrestler Konnan, Huffman is his nephew. On July 29, 2021, Maven stated during an interview with Chris Van Vliet that he’s not related to Konnan. Huffman graduated from Wilson Memorial High School in Fishersville, Virginia before attending Eastern Mennonite University. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Huffman was a middle school teacher at Twality Middle School in Tigard, Oregon.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On April 2, 2012, Huffman was arrested in Florida after police revealed that he was doctor shopping due to an addiction to oxycodone and hydrocodone. He was released on a $2,000 bond and faced up to 5 years in prison if convicted of doctor shopping. On April 11, Huffman revealed that he was seeking help for his addiction and underwent WWE's former talent rehabilitation program.


title: Maven (wrestler)

text: On July 29, 2021, Maven stated during an interview with Chris Van Vliet that he now works in Finance, specifically on Wall Street.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: Jacklyn Harold "Jack" Lucas (February 14, 1928 – June 5, 2008) was an American Marine in World War II who was awarded the Medal of Honor at the age of 17 years as a private first class in the Marine Corps during the Battle of Iwo Jima.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: During a close firefight in two trenches between Lucas and three Marines with 11 Japanese soldiers, Lucas saved the lives of the other three Marines from two enemy hand grenades that were thrown into their trench by unhesitatingly placing himself on one grenade, while in the next instant pulling the other grenade under him. The grenade he covered with his body exploded, and wounded him severely; the other grenade failed to explode. He is the youngest Marine and the youngest serviceman in World War II to be awarded the United States' highest military decoration for valor. He later reenlisted in the United States Army and reached the rank of captain.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: Lucas was born in Plymouth, North Carolina, on February 14, 1928. After his father, a tobacco farmer, died when he was ten, his mother sent him to nearby Edwards Military Institute in Salemburg. He rose to be a cadet captain, and was the captain of the football team. He was an all-around sportsman, also taking part in baseball, softball, basketball, boxing, wrestling, horseback riding, trap and skeet shooting, and hunting.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: On August 8, 1942, at the age of 14, Lucas enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve at Norfolk, Virginia, giving his age as 17 and forging his mother's name on the parental consent form and bribing a notary. At and with a muscular build, he was sent directly to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, for recruit training. During his rifle qualification, he qualified as a sharpshooter.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: He was next assigned to the Marine barracks at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. In June 1943, he was transferred to the 21st Replacement Battalion at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, and one month later he went to the 25th Replacement Battalion, and successfully completed schooling at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, which qualified him as a heavy machine gun crewman. He was sent by train to San Diego with his unit. He left the continental United States on November 4, 1943, and the following month he joined the 6th Base Depot of the V Amphibious Corps at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On January 29, 1944, he was promoted to private first class.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: On January 10, 1945, according to statements he made to his comrades, Lucas walked out of camp to join a combat organization wearing a khaki uniform and carrying his dungarees and field shoes in a roll under his arm. He was declared UA (Unauthorized Absence) when he failed to return that night. He stowed away on board the , which was transporting the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines of the 5th Marine Division to Iwo Jima. On February 8, the day before he would have been placed on the Marine Corps "deserter list", he turned himself in to Marine Captain Robert Dunlap, commanding officer of C Company. He was taken by Dunlap to the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel C. Pollock, who assigned him to Dunlap's rifle company as a rifleman. His punishment for going UA was an administrative reduction in rank to private. On February 14, Lucas had his 17th birthday while at sea, five days before the invasion of Iwo Jima began.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: On February 19, Lucas participated in the 5th Division's landing on Iwo Jima with C Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines. On February 20, Lucas and three Marines who were members of a four-man fire team from one of C Company's platoons were creeping through a twisting ravine towards or at an enemy airstrip when they spotted an enemy pillbox and took cover in a trench. They then spotted 11 Japanese soldiers in a parallel trench (they had a tunnel to there from the pillbox) and opened fire on them with rifles. The Japanese also opened fire and threw two grenades inside the Marines' trench in front of them. Lucas spotted the grenades on the ground in front of his comrades and yelled "grenades". He then jumped over a Marine and dove for them, jamming one of them into the volcanic ash and soft sand with his rifle and covering it with his body, while reaching out and pulling the other one beneath him. One grenade exploded, tossing Lucas onto his back and severely wounding him in the right arm and wrist, right leg and thigh, and chest. He was still conscious and barely alive after the blast, holding in his left hand the other grenade, which did not explode. His three comrades were unharmed, and the Japanese soldiers in their trench were all killed. The three Marines left, believing Lucas was dead.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: Lucas was found by Marines from another unit passing by who called for Navy corpsmen who attended to his wounds and protected him with a carbine from being shot and killed by a Japanese soldier in the trench. He was evacuated by stretcher bearers to the beach, onto an LST to a cargo ship used as a hospital (all the hospital ships were full) and then to the hospital ship . He was treated at various field hospitals prior to his arrival in San Francisco, California, on March 28, 1945. He eventually underwent 21 surgeries. For the rest of his life, there remained about 200 pieces of metal, some the size of 22 caliber bullets, in his body, which frequently set off airport metal detectors. In August, the mark of attempted desertion was removed from his record while he was a patient at the U.S. Naval Hospital at Charleston, South Carolina. On September 18, he was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve because of disability resulting from his wounds following his reappointment to the rank of private first class.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: On October 5, 1945, Lucas, three sailors and ten other Marines, including Robert Dunlap, his former company commanding officer on Iwo Jima, were presented the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Those in attendance at the ceremony included Lucas's mother and brother, Admiral Chester Nimitz and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: Lucas earned a business degree from High Point University and was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity (Delta Omega Chapter). He joined the United States Army in 1961 and served in the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper to conquer his fear of heights. He reportedly survived a training jump in which both of his parachutes malfunctioned. He volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War, but was not allowed to go, and ended his time as a captain in 1965 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, training younger troops who would see action in Vietnam.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: After his military service ended, Lucas married, fathered several children and established a profitable chain of butcher shops in Maryland. However, he accrued back taxes with the IRS, depriving him of his disability benefits. In 1977, Lucas was notified by Maryland police that his second wife and son-in-law were plotting to kill him; the two pleaded guilty to conspiracy and were granted probation after Lucas asked the court to show mercy. By the 1980s, Lucas was living off his life savings. In 1985, his mobile home burned down, forcing him to camp. In August of that year, Lucas was arrested when marijuana plants were found in the corn field he was camping in. The State of Maryland initially planned to charge Lucas with unlawful manufacture and possession of controlled dangerous substances, but the charges were eventually dropped.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: When the keel of the (christened in 2000) was laid, Lucas placed his Medal of Honor citation in the ship's hull, where it remains sealed.


title: Jacklyn H. Lucas

text: On August 3, 2006, Lucas, along with 15 other living Marine Medal of Honor recipients, was presented the Medal of Honor flag by Commandant of the Marine Corps General Michael Hagee at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., in front of over 1,000 people, including family, friends and Marines. Lucas said of the ceremony, "To have these young men here in our presence — it just rejuvenates this old heart of mine. I love the Corps even more knowing that my country is defended by such fine young people."