title: Cinerama

text: As of 2015, the Pictureville Cinema, Seattle Cinerama, and Cinerama Dome continue to hold periodic screenings of three-projector Cinerama movies. The Cinerama Dome was designed for the three-projector system but never actually had it installed until recent years as it opened with the first of the single film 70 mm Cinerama films, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963).


title: Cinerama

text: The documentary, "Cinerama Adventure" (2003) directed by David Strohmaier, looked at the history of the Cinerama process, as well as digitally recreating the Cinerama experience via clips of true Cinerama films (using transfers from original Cinerama prints). And Turner Entertainment (via Warner Bros.) has struck new Cinerama prints of "How the West Was Won" (1962) for exhibition in true Cinerama theatres around the world.


title: Cinerama

text: Cinerama successors, Todd-AO, CinemaScope, and the various 70 mm formats, all attempted to equal or surpass its grandeur while avoiding its problems to greater or lesser degrees of success. In movie theaters today the large format IMAX system continues the tradition, although the screen is taller and often less wide.


title: Cinerama

text: In 2008, a Blu-ray disc of "How The West Was Won" was released, offering a recreation of Cinerama for home viewing. The three Cinerama images were digitally stitched together so that the resulting image does not have the visible seams of older copies. Furthermore, as a second viewing option, 3D mapping technology was used to produce an image that approximates the curved screen, called "SmileBox".


title: Cinerama

text: On January 14, 2012, an original Cinerama camera was used to film a sequence at the Lasky-DeMille Barn, the original home to Famous Players-Lasky, later to be renamed Paramount Pictures. This was the first film photographed in the Cinerama process in almost 50 years. This sequence is part of a new 12-minute production filmed entirely in the three panel process. The new film, "In the Picture", was presented at a Cinerama festival at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, California on September 30, 2012.


title: Cinerama

text: All but two of the feature-length films produced using the original three-strip Cinerama process were travelogues or episodic documentaries such as "This Is Cinerama" (1952), the first film shot in Cinerama. Other travelogues presented in Cinerama were "Cinerama Holiday" (1955), "Seven Wonders of the World" (1955), "Search for Paradise" (1957) and "South Seas Adventure" (1958). There was also one commercial short, "Renault Dauphine" (1960).


title: Cinerama

text: Even as the Cinerama travelogues were beginning to lose audiences in the late 50s, the spectacular travelogue "Windjammer" (1958) was released in a competing process called Cinemiracle which claimed to have less noticeable dividing lines on the screen thanks to the reflection of the side images off of mirrors (this also allowed all three projectors to be in the same booth). Due to the small number of Cinemiracle theatres, specially converted prints of "Windjammer" were shown in Cinerama theaters in cities which did not have Cinemiracle theaters, and ultimately Cinerama bought up the process.


title: Cinerama

text: Only two films with traditional story lines were made, "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" and "How the West Was Won". In order to make these films compatible with single film systems for later standard releases, they were shot at 24 frames/s, not the 26 frames/s of traditional Cinerama.


title: Cinerama

text: RCA uses the word "Cinerama" to refer to a display mode which fills a 16:9 video screen with 4:3 video with, in the words of the manufacturer, "little distortion." Manuals for products offering this mode give no detailed explanation. One online posting says it consists of "a slight cropping at the top & bottom combined with a slight stretch at only the sides," and praises it. The posting suggests that other vendors provide a similar function under different names. Mitsubishi calls it "stretch" mode. The RCA Scenium TV also has a "stretch mode" as well it is a 4:3 picture stretched straight across.


title: Cinerama

text: There is no obvious connection between this video mode and any of the Cinerama motion picture processes. It is not clear why the name is used, unless the nonlinear stretch is vaguely evocative of a curved screen. (Ironically, some widescreen cinema processes—not Cinerama—displayed a fault known as "anamorphic mumps," which consisted of a lateral stretch of objects closer to the camera).


title: Cinerama

text: In the U.S., RCA does not appear to have registered the word "Cinerama" as a trademark; conversely, a number of trademarks on "Cinerama," e.g. SN 74270575, are still "live" and held by Cinerama, Inc.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The presidency of Joseph Estrada, also known as the Estrada administration, spanned 31 months from June 30, 1998, to January 20, 2001. Estrada was elected president of the Philippines in the May 11, 1998 national elections, receiving almost 11 million votes.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada campaigned on a pro-poor platform. He ordered the removal of all sovereign guarantees on contracts for public projects which would require the sovereign Filipino people to assume the financial losses of private companies doing business with the government. He made efforts to clean the bureaucracy by ordering the immediate relief of corrupt officials in the military and police hierarchy. He ordered a wide-ranging investigation of all government contracts entered into by the previous administration to ensure these were above-board and directly advantageous to the citizenry. He also ordered the investigation of suspected big-time tax evaders including individuals who had contributed to his presidential campaign. He undertook an aggressive housing program on a national basis, targeting low-cost homes for the poor.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada assumed office amid the Asian Financial Crisis and with agricultural problems due to poor weather conditions, thereby slowing the economic growth to -0.6% in 1998 from a 5.2% in 1997. The economy recovered by 3.4% in 1999 and 4% in 2000. The agricultural sector received greater priority, while the national government took steps to bring down the cost of medicine. His term was marked by a growth in foreign investments. He declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which led to the capture of the largest camp of the MILF.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In 2000, Estrada was accused of illegally accepting payoffs from various sources, including "jueteng", a popular local numbers game, sparking a national controversy that led to the House of Representatives voting to impeach him. The Senate impeachment trial ended abruptly in mid-January 2001 after prosecutors staged a walk-out after the senators voted against the opening of a document that supposedly contained substantial evidence against Estrada. The decision drew protesters to EDSA, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines later withdrew their support. On January 20, 2001, Estrada resigned from office and fled Malacañang. Following the Supreme Court's decision upholding the legality of the Arroyo presidency, Estrada was arrested at his San Juan home on April 25, 2001, on the warrant of arrest issued by the Sandiganbayan for plunder charges.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada was inaugurated on June 30, 1998, in the historical town of Malolos, Bulacan. Later that afternoon, Estrada delivered his inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. In his inaugural address, Estrada said:


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Even with its strong economic team, the Estrada administration failed to capitalize on the gains of the previous administration. Estrada's administration was severely criticized for cronyism, incompetence, and corruption, causing it to lose the confidence of foreign investors. Foreign investors' confidence was further damaged when, in his second year, Estrada was accused of exerting influence in an investigation of a friend's involvement in stock market manipulation. Social unrest brought about by numerous bombing threats, actual bombings, kidnappings, and other criminal activities contributed to the economy's troubles. Economic performance was also hurt by climatic disturbance that caused extremes of dry and wet weather.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Toward the end of Estrada's administration, the fiscal deficit had doubled to more than 100 billion from a low of 49 billion in 1998. Despite such setbacks, the rate of GNP in 1999 increased to 3.6 percent from 0.1 percent in 1998, and the GDP posted a 3.2 percent growth rate, up from a low of −0.5 percent in 1998. Debt reached 2.1 trillion in 1999. Domestic debt amounted to 986.7 billion while foreign debt stood at US$52.2 billion.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: During his term, Estrada ordered to the National Telecommunications Commission to adopt a Filipino language-based radio format known as "masa". Named for his icon "Masa" (or Masses), all radio stations adopted the "masa" format since 1998, as DJ's wanted to replace English language-based stations immediately to air OPM songs and requests. After his term in 2001, several FM stations continued to adopt the "masa" format nationwide.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: To investigate the alleged anomalies of the Ramos administration, Estrada created the "Saguisag Commission" headed by former Senator Rene Saguisag. Ramos, however, refused to appear before the commission, for he argued that the jurisdiction lies in the court.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In the so-called Centennial Expo scam, Mr. Ramos claimed the Senate committee that conducted the probe "never closed the case" because it did not issue any final report. Instead, he rued, Estrada created an administrative fact-finding commission headed by former Senator Rene Saguisag. But six former government officials during his administration who were implicated in the Centennial Expo scam were subsequently "exonerated" by the Ombudsman in October 1998. Former Vice President Salvador Laurel, who chaired the Centennial Expo and was among the principal accused in this case, however, died before he could be exonerated, Mr. Ramos rued.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In the Smokey Mountain case, he said, he appeared in 2000 before the public hearing of the House committee on good government chaired by then Rep. Ed Lara whose panel cleared the project as valid and legal. Subsequently, he said, the Supreme Court ruled 13–0, with 2 abstentions, in favor of the project. The SC also upheld the legality and constitutionality of the project and dismissed the petition filed against it by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In the questioned Masinloc power project, he said, the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee looked into the privilege speech of then Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. on Ramos' alleged influence that this power plant be sold to a consortium connected with former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The Estrada administration widened the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) to the landless peasants in the country side, distributing more than of land to 175,000 landless farmers, including land owned by the traditional rural elite. (Total of 523,000 hectares to 305,000 farmers during his 2nd year as president). In September 1999, he issued Executive Order 151, also known as Farmer's Trust Fund, which allows the voluntary consolidation of small farm operation into medium and large scale integrated enterprise that can access long-term capital. Estrada launched the "Magkabalikat Para sa Kaunlarang Agraryo" or MAGKASAKA. The Department of Agrarian Reform forged into joint ventures with private investors into agrarian sector to make FBs competitive.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In 1999, a huge fund was allocated to agricultural programs; one of these is the "Agrikulturang Maka Masa", through which it achieved an output growth of 6 percent, a record high at the time, thereby lowering the inflation rate from 11 percent in January 1999 to just a little over 3 percent by November of the same year.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In 1998, by virtue of Executive Order No. 8, Estrada created the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) to minimize, if not totally eradicate, car theft and worsening kidnapping cases in the country. With the help of this task force, the Philippine National Police achieved a record-high trust rating of +53 percent. Estrada also created the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) in 1999, with the objective of formulating and implementing a concerted of action of all law enforcement, intelligence and other government agencies for the prevention and control of transnational crime.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In November 2000, during the Juetenggate scandal of Estrada, high officials of the PAOCTF–Cesar Mancao, Michael Ray Aquino, Glen Dumlao, and PAOCTF chief Panfilo Lacson—were implicated in the murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in Cavite. Dacer at that time was accused to be behind a black propaganda against Estrada–a charge Dacer denied.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The death penalty law in the Philippines was reinforced during the incumbency of Estrada's predecessor, Fidel Ramos. This law provided the use of the electric chair until the gas chamber (method chosen by government to replace electrocution) could be installed. However, the electric chair was destroyed some time prior due to a typhoon, leaving only a blackened scorch mark. Some sources have said it had burnt out the last time it had been used.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The first execution by lethal injection took place under Estrada's administration. On February 5, 1999, Leo Echegaray, a house painter, was executed for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter. He was the first convict to be executed since the re-imposition of death penalty in 1993. His execution induced once again a heated debate between the anti and the pro-death penalty forces in the Philippines with a huge majority of people calling for the execution of Echegaray.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The Estrada administration supported death penalty as the antidote to crime. The opposition maintained that the death penalty is not a deterrent and that there have been studies already debunking the deterrence theory. Legislators and politicians refused to heed the recommendation of the Supreme Court for Congress to review the death penalty riding on the popularity of the pro-death penalty sentiment.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Six years after its re imposition, more than 1,200 individuals have been sentenced to death and seven convicts have been executed through lethal injection.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: From 1994 to 1995 the number of persons on death row increased from 12 to 104. From 1995 to 1996 it increased to 182. In 1997 the total death convicts was at 520 and in 1998 the inmates in death row was at 781. As of November 1999 there are a total of 956 death convicts at the National Bilibid Prisons and at the Correctional Institute for Women.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: As of December 31, 1999, based on the statistics compiled by the Episcopal Commission on Prisoner Welfare of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, there were a total of 936 convicts interned at the National Bilibid Prisons and another 23 detained at the Correctional Institute for Women. Of these figures, six are minors and 12 are foreigners.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada called a moratorium in 2000 to honor the bimillenial anniversary of Jesus' birth. Executions were resumed a year later.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada immediately ordered the removal of all sovereign guarantees on contracts for public projects which would require the sovereign Filipino people to assume the financial losses of private companies doing business with the government. Records showed that until January 20, 2001, Estrada did not sign a single government contract with a sovereign guarantee.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Under Estrada, there was an attempt to change the 1987 constitution, through a process termed as CONCORD, or Constitutional Correction for Development. Unlike Charter change under presidents Ramos and Arroyo, the CONCORD proposal, according to its proponents, would only amend the 'restrictive' economic provisions of the constitution that is considered as impeding the entry of more foreign investments in the Philippines.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: There were objections from opposition politicians, religious sects and left wing organizations based on diverse arguments such as national patrimony and the proposed constitutional changes would be self-serving. Like his predecessor, Estrada's government was accused of pushing Charter change for their own vested interests.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: During the Ramos administration a cessation of hostilities agreement was signed between the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in July 1997. This was continued by a series of peace talks and negotiations in Estrada administration. However the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an Islamic group formed in 1977, seeks to be an independent Islamic State from the Philippines, and despite the agreements, a sequence of terrorist attacks against the military and civilians still continued. Such of those attack are 277 violations committed, kidnapping a foreign priest, namely Father Luciano Benedetti, the occupying and setting on fire of the municipal hall of Talayan, Maguindanao; the takeover of the Kauswagan Municipal Hall; the bombing of the Lady of Mediatrix boat at Ozamiz City; and the takeover of the Narciso Ramos Highway. The Philippine government also learned that the MILF has links with Al-Qaeda. Because of this, on March 21, 2000, Estrada declared an "all-out-war" against the MILF. During the war the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) asked Estrada to have a cease-fire with MILF, but Estrada opposed the idea arguing that a cease-fire would cause more terrorist attacks. For the next three months of the war, Camp Abubakar, headquarters of the MILF, fell along with other 13 major camps and 43 minor camps, and then all of which became under controlled by the government. The MILF leader Salamat Hashim fled the country and went to Malaysia. The MILF later declared a Jihad on the government. On July 10 of the same year, the President went to Mindanao and raised the Philippine flag symbolizing victory. After the war the President said, "... will speed up government efforts to bring genuine and lasting peace and development in Mindanao". In the middle of July the president ordered the military to arrest top MILF leaders.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: High on the list of priorities was the plight of MILF guerrillas who were tired of fighting and had no camps left to report to. On October 5, 2000, the first massive surrender of 669 MILF mujahideen led by the renegade vice mayor of Marugong, Lanao del Sur Malupandi Cosandi Sarip and seven other battalion commanders, surrendered to Estrada at the 4th ID headquarters in Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro. They were followed shortly by a second batch of 855 surrenderees led by MILF Commander Sayben Ampaso on December 29, 2000.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The war with the MILF was severely criticized by foreign and media observers. Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara bridled at the high cost of Mindanao specifically the diversion of resources from military operations that eat away from the agriculture modernization program. Angara was quoted as saying "What General Reyes asks, he gets". Moreover, the fighting in Mindanao destroyed more than P135 million worth of crops and 12,000 hectares of rice and corn fields.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The Estrada administration upheld the foreign policy thrusts of the Ramos administration, focusing on national security, economic diplomacy, assistance to nationals, and image-building. The Philippines continued to be at the forefront of the regional and multilateral arena; it successfully hosted the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 1998 and undertook confidence-building measures with China over South China Sea issue through a meeting in March 1999. Estrada strengthened bilateral ties with neighboring countries with visits to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The country also sent a delegation of 108 observers to the Indonesian parliamentary elections, and engaged in cooperative activities in the areas of security, defense, combating transnational crimes, economy, culture, and the protection of OFWs and Filipinos abroad.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: On 1999, a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States was ratified in the Senate. The first VFA was signed under President Ramos in 1998, and the second was subsequently signed under Estrada; the two agreements came to effect a year later. The primary effect of the Agreement is to require the U.S. government to: notify Philippine authorities when it becomes aware of the apprehension, arrest or detention of any Philippine personnel visiting the U.S.; and when so requested by the Philippine government, to ask the appropriate authorities to waive jurisdiction in favor of the Philippines, except cases of special interest to the U.S. departments of State or Defense.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The Agreement contains various procedural safeguards which amongst other things establish the right to due process and proscribe double jeopardy.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: and exempts RP vehicles, vessels, and aircraft from landing or ports fees, navigation or overflight charges, road tolls or any other charges for the use of U.S. military installations.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada hosted the third Informal ASEAN summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) from November 24–28, 1999. He met with the leaders of the nine ASEAN member-countries and three dialogue partners of the regional grouping, namely China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The leaders of the 10-member ASEAN and their three dialogue partners vowed to further broaden East Asia cooperation in the 21st century to improve the quality of life of peoples in the region; they also agreed to strengthen cooperation in addressing common concerns in the area of transnational issues in the region.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: After winning the 1998 presidential elections on May of that year, newly elected president Estrada issued Administrative Order No. 1, which ordered the removal of Richard Gordon as chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). Estrada appointed Felicito Payumo, Gordon's critic and congressman of Bataan as new chairman. Gordon refused to step down, stating that his re-appointment from the Ramos administration gave him civil service protection. The removal process was not easy; hundreds of volunteers and paid people barricated the gates of SBMA and Gordon locked himself inside the SBMA Administrative Office Building 229. After this, Gordon was dubbed a dictator because he rebelled against an executive order. The issue sparked the interest local and foreign press known as the Showdown at Subic.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Gordon filed for a temporary restraining order before the local court. The local court of Olongapo granted Gordon's request but Payumo's party filed an appeal before the Court of Appeals (CA). The CA reversed the local court's ruling and it was affirmed by the Supreme Court. With the Supreme Court decision, Gordon called Payumo and turned over the reins of SBMA at the Subic Bay Yacht Club two months later on September 3, 1998. Together with the Subic volunteers, they cleaned up the facility.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: In 1998, Estrada allegedly appointed a cousin, Cecilia de Castro, as presidential assistant. The President denied knowing her in the wake of the textbook scam in 1998. The President later intervened in the investigation of the said scam.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada criticized the "Philippine Daily Inquirer", the nation's most popular broadsheet newspaper, for "bias, malice and fabrication" against him. In 1999, several government organizations, pro-Estrada businesses, and movie producers simultaneously pulled their advertisements in the "Inquirer". The presidential palace was widely implicated in the advertising boycott, prompting sharp criticism from international press freedom watchdogs.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada launched a libel suit against the country's oldest newspaper the "Manila Times" over a story that alleged corruption in the awarding of a public works project. After a personal apology from an owner was published, the libel suit was dropped. Within three months the "Manila Times" was sold to a "housing magnate with no previous newspaper experience".


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: BW Resources, a small gaming company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and linked to people close to Estrada, experienced "a meteoric rise" in its stock price due to suspected stock price manipulation. The ensuing investigation led only to further confusion when the head of the compliance and surveillance group of the PSE and his entire staff resigned saying "I believe I can no longer effectively do my job." The events created a negative impression. "The BW controversy undermined foreign investor confidence in the stock market" and "also contributed to a major loss of confidence in the Philippines among foreign and local investors on concerns that cronyism may have played a part."


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has reported that there are 66 corporate records wherein Estrada, his wife, mistresses and children are listed as incorporators or board members. Thirty-one of these companies were set up during Estrada's vice-presidential tenure and one when he assumed the presidency. Based on the 1998 and 1999 financial statements, 14 of the 66 companies have assets of over 600 million.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: On October 15, 1998, First Lady Loi Ejercito, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission her private foundation—the Partnership for the Poor Foundation, Inc.—which provides relief and livelihood to the poor. A few months after its incorporation, the foundation received 100 million from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) as donation. The donation far exceeded the PCSO's combined donation of 65 million to regular beneficiaries like orphanages and hospitals. The complainants consider this a conflict-of-interest. The donation of government funds to the private foundation of the First Lady was also found to have been delivered to their legal residence in San Juan, Metro Manila.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Estrada was reported by his Chief of Staff Aprodicio Laquian to have allegedly spent long hours drinking with shady characters as well as "midnight drinking sessions" with some of his cabinet members during meetings. Members of the so-called midnight cabinet included Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson, Caloocan Representatitve Luis 'Baby' Asistio, and BW Resources Corp. head Dante Tan.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: During the juetenggate scandal, Estrada's critics claimed that Estrada's mistresses received financial benefits from the President.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Valenzuela Representative Magtanggol Gunigundo II exposed the assignment of Estrada of some seized luxury vehicles and SUVs to his Cabinet secretaries and favored political allies through an obscure office "Presidential Retrieval Task Force." Estrada initially resisted his critics' calls to return the "hot cars" to the Bureau of Customs, and challenged them to file a case against him. But, by November, he withdrew his earlier decision and instructed the Customs to dispose the vehicles through an auction.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Chavit Singson in October 2000 alleged he gave Estrada 400 million as payoff from illegal gambling profits. On October 16, 2000, he accused Estrada, as the "lord of all jueteng lords" for receiving 5 million pesos protection money from jueteng every month during his term of presidency.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Salvador "Bubby" Dacer, publicist in the Philippines, and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito, were abducted in Makati, the business district of Manila. They were later killed, and their vehicle dumped. In 2001, a number of arrests were made.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The ultimate reasons for Dacer's murder remain a subject of debate. Fidel Ramos has publicly accused his successor, Estrada, of giving the original order—Estrada was mired in a corruption scandal at the time, and according to some reports, Estrada believed Dacer was helping Ramos destabilize his rule.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: On January 17, 2001, the impeachment trial of Estrada moved to the investigation of an envelope containing evidence that would allegedly prove acts of political corruption by Estrada; senators allied with Estrada moved to block the evidence. The conflict between the senator-judges, and the prosecution became deeper, but then Senate Majority Floor Leader Francisco Tatad requested to the Impeachment court to make a vote for opening the second envelope. The vote resulted in 10 senators in favor of examining the evidence, and 11 senators in favor of suppressing it. After the vote, Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. resigned as Senate President and walked out of the impeachment proceedings together with the 9 opposition Senators and 11 prosecutors in the Estrada impeachment trial. The 11 administration senators who voted YES to block the opening of the second envelope remained in Senate Session Hall together with the members of the defense. They were chanted with "JOE'S COHORTS" where their surnames were arranged.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: The Estrada presidency was soon hounded by charges of plunder and corruption. Estrada was reported by his Chief of Staff Aprodicio Laquian to have allegedly spent long hours drinking with shady characters as well as "midnight drinking sessions" with some of his cabinet members during meetings. In October 2000, an acknowledged gambling racketeer, Luis "Chavit" Singson, governor of the province of Ilocos Sur, alleged that he had personally given Estrada the sum of 400 million pesos ($8,255,933) as payoff from illegal gambling profits, as well as 180 million pesos ($3,715,170) from the government price subsidy for the tobacco farmers' marketing cooperative.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Singson's allegation caused an outcry across the nation, culminating in Estrada's impeachment by the House of Representatives on November 13, 2000, which did not succeed. The articles of impeachment were then transmitted to the Senate and an impeachment court was formed, with Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. as presiding officer.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Major television networks pre-empted their afternoon schedules to bring full coverage of the Impeachment Trial.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: During the trial, the prosecution presented witnesses and evidence to the impeachment court regarding Estrada's involvement in an illegal numbers game, also known as jueteng, and his maintenance of secret bank accounts. Estrada's legal team denied such allegations including his ownership of an account under the name "Jose Velarde". In February 2001, at the initiative of Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., the second envelope was opened before the local and foreign media, and it contained a document stating that Jaime Dichavez and not Estrada owned the "Jose Velarde Account".


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson was one of the witnesses who testified against Estrada. Estrada and the Singson were said to be "partners" in-charge of the operations of illegal gambling in the country. Singson feared that he would be charged and stripped of power (there have been talks about the governor making a deal with the opposition... he was to help incriminate Estrada and he would be compensated for his service), but he was offered immunity by anti-Estrada lawmakers. He was then asked to accuse Estrada of having committed several illegal acts. Vice-President of then Equitable-PCI Bank Clarissa Ocampo testified that she saw Estrada sign the false name "Jose Velarde" on the banking document and this was also witnessed by Apodicio Laquian.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: According to a 2004 Transparency International report, Estrada was ranked the world's tenth most corrupt head of government, and being the second Philippine Head of State after Marcos in terms of corruption.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: On the evening of January 16, 2001, the impeachment court, whose majority were political allies of Estrada, voted not to open an envelope that was said to contain incriminating evidence against the president. The final vote was 11–10, in favor of keeping the envelope closed. The prosecution panel (of congressmen and lawyers) walked out of the Impeachment Court in protest of this vote. Others noted that the walkout merited a contempt of court which Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., intentionally or unintentionally, did not enforce. The afternoon schedule of television networks covering the Impeachment were pre-empted by the prolongation of the day's court session due to the issue of this envelope. The evening "telenovelas" of networks were pushed back for up to two hours. That night, anti-Estrada protesters gathered in front of the EDSA Shrine at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, not too far away from the site of the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew Ferdinand Marcos. A political turmoil ensued and the clamor for Estrada's resignation became stronger than ever. In the following days, the number of protesters grew to the hundreds of thousands.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: On January 19, 2001, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, seeing the political upheaval throughout the country, decided to withdraw its support from the president and transfer its allegiance to the vice president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The following day, the Supreme Court declared that the seat of presidency was vacant.


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: At noon, the Supreme Court declared that Estrada "constructively resigned" his post and Chief Justice Davide swore in the constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, as President of the Philippines. Prior to Estrada's departure from Malacañang, he issued a press release which included:


title: Presidency of Joseph Estrada

text: On January 18, 2008, Joseph Estrada's "Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino" (PMP) placed a full-page advertisement in Metro Manila newspapers, blaming EDSA 2 of having "inflicted a dent on Philippine democracy". Its featured clippings questioned the constitutionality of the revolution. The published featured clippings were taken from "Time", "New York Times", "The Straits Times", "Los Angeles Times", "Washington Post", "Asia Times Online", "The Economist", and the "International Herald Tribune". Former Supreme Court justice and Estrada appointee as chairwoman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Cecilia Muñoz Palma opined that EDSA 2 violated the 1987 Constitution.


title: Allostatic load

text: Allostatic load is "the wear and tear on the body" which accumulates as an individual is exposed to repeated or chronic stress. The term was coined by Bruce McEwen and Eliot Stellar in 1993. It represents the physiological consequences of chronic exposure to fluctuating or heightened neural or neuroendocrine response which results from repeated or prolonged chronic stress.


title: Allostatic load

text: The term allostatic load is "the wear and tear on the body" which accumulates as an individual is exposed to repeated or chronic stress.


title: Allostatic load

text: The term is part of the regulatory model of allostasis, where the predictive regulation or stabilisation of internal sensations in response to stimuli is ascribed to the brain. Allostasis involves the regulation of homeostasis in the body to decrease physiological consequences on the body. Predictive regulation refers to the brain's ability to anticipate needs and prepare to fulfill them before they arise.


title: Allostatic load

text: Part of efficient regulation is the reduction of uncertainty. Humans naturally do not like feeling as if surprise is inevitable. Because of this, we constantly strive to reduce the uncertainty of future outcomes, and allostasis helps us do this by anticipating needs and planning how to satisfy them ahead of time. But it takes a considerable amount of the brain's energy to do this, and if it fails to resolve the uncertainty, the situation may become chronic and result in the accumulation of allostatic load.


title: Allostatic load

text: The concept of allostatic load provides that "the neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, neuroenergetic, and emotional responses become persistently activated so that blood flow turbulences in the coronary and cerebral arteries, high blood pressure, atherogenesis, cognitive dysfunction and depressed mood accelerate disease progression." All long-standing effects of continuously activated stress responses are referred to as allostatic load. Allostatic load can result in permanently altered brain architecture and systemic pathophysiology.


title: Allostatic load

text: McEwen and Wingfield propose two types of allostatic load with different etiologies and distinct consequences:-


title: Allostatic load

text: Whereas both types of allostatic load are associated with increased release of cortisol and catecholamines, they differentially affect thyroid homeostasis: Concentrations of the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine are decreased in type 1 allostasis, but elevated in type 2 allostasis. This may result from an interaction of type 2 allostatic load with the set point of thyroid function.


title: Allostatic load

text: Special situations may involve a blend of both type 1 and type 2 allostatic load. Examples include exhausting exercise and adaptation to antarctic conditions.


title: Allostatic load

text: Allostatic load is generally measured through a composite index of indicators of cumulative strain on several organs and tissues, primarily biomarkers associated with the neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems.


title: Allostatic load

text: Indices of allostatic load are diverse across studies and are frequently assessed differently, using different biomarkers and different methods of assembling an allostatic load index. Allostatic load is not unique to humans and may be used to evaluate the physiological effects of chronic or frequent stress in non-human primates as well. The "rat cumulative allostatic load measure" (rCALM) is a marker for allostatic load in rodents.


title: Allostatic load

text: In the endocrine system, the increase or repeated levels of stress results in elevated levels of the hormone Corticotropin-Releasing Factor (CRH), which is associated with activation of the HPA axis. The Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is the central stress response system responsible for the modification of inflammatory responses throughout the body. Prolonged stress levels can lead to decreased levels of cortisol in the morning and increased levels in the afternoon, leading to greater daily output of cortisol which in the long term increases blood sugar levels.


title: Allostatic load

text: In the nervous system, structural and functional abnormalities are a result of chronic prolonged stress. The increase in stress levels causes a shortening of dendrites in a neuron. Therefore, the shortening of dendrites causes a decrease in attention. Chronic stress also causes greater response to fear of the unlearned in the nervous system, and fear conditioning.


title: Allostatic load

text: In the immune system, the increase in levels of chronic stress results in the elevation of inflammation. The increase in inflammation levels is caused by the ongoing activation of the sympathetic nervous system. The impairment of cell-mediated acquired immunity is also a factor resulting in the immune system due to chronic stress.


title: Allostatic load

text: The R package "pscore" provides functions for simplified and automated calculation and statistical evaluation of physiological components of the metabolic syndrome symptom score (MSSS) and allostatic load.


title: Allostatic load

text: The largest contribution to the allostatic load is the effect of stress on the brain. Allostasis is the system which helps to achieve homeostasis. Homeostasis is the regulation of physiological processes, whereby systems in the body respond to the state of the body and to the external environment. The relationship between allostasis and allostatic load is the concept of anticipation. Anticipation can drive the output of mediators. Examples of mediators include hormones and cortisol. Excess amounts of such mediators will result in an increase in allostatic load, contributing to anxiety and anticipation.


title: Allostatic load

text: Allostasis and allostatic load are related to the amount of health-promoting and health-damaging behaviours like for example cigarette smoking, consumption of alcohol, poor diet and physical inactivity.


title: Allostatic load

text: The importance of homeostasis is to regulate the stress levels encountered on the body to reduce allostatic load.


title: Allostatic load

text: Dysfunctional allostasis causes allostatic load to increase which may, over time, lead to disease, sometimes with decompensation of the allostatically controlled problem. Allostatic load effects can be measured in the body. When tabulated in the form of allostatic load indices using sophisticated analytical methods, it gives an indication of cumulative lifetime effects of all types of stress on the body.


title: Allostatic load

text: Type 1 allostatic load represents the adaptive response to an absolute lack in energy, glutathione and several macronutrients. It also includes predictive responses, e. g. in hibernation, infection and depression.


title: Allostatic load

text: Type 2 allostatic load results from an expected mismatch of energy demand and supply. It is triggered by psychosocial stress, e. g. due to low socioeconomic status, major life events and environmental stressors. This association explains the increased risk for cardiovascular disease and chronic conditions like obesity, diabetes, hypertension and psychotic conditions in subjects that were exposed to psychosocial trauma, social disadvantage and discrimination. Socio-cultural mechanisms tend to augment this relation by perpetuating disparity even in the quality of health care, which tends to be inferior in socially disadvantaged population strata.


title: Allostatic load

text: Increased allostatic load constitutes a significant health hazard. Several studies documented a strong association of allostatic load to the incidence of coronary heart disease, to surrogate markers of cardiovascular health and to hard endpoints, including cause-specific and all-cause mortality. Mediators connecting allostatic load to morbidity and mortality include the function of the autonomic nervous system, cytokines and stress hormones, e.g. catecholamines, cortisol and thyroid hormones.


title: Allostatic load

text: To reduce and manage high allostatic load, an individual should pay attention to structural and behavioural factors. Structural factors include the social environment, and access to health services. Behavioural factors include diet, physical health and tobacco smoking, which can lead to chronic disease. Actions such as tobacco smoking are brought about from the stress levels that an individual experiences. Therefore, controlling stress levels from the beginning, for example by not leading to tobacco smoking, will reduce the chance of chronic disease development and high allostatic load.


title: Allostatic load

text: Low socio-economic status (SES) affects allostatic load and therefore, focusing on the causes of low SES will reduce allostatic load levels. Reducing societal polarisation, material deprivation, and psychological demands on health helps to manage allostatic load. Support from the community and the social environment can manage high allostatic load. In addition, healthy lifestyle that encompasses a broad array of lifestyle change including healthy eating and regular physical exercise may reduce allostatic load. Empowering financial help from the government allows people to gain control and improve their psychological health. Improving inequalities in health decreases the stress levels and improves health by reducing high allostatic load on the body.


title: Allostatic load

text: Interventions can include encouraging sleep quality and quantity, social support, self-esteem and wellbeing, improving diet, avoiding alcohol or drug consumption and participating in physical activity. Providing cleaner and safer environments and the incentive towards a higher education will reduce the chance of stress and improve mental health significantly, therefore, reducing the onset of high allostatic load.


title: Allostatic load

text: Allostatic load differs by sex and age, and the social status of an individual. Protective factors could, at various times of an individual's life span, be implemented to reduce stress and, in the long run, eliminate the onset of allostatic load. Protective factors include parental bonding, education, social support, healthy workplaces, a sense of meaning towards life and choices being made, and positive feelings in general.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The "Upholder"/"Victoria"-class submarines, also known as the Type 2400 (due to their displacement of 2,400 tonnes), are the class of the diesel-electric submarines built in the United Kingdom in the 1980s to supplement the nuclear submarines in the Submarine Service of the British Royal Navy.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The boats were originally named the "Upholder" class, after the most renowned vessel of the former U class. Their British service life was short, with the vessels being decommissioned in 1994. After an unsuccessful bid to transfer these submarines to the Pakistan Navy in 1993–1994, the Canadian government eventually purchased the submarines and a suite of trainers from the Royal Navy for Canadian Forces Maritime Command (renamed to Royal Canadian Navy in 2011) to replace their decommissioned s in 1998.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In Canadian service, the submarines are classified as the "Victoria" class. These submarines initially suffered from serious electrical problems and were beset by mechanical operational incidents that limited their active service and the scope of their deployments. These problems have largely been overcome and the subs have achieved full operational capability.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In the late 1970s the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) proposed a diesel-electric submarine design to replace the "Oberon" class. The new submarine class was intended to provide a more cost-effective alternative for training and in coastal defence. The announcement for the new design took place in September 1979. Five designs were put forward, with the MoD selecting the 1,960-ton design. However, the need for export potential upped the displacement limit to 2,400 tons to allow for flexibility in construction if the need for alternative machinery and systems arose.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. (VSEL) Type 2400 diesel-electric patrol submarine design was selected. The design displaces between 2,168 and 2,220 tons surfaced and 2,400–2,455 tons submerged. The submarines are long overall with a beam of and a draught of . The submarines had a complement between 44 and 47 with the Royal Navy.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The submarines have a single-skinned, teardrop-shaped hull constructed from NQ1 high tensile steel. The hull is fitted with elastomeric acoustic tiles to reduce the submarine's acoustic signature. The class has a reported dive depth of over .


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The submarines are powered by a single-shaft diesel-electric system. They are equipped with two Paxman Valenta 1600 RPS SZ diesel engines, each driving a GEC electric alternator. There are two 120-cell Chloride batteries. The batteries have a 90-hour endurance at . The submarine is propelled by a GEC dual armature electric motor turning a seven-blade fixed pitch propeller. This gives the vessels a maximum speed of on the surface and submerged. They have a diesel fuel capacity of 200 tons, giving a range of at and at snorting depth.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The class is equipped with six torpedo tubes in the bow. In British service, the submarines were supplied with up to 18 Marconi Mk 24 Tigerfish Mod 2 torpedoes; they were also capable of using UGM-84 Sub-Harpoon missiles. They could also be adapted for use as a minelayer. The DCC Action Information Organisation and Fire Control System (AIS/FC), developed from the DCA/DCB systems in service at that time aboard Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines, was based on two Ferranti FM1600E computers with a digital data bus linked to three dual-purpose consoles. Up to 35 targets could be tracked, and automatic guidance could be provided for four torpedoes against four separate targets.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: During the refit for Canadian service, the Sub-Harpoon and mine capabilities were removed and the submarines were equipped with the Lockheed Martin Librascope Submarine fire-control system (SFCS) to meet the operational requirements of the Canadian Navy. Components from the fire control system of the "Oberon"-class submarines were installed. This gave the submarines the ability to fire the Gould Mk 48 Mod 4 torpedo. This torpedo, operating at , is deployed against targets over a range of . The torpedo range is at speeds up to . The type uses active and passive homing to approach the designated target. In 2014, the Government of Canada purchased 12 upgrade kits that will allow the submarines to fire the Mk 48 Mod 7AT torpedo.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: As built, the "Upholder" class was equipped with the Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band radar for navigational purposes. The submarines were fitted with the Type 2040 Thompson Sintra ARGONAUTE hull mounted sonar, installed in the bow and Type 2026 GEC Avionics passive towed array. The submarines had the Type 2019 Thompson Sintra PARIS passive sonar for active and intercept purposes. They also had the Type 2041 passive ranging sonar and the Type 2004 expendable bathythermograph. The class was fitted with Type 2008 underwater telephone. The Type 2040 sonar was intended to be upgraded to Type 2075; however, that upgrade was cancelled in 1991.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: These systems were later upgraded with the installation of the BAE Type 2007 array and the Type 2046 towed array. The Canadian Towed Array Sonar (CANTASS) has been integrated into the towed sonar suite.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The "Upholder"-class submarines were equipped with the CK035 electro-optical search periscope and the CH085 optronic attack periscope, originally supplied by Pilkington Optronics. After the Canadian refit, the submarines were equipped with Canadian communication equipment and electronic support measures (ESM). This included two SSE decoy launchers and the AR 900 ESM.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The plan initially called for twelve submarines to be built. However, formal approval was given in 1981 for the construction of only nine. The nine submarines were to be constructed in three stages, with Stage 1 being the construction of the prototype submarine, Stage 2 being the construction of three more follow-ons, and Stage 3 being the construction of five vessels with updated systems.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The MoD placed the order with VSEL for the Stage 1 submarine on 2 November 1983. "Upholder"s keel was laid down at the VSEL shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness that month and the submarine was launched on 2 December 1986. The order for Stage 2 was placed on 2 January 1986 with the contract for the next three vessels going to Cammell Laird, a subsidiary of VSEL. The cost announced for the program was £620 million plus long-lead items.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The second submarine, "Unseen", was laid down at the Cammell Laird shipyard at Birkenhead on 12 August 1987 and launched on 14 November 1989. "Ursula" was laid down on 25 August 1987 and launched on 22 February 1991 and "Unicorn" was laid down on 13 March 1989 and launched on 16 April 1992.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Upholder" was completed on 9 June 1990, followed by "Unseen" on 20 July 1991, "Ursula" on 8 May 1992 and "Unicorn" on 25 June 1993. Initially they were unable to fire torpedoes and the first three were refitted in 1992 and 1993 to have this fixed at a cost of £9 million. They were operating from (at Gosport), but with only four submarines the base was deemed uneconomic and they transferred to Devonport Naval Base. In their short period of service, the class operated mostly in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and UK waters. The exception was "Unicorn", which completed a 6-month deployment east of Suez, completing operations and exercises in the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean and in the Persian Gulf.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In 1992, the Defence Review announced the decision by the MoD to direct all further submarine expenditure to nuclear-powered submarines. In 1994, the Royal Navy abandoned the Type 2400 program after the first four submarines and Stage 3 was never ordered. The "Upholder" class were declared surplus in 1994 and laid up. "Unseen" was paid off on 6 April 1994, followed by "Upholder" on 29 April and "Ursula" on 16 June. These three submarines were laid up in June 1994. "Unicorn" was paid off on 16 October 1994 and laid up.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In 1992, the United Kingdom learned that the Pakistan had been in discussion and negotiation with France over the acquisition of submarines with Sharif administration giving a permission to the Pakistan Navy to acquire either diesel-electric-powered or the air-independent-powered submarines. The Pakistan Navy's research team, comprising three admirals, visited Sweden, China, France, and the United Kingdom. Original plans were to acquire the submarines from Sweden from the first team but the second team recommended the acquisition of either the British "Upholder"s or the French . During this time, Admiral S. M. Khan, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), had strongly suggested "Upholder" but the Bhutto administration had chosen the French technology over several political and technical reasons.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: Following the cancellation of the Canadian nuclear-powered submarine program, the Canadian navy sought to acquire conventionally-powered submarines again. The Canadian National Defence White Paper of 1994 stated the intent to explore the purchase of the "Upholder" class from the UK. The choice faced opposition and the price of $1 billion that the MoD demanded stalled the decision by the Cabinet of Canada to go ahead with the purchase. In the meantime, the subs were offered to Portugal and Chile. In 1996, another attempt to purchase the subs by Canada was stopped soon after starting. In the meantime, the UK spent millions maintaining the submarines.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In April 1998, the Canadian government announced the potential acquisition of the "Upholder" class. The published cost was $750 million divided into two parts. $610 million was to be paid for the subs themselves and the remaining $140 million would cover related expenses.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: On 3 July 1998, the deal was ratified and two contracts were signed simultaneously. The first was an eight-year interest-free lease-to-purchase agreement for the four submarines, five training simulators and assorted training and data packages. The lease payments were part of a barter agreement for the continued access by the UK to Canadian Forces bases Wainwright, Suffield, and Goose Bay. The second contract was with VSEL for the refits required for the reactivation of the laid-up submarines. This included modifications for Canadian service, new batteries, a training program and all spare parts.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: Although the Canadian government touted the $750 million CAD procurement as a bargain, there have been arguments over the quality of the submarines with some suggestions that the purchase price will be at least spent again putting things right. Some Canadian opposition parties demanded that the British government fund any further costs, since it is widely believed that the submarines deteriorated while in storage and the Royal Navy was not completely forthcoming on their condition during the sale. However, Stephen Saunders, editor of "Jane's Fighting Ships", argued that "there is not something inherently wrong with the class of submarines."


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In 2008, Babcock Canada was awarded the contract to support the "Victoria" class in Canadian service in the period up to 2023. The potential value of the contract was over CAD $3.6 billion and required establishing a supply chain in Canada to support and sustain the submarines. Every six to nine years each "Victoria"-class boat undergoes an extended docking work period (EDWP) involving comprehensive maintenance, repair, overhaul or upgrading of over 200 systems including sonar upgrades, mast upgrades and combat system upgrades.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Victoria"-class submarines use eight Submarine Command Team Trainers built for the Royal Navy. These were moved from the UK to Canada by CAE, Computing Devices Canada, General Dynamics Canada and Irving Shipbuilding. These devices are land-based systems using simulators and other training devices. "Victoria"-class submarines also use a Canadian Submarine Escape Trainer, attached to a real submarine escape hatch to simulate escape procedures.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: Upon acquiring the subs, Maritime Command suggested that the subs would be operational by 2000. This included an 18-month systems check. Each sub would undergo a six-month Canadian Work Period (CWP). During the CWP, Canadian communications and fire control systems were installed. On 6 October, "Unseen" was accepted by Canada at Barrow-in-Furness and renamed "Victoria". The submarine arrived in Canada on 23 October 2000 and was commissioned into Maritime Command on 2 December. She then underwent her CWP.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Unicorn" was accepted by Canada and renamed "Windsor" on 5 July 2001. The sub sailed from Faslane on 8 October, arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 19 October 2001. During her sea trials, "Windsor" suffered minor flooding while submerged, forcing her early entry into the CWP. "Ursula" was accepted by Canada and renamed "Corner Brook" on 21 February 2003. She departed Faslane on 25 February and arrived at Halifax on 10 March. "Corner Brook" was commissioned at her namesake city on 29 June 2003. On 29 June 2003, following the completion of her CWP, "Victoria" transferred to the west coast, arriving at Esquimalt, British Columbia on 24 August. "Windsor" was commissioned into Maritime Command during her CWP on 4 October 2003.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The crew of , the last Canadian "Oberon", transferred to "Upholder", the last of the class to transfer in July 2000. The sub was accepted by Canada on 2 October 2004 at Faslane and renamed "Chicoutimi".


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Chicoutimi" cleared Faslane on 4 October 2004 on her homeward journey to Canada. Since Faslane was a nuclear submarine base, "Chicoutimi" was forced to travel on the surface for the first stage of the passage. On 5 October "Chicoutimi" was passing through a gale with seas. During a watch change at 0300 sea water entered the conning tower. The lower hatch prevented the water from entering the sub; however, the drain in the tower failed to operate. When the lower hatch was opened, the water fell into the sub. However, the water was pumped overboard and the incident noted. The drain valves required repair before diving. At 1052 two crew entered the tower to perform repairs. The upper hatch was opened. However, after roughly 25 minutes, another tool was needed from within the sub. When the lower hatch was opened, the submarine was rocked by a large wave, throwing roughly 500 gallons of sea water into "Chicoutimi". Electrical explosions and fire erupted soon afterward, spreading quickly. In order to fight the fire, all systems aboard the submarine were shut down, leaving the submarine dead in the water. An attempt to restore auxiliary power caused another fire to break out. At 1912, attempts to remove smoke by starting an oxygen generator caused another fire. Nine sailors were injured, three seriously.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: The first ship on the scene was the Irish patrol vessel , which suffered damage in the heavy seas and was forced to return to port. The British frigate arrived the following day to provide aid. Rescue efforts had been hampered by the poor weather. The three seriously injured crewmen were evacuated by "Montrose"s helicopter and flown directly to Sligo, Ireland. One sailor died of his injuries shortly after arrival. "Chicoutimi" was taken in tow on 7 October and arrived back at Faslane on 9 October.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Chicoutimi" was transported to Halifax aboard the submersible heavy lift vessel "Eide Transporter", arriving on 1 February 2005. The commissioning of the submarine was delayed until the assessment of the damage could take place. Following the assessment, "Chicoutimi" was carried to Esquimalt aboard the submersible heavy lift ship "Tern", arriving on 29 April 2009 to undergo a major refit.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Windsor" became the first active member of the class in Canadian service in June 2005. In the following year and a half, the submarine took part in several international naval exercises and training periods with other Canadian units. "Victoria" performed several sea trials and training exercises before beginning a major refit, called the Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP), on 27 June 2005. "Corner Brook" entered her CWP from 2004 to 2005 and began sea trials on 24 October 2006.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: On 15 January 2007, "Windsor" began the EDWP refit at Halifax. In 2007 "Corner Brook" participated in the NATO naval exercise "Joint Warrior", marking the first time in fifteen years that a Canadian submarine had sailed in European waters. In August 2007, "Corner Brook" participated in Operation Nanook, Canada's naval exercise in the Arctic.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: In March 2008, "Corner Brook" deployed as part of Operation Caribbe in the Caribbean Sea. In August 2009 "Corner Brook" again deployed to the Arctic as part of Operation Nanook.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: On 30 January 2011 "Corner Brook" left Halifax to transfer to the west coast. On the way, the submarine participated in Operation Caribbe. She arrived at Esquimalt on 5 May 2011. On 4 June 2011, "Corner Brook" while diving off the coast of British Columbia slammed into the seafloor at at a depth of . Two sailors were injured in the collision and the submarine suffered significant damage, with a hole in the bow. Two torpedo tube doors were torn off in the collision. The submarine surfaced and made port without requiring aid. The commander of the submarine was later stripped of his command following a board of inquiry. Repairs and a major refit kept the sub out of operational service until 2018. "Victoria" emerged from the EDWP at the end of 2011.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Victoria" was declared fully operational in March 2012 and participated in the RIMPAC naval exercise that year, sinking ex- with one of her torpedoes. "Windsor" finished her refit on 30 November 2012. "Victoria" participated in Operation Caribbe in 2013. "Windsor" reentered the dockyard in March 2014 requiring the replacement of a defective diesel generator.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: "Windsor" performed a 105-day training cruise in 2015, making it the longest deployment by a "Victoria"-class submarine. The submarine participated in training exercises with NATO and several navies in the North Atlantic. During the cruise, "Windsor" was deployed to track five submarines from another nation that had entered the North Atlantic. Canada announced plans for a major life extension for the class on 7 April 2015, possibly to start in 2020. The estimated cost for the program would be between $1.5 and $2 billion CAN.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: On 3 September 2015, "Chicoutimi" was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy at Esquimalt. However, the sub was restricted to shallow-water diving. In October 2015, "Chicoutimi" was among the Canadian vessels sent to participate in a joint exercise with the United States Navy. "Chicoutimi" and "Victoria" were taken out of active service in 2016 after hundreds of welds were found to not meet quality standards, affecting the ability of the subs to dive. They were docked at Esquimalt for several months. "Chicoutimi" was repaired first, followed by "Victoria". "Victoria" was used for training purposes until repairs were effected. In September 2017, Canada deployed "Chicoutimi" on patrol in Asian waters, the first such deployment by a "Victoria"-class submarine. During the deployment, "Chicoutimi" marked the first visit to Japan by a Canadian submarine since 1968. The vessel returned to Canada on 21 March 2018 spending 197 days at sea, the longest deployment by a "Victoria"-class submarine in Canadian service.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: Under the Justin Trudeau government's defence policy paper, "Strong Secure Engaged" (2017), the operational life of each "Victoria"-class boat will be extended by one additional "life-cycle" (or by about eight years). This is designed to permit the operation of the fleet into about the early to mid-2030s.


title: Upholder/Victoria-class submarine

text: However, as of 2020 no decision has been taken on the actual replacement of Canada's submarines which are already thirty years old. Analysis by the Naval Association of Canada indicates that the lead times, technical challenges and costs involved in submarine replacement would be significant were such a program to be initiated.


title: Giorgio Parisi

text: Giorgio Parisi (born 4 August 1948) is an Italian theoretical physicist, whose research has focused on quantum field theory, statistical mechanics and complex systems. His best known contributions are the QCD evolution equations for parton densities, obtained with Guido Altarelli, known as the Altarelli–Parisi or DGLAP equations, the exact solution of the Sherrington–Kirkpatrick model of spin glasses, the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation describing dynamic scaling of growing interfaces, and the study of whirling flocks of birds. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Klaus Hasselmann and Syukuro Manabe for groundbreaking contributions to theory of complex systems, in particular "for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales."


title: Giorgio Parisi

text: Giorgio Parisi received his degree from the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1970 under the supervision of Nicola Cabibbo. He was a researcher at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (1971–1981) and a visiting scientist at the Columbia University (1973–1974), Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (1976–1977), and École Normale Supérieure (1977–1978). From 1981 until 1992 he was a full professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and he is now professor of Quantum Theories at the Sapienza University of Rome. He is a member of the Simons Collaboration "Cracking the Glass Problem".


title: Giorgio Parisi

text: Parisi's research interests are broad and cover statistical physics, field theory, dynamical systems, mathematical physics and condensed matter physics, where he is particularly known for his work on spin glasses and related statistical mechanics models originating in optimization theory and biology. In particular, he made significant contributions in terms of systematic applications of the replica method to disordered systems, even though the replica method itself was originally discovered in 1971 by Sir Sam Edwards.


title: Giorgio Parisi

text: He has also contributed to the field of elementary particle physics, in particular to quantum chromodynamics and string theory. Together with Guido Altarelli, he introduced the so-called Dokshitzer–Gribov–Lipatov–Altarelli–Parisi equations. In the field of fluid dynamics he is known for having introduced, together with Uriel Frisch, multifractal models to describe the phenomenon of intermittency in turbulent flows. He is also known for the Kardar–Parisi–Zhang equation modelling stochastic aggregation. From the point of view of complex systems, he worked on the collective motion of animals (such as swarms and flocks). He also introduced, together with other Italian physicists, the concept of stochastic resonance in the study of climate change.


title: Giorgio Parisi

text: Giorgio Parisi is a foreign member of the French Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the United States National Academy of Sciences.


title: Giorgio Parisi

text: Since 2016, Giorgio Parisi has been leading the movement "Salviamo la Ricerca Italiana" to put pressure on the Italian and European governments to start funding basic research above the subsistence level.


title: Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)

text: The MGB (), an initialism for "Ministerstvo gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti SSSR" (; translated in English as Ministry for State Security), was the name of the Soviet state security apparatus dealing with internal and external security issues: secret police duties, foreign and domestic intelligence and counterintelligence, etc. from 1946 to 1953.


text: The MGB was just one of many incarnations of the Soviet State Security apparatus. After the revolution, the Bolsheviks relied on a strong political police or security force to support and control their regime. During the Russian Civil War, the Cheka were in power, relinquishing it to State Political Directorate (GPU) in 1922 after the fighting was over.


text: The GPU was then renamed The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) in 1934. From the mid-1930s and until the creation of the KGB, this "Organ of State Security" was re-organized and renamed multiple times. In 1941, the state-security function was separated from the NKVD and became the People's Commissariat for State Security (NKGB), only to be reintegrated a few months later during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.


text: In 1943, the NKGB was once again made into an independent organization in response to the Soviet occupation of parts of Eastern Europe. SMERSH—anecdotally derived from a phrase translated as "Death to Spies"—was designed to be a counter-intelligence unit within the Red Army to ensure the loyalty of the army personnel.


text: Following the end of the war, both the NKVD and the NKGB were converted to ministries and redubbed the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MVD) and the Ministry for State Security (MGB). The MGB and MVD merged again in 1953, orchestrated by Lavrenty Beria, who was then arrested and executed. The KGB took on the mantle of the NKGB/ MGB and, in 1954, broke off from the reformed MVD.


text: The MGB essentially inherited the "secret police" function of the old NKVD, conducting espionage and counterespionage, as well as enacting a policy of supervision and surveillance to keep control and to prevent disloyalty. After World War II, the MGB was used to bring the newly acquired Eastern Bloc under Soviet control. It enforced rigid conformity in the satellite states of Eastern Europe and infiltrated and destroyed anticommunist, anti-Soviet, or independent groups.


text: The protection, policing, and supervision of the Soviet Union fell to this new agency, as it was the main agency responsible for the security of the Union. The MGB directed espionage networks at home and abroad, and also organized both domestic and foreign counterintelligence. They were also responsible for enforcing security regulations, monitoring and censoring information leaving or coming into the country; and supervising the vast majority of Soviet life, including the planting and organizing of agents to track and monitor public opinion and loyalty; as well as ensuring the safety of important government and party officials.


text: The MGB, above all else, was a security organization, and as such, was designed for covert and clandestine surveillance and supervision. The intelligence apparatus was able to permeate every level and branch of state administration, with agents planted in collective farms, factories, and local governments, as well as throughout the upper level and rank and file of Soviet bureaucracy. Each department within the government also had their own official supervisor, a "Special Section" staffed by the MGB to keep tabs on and regulate the employees, and to ensure the absence of disloyalty.


text: The Ministry retained a high level of autonomy and a remarkable amount of freedom of operation within the Soviet system, as the agency was only responsible to the Central Committee. MGB agents had the power to arrest and sentence opponents upon receiving approval from a higher authority, a clause oft ignored. The OSO (the Special Council of the State Security Ministry) convicted arrestees charged with committing political crimes, including espionage, and could banish them from certain areas, or from the USSR entirely.


text: In Stalin’s last years, between 1945 and 1953, more than 750,000 Soviet citizens were arrested and punished. Many of the arrests made by the MGB were founded on flimsy or fabricated evidence, most notably on the "suspicion of espionage" (podozreniye shpionazha, or PSh). Since in many cases it is impossible to prove any espionage activities or even an intention to spy, the case is built on the "suspicion of espionage", making acquittal impossible.


text: The general structure of the MGB is much the same as both the organization it came from, the NKGB, and the organization that followed, the KGB


text: The MGB was composed of several departments or directorates with a specific purpose within the organization.


text: First Main Directorate was responsible for foreign intelligence. The First Main Directorate maintained surveillance over the "Soviet colony" (SK—Sovetskaya koloniya), i.e., the personnel of Soviet diplomatic, trade, technical, cultural, and other agencies functioning abroad. It also sought to infiltrate foreign governmental bodies, businesses, public organizations, sensitive industrial plants, cultural and educational institutions, etc., placing MGB agents in strategic posts for intelligence-gathering and possible covert action.


text: In 1947 the GRU (military intelligence) and MGB's 1st Main Directorate were combined into the recently created foreign intelligence agency, the Committee of Information (KI), under the control of Vyacheslav Molotov, in an attempt to streamline the intelligence needs of the State. In 1948, the military personnel in KI were returned to the GRU. KI sections dealing with the new East Bloc and Soviet émigrés were returned to the MGB later that year. In 1951, the KI returned to the MGB, as a First Main Directorate of the Ministry of State Security.


text: The Second Main Directorate focused on domestic counterintelligence and acted as an internal security and political police force. The goal of this department was to combat foreign intelligence operations within the USSR and its territories. The Second Directorate worked mainly inside the country to combat foreign espionage and to study the forms and methods used by foreign intelligence services on the territory of the U.S.S.R. The work it did abroad aimed to organize operational-technical intelligence, i.e., the investigation of the forms, working methods and regulations of the intelligence, counterintelligence, and police and administrative organs of foreign countries.


text: The Third Main Directorate was concerned with military counterintelligence. It carried out many of the same tasks as SMERSH, which it absorbed, as it conducted political surveillance of armed forces. It relied heavily on the Army Special Section to ensure the loyalties of the soldiers and officers. The MGB operatives were used to supervise personnel and daily action, as well as to carry out counterintelligence operations.


text: The Fifth Main Directorate evolved out of the Main Secret Political Administration. It was responsible for regulating and repressing real or imagined dissent within the party apparatus and Soviet society. This involved supervising almost every aspect of Soviet life, including the intelligentsia, bureaucracy, general administrative agencies, cultural organizations, educational institutions, and even the party apparatus itself. They investigated the political reliability of the entire population of the Soviet Union, with particular attention to the Party and Soviet apparatus, up to the highest leaders of the Party and government.


text: They secretly supervised the activity of the entire administrative and economic apparatus of the state and all scientific, public, church, and other organizations. The goal was to hunt down "deviations from the general line," "opposition leanings" within the party to ferret out and eliminate "bourgeois nationalism" in the Soviet satellites, i.e., anti-Soviet movements under the guise of nationalism.


text: At the beginning of the MGB, the Fourth Directorate was designed as a proto-terrorist force to combat the anti-Soviet underground, nationalist formations, and hostile elements. Viktor Abakumov dissolved this department in 1946, but kept the main players in a Special Service group so that they could continue with the same pattern of violence that the Fourth Directorate was known for. The group was dissolved in 1949.


text: Upon the destruction of the Fourth Directorate as a terrorist group, the department was transitioned into Transportation Security. It was responsible for the preparation and security of mobilization and transport. The department was responsible for counterintelligence and surveillance operations within their transport programs.


text: This department was a short-lived organization designed to collect and process Signals Intelligence, or SIGINT. The department was initially composed of the NKGB's 5th Directorate (responsible for wartime communications) and an independent cryptography department, the 2nd Special Department. However, this Directorate was competing with another better-funded communications organization, Department ‘R’, which specialized in radio counterintelligence. The 6th Directorate was dissolved in 1949, and its resources and personnel absorbed into the Special Services Department (GUSS), a cryptanalysis and information security branch of the Central Committee.


text: Known as the ‘K’ Division, this organization supervised the economy and ran economic counterintelligence and industrial security. They were concerned with the implementation of security programs and requirements, as well as the supervision and monitoring of the workers, leading them to make extensive use of the Special Sections within the state and local organizations.


text: Sometimes called the Seventh Directorate, this section was responsible for providing the tools, techniques, and manpower to accommodate the physical surveillance needs of the MGB. They offered facilities, devices, and methodology to help with the demands of the intelligence departments. They were able to do both outdoor (tailing) and photographic surveillance, as well as being able to tap phone lines, monitor conversations in other rooms through hidden microphones and covertly examining mail. They also had sections devoted to codes, cryptography, and ciphers.


text: Otherwise known as the Guards Directorate, they were charged with the personal security of the top party officials. The Division provided personal security to members and alternates of the Presidium of the Central Committee, ministers of the U.S.S.R. and their deputies, secretaries of the Central Committee, and a number of high officeholders specifically listed. The Division was also responsible for guarding important agencies and installations of the secret police themselves.


text: A number of the top officials from this department were implicated in the Doctors' Plot, showing the inherent mistrust and suspicion within the Soviet security apparatus.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Matthew Derrick Williams (born November 28, 1965), nicknamed "Matt the Bat" and "The Big Marine" is an American professional baseball manager and former third baseman who is the third base coach for the San Diego Padres. A right-handed batter, Williams played in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, and Arizona Diamondbacks. He managed the Washington Nationals from 2014 to 2015.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams played in a World Series for each of the teams he played for ( with the Giants, with the Indians, and with the Diamondbacks in which he won over the New York Yankees). During these years, Williams became the only player to hit at least one World Series home run for three different Major League baseball teams. During his career, Williams had an overall batting average of .268, with 378 home runs and 1,218 runs batted in (RBIs). He scored 997 Major League runs, and he accumulated 1,878 hits, 338 doubles, and 35 triples, while playing in 1,866 regular-season games.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams originally was selected by the New York Mets in the 27th round from Carson High School in Carson City, Nevada, but he did not sign with the Mets. Williams was the starting quarterback on the Carson Senators football team in high school. Two of his teammates who played baseball in high school, Bob Ayrault and Charlie Kerfeld, also played baseball in the major leagues.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams accepted a baseball scholarship to play for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and after attending college and playing baseball there, Williams was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (the 3rd pick) of the 1986 pro baseball draft. Williams began his major league career in 1987 primarily as a shortstop for the Giants while playing some games at third base also. He played both shortstop and third base until the 1990 season when he became the starting third baseman for the Giants and went on to lead the National League in Runs Batted In with 122 while making the National League All Star team. Despite suffering from several leg injuries and some lower-back ailments, Williams was an excellent fielder at third base, and a dangerous and productive hitter. As a third baseman, Williams had good reflexes and excellent hands, with a quick release and strong, accurate arm. During his career, he earned four Gold Glove Awards, all between 1991 and 1997.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: A hitter with exceptional power, six times he hit more than 30 home runs in a season as a Giant, with more than 90 runs batted in. His best season was 1994 when he hit a National League-best 43 home runs and had an impressive 96 runs batted in (RBI) in only 112 games as the Major League Baseball season was shortened by nearly one-third because of a season-ending strike by Major League baseball players. He was on pace to challenge the single season home run record of 61, at the time held by Roger Maris, with his 43 home runs in 115 games projecting to 60.6 home runs at season's end. Williams finished second in the voting for the National League Most Valuable Player Award that year behind first baseman Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams was traded to Cleveland after the 1996 season in a six-player trade that worked out for both teams; the Giants received future NL MVP Jeff Kent in the deal.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: In 1997, while Williams' streak of three straight All-Star selections ended, he exceeded 30 HRs and 100 RBIs and won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger, all for the first time since 1994. He also helped lead Cleveland to its second American League pennant in three years, although the Indians lost the World Series in seven games to the Florida Marlins. After his divorce from his first wife Tracie, Williams requested and received a trade to the Arizona Diamondbacks to be closer to his children.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams was an original member of the Arizona Diamondbacks from the club's inaugural season in 1998. He holds the Diamondbacks record for the most RBIs in one season with a total of 142 during 1999; the record has since been tied by Luis Gonzalez in 2001, but has never been exceeded.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams was a partial owner of the Diamondbacks, and carried the title of "Special Assistant to the General Partner". Williams occasionally also served as color commentator during Diamondbacks radio and television broadcasts, and also assisted in coaching and with player personnel matters.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams was hired in November 2009 by the Diamondbacks to be the first base coach for 2010. Williams moved from first base coach to third base coach for the 2011 season, while working under first-year manager Kirk Gibson.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: On October 31, 2013, the Washington Nationals announced that they had hired Williams to replace Davey Johnson as their manager for the 2014 season. Prior to the 2015 season, the Nationals exercised an option to extend Williams through the 2016 season.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams managed the Nationals to a NL East division title and the playoffs, but lost the NLDS to the San Francisco Giants. Williams was named the 2014 National League Manager of the Year.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: On October 5, 2015, the Nationals terminated Williams after a disappointing season where they were World Series favorites and failed to make the postseason. He finished with a record of 179 wins and 145 losses.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams joined the Kia Tigers of the KBO League, becoming their first American-born manager before the 2020 season. On November 5, 2021, it was announced that Williams would not be returning to the team in 2022 after the club finished in ninth place with a 58–75 record in 2021.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams coached for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010 through 2014 before he managed the Washington Nationals in 2014 and 2015. He was hired as the Oakland Athletics' third base coach in November 2017, staying with them through the 2019 season.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: On December 17, 2021, Williams was hired by the San Diego Padres to serve as the team's third base coach for the 2022 season.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams joined "NBC Sports Bay Area" in 2017 as a studio analyst, appearing before and after San Francisco Giants telecasts.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: On November 6, 2007, the "San Francisco Chronicle" reported that Williams purchased $11,600 worth of human growth hormone, steroids and other drugs from the Palm Beach clinic in 2002. Williams later told the "Chronicle" he used HGH on the advice of a doctor to treat an ankle injury he suffered during spring training in 2002.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: On December 13, 2007, he was named among the dozens of players alleged to have used steroids in the "Mitchell Report", commissioned by Major League Baseball and written by former Senator George J. Mitchell.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams became eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He received just 1.3% of the votes, and was dropped from the ballot.


title: Matt Williams (third baseman)

text: Williams has been married three times. His first wife, Tracie, left with their three children for another. His second wife (January 1999 – July 2002) was film actress Michelle Johnson. She filed for divorce in 2002, listing irreconcilable differences as the reason. The couple had no children, and in July 2002 their divorce was final. In 2003, Williams became engaged to Phoenix news anchor Erika Monroe, who is a TV news anchor from KTVK-TV, a TV hostess and creator of the cooking and lifestyle website, The Hopeless Housewife; they married in 2003. In 2007 the couple co-hosted the weekend pre-game shows for the Arizona Diamondbacks called "DBacks on Deck". They have one child and live in Bel Air, California.


title: Qa'a

text: Qa'a (also Qáa or Ka'a) (literal meaning: "his arm is raised") was the last king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for 33 years at the end of the 30th century BC.


title: Qa'a

text: Manetho calls Qa'a Biénechês and gives him a reign of 26 years according to the version preserved by Sextus Julius Africanus


title: Qa'a

text: . Other versions of copies of Manetho's epitomes give other hellenized names such as Óubiênthis for versions by Eusebius and Víbenthis by Armenian versions of Eusebius.


title: Qa'a

text: The parents of Qa'a are unknown, but it is thought that either his predecessor Anedjib or Semerkhet was his father, since it was tradition to leave the throne to the eldest son. If Manetho suggested correctly (remembering the tradition), Semerkhet was the father.


title: Qa'a

text: There is not much known about Qa'a's reign, but it seems that he reigned for a long time (around 33 years). Several stone vessel inscriptions mention a second Sed festival for Qa'a, which points to at least 33 years of reign. The first festival was usually not celebrated before 30 years of reign, and subsequent festivals could be repeated every third year. The Palermo Stone only mentions the year of coronation and some usual cultic events that were celebrated under every king. The numerous ivory tags dating to his reign also mention only typical arrangements, such as depicting and counting burial offerings and personal possessions of the king. Several mastaba tombs of high officials date into Qa'a's reign: "Merka" (S3505), "Henuka" (burial unknown), "Neferef" (burial also unknown) and "Sabef" (buried in the royal necropolis of Qa'a).


title: Qa'a

text: Despite Qa'a's long and prosperous reign, evidence shows that after his death, a dynastic war between different royal houses began over the newly empty throne. In the tomb of the high official "Merka", a stone vessel with the name of a king Sneferka was found. It is unclear whether "Sneferka" was an alternate name of Qa'a or if he was a separate, ephemeral ruler. Egyptologists such as Wolfgang Helck and Toby Wilkinson point to a further mysterious ruler named "Horus Bird", whose name was found on vessel fragments dating to the end of the first dynasty. It is postulated that Sneferka and Horus Bird fought for power and that Hotepsekhemwy ended the fight and finally ascended the throne of Egypt, thus starting the Second Dynasty. Strong clues to that theory are traces of grave robberies and arsons found in the royal tombs of Abydos. Clay seals of Hotepsekhemwy found in Qa'a's tomb suggest that he restored the tomb or buried Qa'a, maybe in an attempt to legitimize his rule.


title: Qa'a

text: Qa'a had a fairly large tomb in Abydos which measures 98.5 X 75.5 feet or 30 X 23 meters. A long reign is supported by the large size of this ruler's burial site at Abydos. This tomb was excavated by German archaeologists in 1993 and proved to contain 26 satellite (i.e. sacrificial) burials. A seal impression bearing Hotepsekhemwy's name was found near the entrance of the tomb of Qa'a (Tomb Q) by the German Archaeological Institute in the mid-1990s. The discovery of the seal impression has been interpreted as evidence that Qa'a was buried, and therefore succeeded, by Hotepsekhemwy, the founder of the second dynasty of Egypt, as Manetho states. The beautiful tomb stela of Qa'a is now on display at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.


title: Qa'a

text: The tomb of one of Qa'a's state officials at Saqqara—a certain nobleman named Merka—contained a stele with many titles. There is a second Sed festival attested. This fact plus the high quality of a number of royal steles depicting the king implies that Qa'a's reign was a fairly stable and prosperous period of time.


title: Qa'a

text: A number of year labels have also been discovered dating to his reign at the First Dynasty burial site of Umm el-Qa'ab in Abydos. Qa'a is believed to have ruled Egypt around 2916 BCE. A dish inscribed with the name and titles of Qa'a was discovered in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen (Tomb P of Petrie).


title: American Psycho (album)

text: American Psycho is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits. Released on May 13, 1997, it was the first to be recorded and released without the band's founder and former leader Glenn Danzig. Bassist Jerry Only, after years of litigation, reached a settlement with Danzig and was granted the rights to use the band's name and image to record and perform. The album also marked the addition of singer Michale Graves and Dr. Chud on drums.


title: American Psycho (album)

text: Originally, the album was going to be titled "Dead Kings Rise", a play on the band's resurrection, but was changed when the title track did not make the album. The album was produced by New York City based musician Daniel Rey, who had previously worked with artists such as King Missile and the Ramones.


title: American Psycho (album)

text: "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that "their goofy formula of lyrics inspired by bad horror movies, poppy vocals, and blasting hardcore is still excellent mosh-pit fodder."


title: Magellanic Clouds

text: The Magellanic Clouds ("Magellanic system" or "Nubeculae Magellani") are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both show signs of a bar structure, they are often reclassified as Magellanic spiral galaxies.


title: Magellanic Clouds

text: Magellanic clouds are visible to the unaided eye in the Southern Hemisphere but they cannot be observed from the most northern latitudes.


title: Magellanic Clouds

text: The Magellanic Clouds have been known since ancient times to indigenous peoples across South America and Africa, and from the first millennium in Western Asia. The first preserved mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud is believed to be in petroglyphs and rock drawings found in Chile. They may be the objects mentioned by the polymath Ibn Qutaybah (d. 889 CE), in his book on "Al-Anwā̵’" (the stations of the Moon in pre-Islamic Arabian culture):"وأسفل من سهيل قدما سهيل . وفى مجرى قدمى سهيل، من خلفهما كواكب زهر كبار، لا ترى بالعراق، يسميها أهل تهامة الأعبار


title: Magellanic Clouds

text: "And below Canopus, there are the feet of Canopus, and on their extension, behind them bright big stars, not seen in Iraq, the people of Tihama call them "al-a‘bār"."Later Al Sufi, a professional astronomer, in 964 CE, in his "Book of Fixed Stars", mentioned the same quote, but with a different spelling. Under Argo Navis, he quoted that "unnamed others have claimed that beneath Canopus there are two stars known as the 'feet of Canopus', and beneath those there are bright white stars that are unseen in Iraq nor Najd, and that the inhabitants of Tihama call them "al-Baqar" [cows], and Ptolemy did not mention any of this so we [Al-Sufi] do not know if this is true or false." Both Ibn Qutaybah and Al-Sufi were probably quoting from the former's contemporary (and compatriot) and famed scientist Abu Hanifa Dinawari's mostly lost work on Anwaa. Abu Hanifa was probably quoting earlier sources, which may be just travelers stories, and hence Al-Sufi's comments about their veracity.