George Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located within the city limits, 8 miles northwest, of central Victorville, California, about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California.

Established by the United States Army Air Corps as an Advanced Flying School in June 1941, it was closed at the end of World War II.   It was again activated as a training base by the United States Air Force with the outbreak of the Korean War in November 1950.  It remained a training base throughout the Cold War and in the immediate post-Cold War period, primarily for the Tactical Air Command (TAC) and later the Air Combat Command (ACC), training USAF, NATO and other Allied pilots and weapon systems officers in front-line fighter aircraft until being closed in 1993.

George AFB was closed pursuant to a decision by the 1988 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission at the end of the Cold War. It is now the site of the Southern California Logistics Airport. Since 2009, the California Air National Guard's 196th Reconnaissance Squadron (96 RS) has operated an MQ-1 Predator Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) training facility at the site.

History
George Air Force Base was named in honor of Brigadier General Harold Huston George.   He was a World War I fighter ace, serving with the 185th and 139th Aero Squadrons.  At the beginning of World War II he was assigned to the V Interceptor Command, Far East Air Force in the Philippines.  There, he directed air operations in defense of the fortified islands in Manila Bay. Withdrawn to Australia, he died on 29 April 1942 in an aircraft accident near Darwin, Northern Territory.

A Curtiss P-40 of the 49th Fighter Group, piloted by Lt. Bob Hazard, taking off as second of two P-40s from Twenty-Seven Mile Field, SE of Darwin, Australia, lost directional control in the propwash of the lead fighter, striking a recently arrived Lockheed C-40 parked next to airstrip, killing General Harold H. George, Time-Life war correspondent Melvin Jacoby, and base personnel 2nd Lt. Robert D. Jasper, who were standing next to the Lockheed. A number of others received injuries, but the P-40 pilot survived. George Air Force Base was named for the late general in June 1950.

World War II

In April 1940, civic leaders from Victorville, California approached the United States Army with a proposal to develop an airfield in the High Mojave Desert. They promoted the area's 360-days per year of sunny weather, abundance of wide-open spaces, and the availability of services from the nearby towns of both Victorville and Adelanto. In 1941, as part of the buildup of the United States Army Air Corps prior to the entry of the United States into World War II, an agreement was made, and construction of the 2,200-acre base, called Victorville Army Air Field at the time, commenced with a groundbreaking ceremony on 12 July 1941.

Runway construction consisted of a four runway configuration along with seven hangars. Known sub-bases and auxiliaries of Victorville AAF were:
 Hawes Auxiliary Airfield (No 1)         (Abandoned)
 Helendale Auxiliary Airfield (No 2)     (Now home to a test facility operated by Lockheed Skunk Works)
 Mirage Auxiliary Airfield (No 3)
 Grey Butte Auxiliary Airfield (No 4)
  To support the airfields the Silver Peak Light Annex was built.
  To support the airfields the Victorville Precision Bombing range was built.
In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars.

The station facility consisted of a large number of buildings based on standardized plans and architectural drawings, with the buildings designed to be the "cheapest, temporary character with structural stability only sufficient to meet the needs of the service which the structure is intended to fulfill during the period of its contemplated war use" was underway. To conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board and concrete asbestos. Metal was sparsely used. The station was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed. There were libraries, social clubs for officers and enlisted men, and stores to buy necessities. With over 250 buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities, the airfield served over 4,000 military personnel.

Training began in February 1942 on Curtiss AT-9's, T-6 Texan's, and AT-17's for pilots, and AT-11's and BT-13 Valiant's for bombardiers. The army operated an advanced twin-engine pilot training school at the field, its graduates generally flying C-47 Skytrain transports, B-25 Mitchell or B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The school also trained replacement crew members in the B-25 and B-26. The first class of flying cadets graduated on 24 April 1942.

In addition to the pilot training, a USAAF Bombardier training school was operated. The 516th, 517th, and 518th Twin-Engine Flying Training Squadrons were the flying squadrons. Bombardier training was conducted by the 519th, 520th, 521st, and 522d Bombardier Training Squadrons. In April 1942, these training squadrons were organized under the 36th Flying Training Wing, which became the main flying operations command and control organization.  The first bombardier classes had to practice their target runs at nearby Muroc Army Air Field (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base). The pilots used Highway 395 as a landmark and guide north to the bombing range.

Waco CG-4 Glider pilots were also trained at Victorville Field, with special emphasis on spot-landing and night flying. The gliders were an essential part of the 6 June 1944, D-Day invasion as hundreds of gliders carried troops and equipment to landing sites in Normandy, France.  To ease the overcrowded runways at Victorville, glider students practiced take-offs and landings at the El Mirage Lakebed and El Mirage Field. There were seven oiled runways on the dusty dry lake and they worked well until the lake bed flooded in January 1943.

1944 saw several changes at Victorville Field, with the 3035th Army Air Forces Base Unit taking over the administrative organization of the school in April. On 15 March 1944 a transition training school for P-39 Airacobra single-engine pursuit pilots was established, announced that date by base C.O. Col. Earl C. Robbins.  Also training for B-24 Liberator bombardiers began, and in September, a RADAR training school for bombardiers was established.

In May 1945, with the surrender of Germany, the training at Victorville Field began to slow down, and on 15 August, all training at the base ceased. After the Japanese capitulation, the post commander, Colonel Earl C. Robbins, was notified by Major General Willis H. Hale, Fourth Air Force, on 25 September that Victorville was to be placed in a standby status. On 12 October 1945, all flying at the airfield ended and the base was placed on standby status.

Postwar years
Victorville Army Airfield was used during the postwar years to store aircraft by Air Materiel Command. Sacramento Air Materiel Area took control in May 1947.  Large numbers of aircraft were flown to the field and parked out in the high desert.  These included Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Beechcraft AT-7 Navigator, and AT-11 trainers.  Its caretaker host unit was renamed the 2756th Air Base Squadron in January 1948 after the establishment of the United States Air Force.

Cold War
The outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950 meant that the United States Air Force would soon see an increase in training requirements. By 1 July the Air Force had approved plans to increase to 95-wings from the reduced force during the postwar years due to the demobilization after World War II. Experienced pilots trained in fighter jets were needed. The new Continental Air Command (ConAC) was assigned the dual missions of the air defense of the United States as well as the employment of tactical air forces to support contingency deployments around the world. ConAC activated the World War II training base at Victorville, now called George Air Force Base, and assigned it to the Air Defense Command.

When re-activated, George AFB had been in mothballs for five years, and many of the World War II buildings on it were deteriorating due to the temporary nature of the structures when they were built. A rapid refurbishment of the base was necessary to bring it up to postwar standards including updated electrical telephone and electrical systems, barracks and support buildings and extending a runway to accommodate jet aircraft. A dial telephone system was activated in mid-September 1953 after a year's planning. A new communications building was built with a main switchboard installed by the Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company, Chicago.

Recent history

In recent history, the abandoned, but still intact military housing block has been used by private companies for various purposes. The site was a filming location for the films Jarhead, an episode of the TV series Mythbusters, as well in an episode of Roadkill. The abandoned housing is also used extensively for airsoft games, particularly milsim ones. The airsoft event organizer Milsim West has used the location over five times, Milsim organizer Operation Lion Claws Military Simulation Series (O.L.C.M.S.S.) has hosted an annual, Memorial Day Weekend event since 2001, and the event organizer/storefront Evike has used the site as well.

Primary USAF wings assigned

1st Fighter-Interceptor Wing
The initial USAF unit assigned to George AFB was the Continental Air Command's (ConAC) 1st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, being reassigned from March AFB, California on 18 July 1950. Operational squadrons of the 1st FIW were:
 27th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (1950–1951) (F-86A)
 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (1950–1951) (F-86A)
 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (1950–1955) (F-86A/D)

The 1st FIW headquarters was normally assigned to George, however during its time at George, its 27th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was detached to Griffiss AFB, New York for attachment to the Eastern Air Defense Force (EADF). The 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was attached to Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard facility at Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania, also as part of the EADF.

Air Defense Command (ADC) was reestablished as a major command on 1 January 1951. Continental Air Command lost responsibility for air defense on that date and the wing was reassigned to ADC.

In May 1951, the 27th and the 71st were attached to the 103d Fighter-Interceptor Wing, which provided administrative and logistical support and operational control, although the squadrons remained assigned to the 1st Fighter Group. Air Defense Command planners recognized that the policy of deploying squadrons over a wide area negated whatever advantages may have accrued from the establishment of the wing-base plan in 1948. In the case of the 1st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, a wing headquarters stationed in California could provide only limited control and virtually no support to squadrons deployed on the East Coast.

With the exception of the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, and the three fighter-interceptor squadrons, all 1st Fighter-interceptor Wing organizations and the group headquarters were reduced to a strength of one officer and one enlisted man on 30 November 1951, at which time the wing moved from George to Norton Air Force Base, California.  The 94th FIS remained at George until 1955 when it was reassigned to Selfridge AFB, Michigan.

Other ADC squadrons assigned to the Western Air Defense Force at George were:
 327th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (1955–1958) (F-86D, F-102A)
 Activated at George, 1955.  First ADC squadron to fly the F-102A.  Reassigned to Thule AB, Greenland
 329th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (1955–1967) (F-86D/L, F-102A, F-106A)
 Activated at George, 1955.  First ADC squadron to fly the F-106A. Inactivated 1967.
 518th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron(1955–1959) (F-86D)

479th Tactical Fighter Wing
The 479th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated at George AFB on 1 December 1952. It was redesignated as the 479th Fighter-Day Wing on 15 February 1954, and the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing on 1 July 1958. Replaced the 131st Fighter-Bomber Wing at George AFB.
 Operational Squadrons were 434th, 435th, 436th and 476th Fighter-Bomber/Tactical Fighter Squadrons.  Maintained tactical proficiency with F-51Ds (1952–53), later with F-86Fs (1953–55).
 Tactical components participated in numerous exercises, augmented air defenses of the West Coast, and deployed overseas to support other commands.
 Converted to the North American F-100A Super Sabre beginning in September 1954 and to Lockheed F-104C Starfighter beginning in October 1958. The 479th TFW was first TAC Wing equipped with the F-100. Trained F-104 pilots of foreign states, January 1962 – August 1963. Deployed to Ramstein Air Base, Germany in September 1961 during the building of the Berlin Wall. Had one squadron deployed at NAS Key West, Florida, (435th TFS) during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
 During 1964–1965 the 23d Air Base Group at Da Nang AB South Vietnam supported the 476th and 479th TFS in regular TDY rotations. Their job was to fly MiG combat air patrol (MiGCAP) missions to protect American fighter bombers against attack by North Vietnamese fighters.
 In April 1965, deployed two squadrons to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base Taiwan (434th and 435th TFS) and one Takhli RTAFB Thailand (476th TFS) to provide air defenses of northern area of the Republic of Vietnam.
 Transferred one F-104 (476th TFS) squadron to Udon RTAFB Thailand in June 1966 to carry out escort and bombing missions with the F-4Cs at Udon.  An additional 12 F-104Cs joined the 8th TFW at Udon on 22 July.
 The wing conducted F-104 replacement training until early-1967. Transferred all F-104s in July 1967.
 Retired F-104s and gained four McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II Combat Crew Training Squadrons in December 1965 (68th TFS, 71st TFS, 431st TFS, plus one other, four squadrons total), and began F-4D replacement training in February 1967.
 68th TFS inactivated April 1968, F-4Ds assigned to a newly created 4535th CCTS,(Combat Crew Training Squadron).  435th TFS inactivated May 1970, F-4s assigned to 4552d CCTS.
 Began training foreign personnel in F-4 operations and maintenance in March 1969, including pilots from Israel, Iran, Japan, and West Germany.
 Inactivated, and replaced by the 35 TFW, in October 1971.

35th Tactical Fighter Wing
The 35th Tactical Fighter Wing reactivated at George Air Force Base, California, on 1 October 1971, where it replaced the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing.  The wing's mission at George was to take over the mission of training F-4 flight crews. Its operational squadrons (Tail Code: GA) were:
 434th Tactical Fighter Squadron (October 1971 – October 1975) (F-4D)434th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (October 1975 – January 1977) (F-4E)
 4435th Combat Crew Training Squadron (October 1971 – December 1972) F-4C, Red/White Tail stripe.4435th Tactical Fighter Replacement Squadron  (December 1972 – January 1976) (F-4E, 1972) (F-4C, 1972–1976)
 4452nd Combat Crew Training Squadron (October 1971 – October 1973) (F-4D, 1972) (F-4E, 1972–1973)
 20th Tactical Fighter Squadron(December 1972 – 1981) (F-4C) (1972–1975) (F-4F) (1981 – June 1992) (F-4E)
 21st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (December 1972 – October 1980) (F-4C)21st Tactical Fighter Squadron (October 1980 – October 1989) (F-4E)21st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (October 1989 – June 1991) (F-4E)
 431st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (December 1972 – October 1978) (F-4D, 1972)  (F-4E, January 1976 – October 1978)
 4535th Combat Crew Training Squadron (December 1972) (F-4C)

With the arrival of F-105F/G aircraft from the 388th TFW at Korat RTAFB, Thailand in July 1973, the wing began training aircrews for radar detection and suppression or "Wild Weasel" missions in addition to other F-4 training. By 1975, with the arrival of new F-4G aircraft, the wing was training aircrews exclusively in Wild Weasel operations for deployment to operational units in Okinawa and Germany.
 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron (July 1973 – July 1980) (F-105F/G), (F-4G, Tail Code: WW July 1980 – October 1989)
 562nd Tactical Fighter Squadron (October 1974 – July 1980) (F-105F/G), (F-4G, Tail Code: WW July 1980 – October 1989)
 563rd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (July 1975 – July 1977) (F-105F/G)563rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (F-4G, Tail Code: WW July 1977 – October 1989)
 39th Tactical Fighter Squadron(January 1977 – May 1984) (F-4C Tail Code: WW) (January 1976 – October 1980) (F-4E, January 1982 – May 1984)

In 1980, the wing received the new F-4G and its advanced Wild Weasel system. By July 1980, the last F-105G left George Air Force Base, leaving the 37th TFW with F-4Gs in its inventory for Wild Weasel training and operational missions.

Operations at George Air Force Base were reorganized by mission requirements 30 March 1981. The 35th Tactical Fighter Wing retained control of the 20th and 21st Tactical Fighter Training Squadrons and gained the 39th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

With the inactivation of the 39th Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1985, the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated the 35th Tactical Training Wing. However, the wing kept its air defense augmentation responsibility. It provided operations and maintenance support for the close air support portion of Army training exercises conducted at the U.S. Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., from 1981 to 1990. Also, the wing advised specific Air National Guard units on F-4 operations from 1981 to 1991.

The new 37th Tactical Fighter Wing assumed the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS), 562nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (TFTS), and 563rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS)for active Wild Weasel missions in 1981.  This training ended in 1989 when the 37th TFW was reassigned to Tonopah Test Range Nevada assuming F-117A operational development.

Operations at George Air Force Base were reorganized again 5 October 1989. The 37th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 35th Tactical Training Wing consolidated all operations under the newly redesignated 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. Under the reorganization the 35th regained control of the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron and the 562nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron.

In August 1990, the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing mobilized in support of Operation Desert Shield. On 16 August 1990, 24 F-4Gs of the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron left George Air Force Base en route to Shaikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain. Once in the Middle East, its deployed people established operational, maintenance and living facilities for the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional). These facilities eventually housed more than 60 active duty and Air National Guard F-4s and more than 2,600 military members.

During Operation Desert Storm, which started 17 January 1991, the 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron flew 1,182 combat sorties for a total of 4,393.5 hours. The 35th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) was credited with flying 3,072 combat missions for 10,318.5 hours. U.S. Central Command relied heavily on the wing's Wild Weasels to suppress enemy air defense systems. The F-4G aircrews were credited with firing 905 missiles at Iraqi targets, while the RF-4C aircrews shot more than 300,000 feet of vital reconnaissance film. During operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) suffered no casualties. The wing's people began returning to George Air Force Base 23 March 1991, with its aircraft and pilots following three days later.

The 35th became the host unit for George Air Force Base when the 831st Air Division there inactivated on 31 March 1991. As a result, the wing gained several support agencies, including the 35th Combat Support Group and associated squadrons. In support of the Air Force's force reduction programs, the 21st Tactical Fighter Training Squadron inactivated 28 June 1991. That October, as part of the Air Force's reorganization plan, the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated the 35th Fighter Wing. A month later, the wing's tactical fighter squadrons were redesignated as fighter squadrons.

In 1992, the 35th began downsizing in preparation for the closure of George Air Force Base. On 5 June 1992, the 20th Fighter Squadron moved to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, and by the end of June, the 561st and 562nd Fighter Squadrons were inactivated.

On 15 December 1992, the 35th Fighter Wing inactivated and George Air Force Base closed bringing an end to 21 years of continuous service and more than 34 years of total service for the 35 FW.

Secondary USAF wings assigned

452d Bombardment Wing (Light)
As a result of the Korean War, the Long Beach Municipal Airport, California Air Force Reserve 452d Bombardment Wing (Light) was mobilized at George AFB and ordered to active duty 10 August 1950. Four squadrons (728th, 729th, 730th, 731st) of Douglas B-26 Invaders.

The wing was deployed to Itazuke AB Japan October 1950. It was the first Air Force Reserve wing to fly combat missions in Korea.

116th Fighter-Bomber Wing
The 116th Fighter-Bomber Wing was a Washington Air National Guard unit activated to federal service during the Korean War.  Received five Republic F-84G Thunderjets becoming the first Guard unit west of the Mississippi River to be equipped with the jets. On 1 February 1951, as a result of the Korean War, the 116th Fighter Squadron received new North American F-86A Sabres.

The 116th FBW was ordered to RAF Shepherds Grove, England, in August 1951 to bolster NATO forces in Europe. The move was the first time in aviation history that a full tactical fighter squadron had crossed an ocean.

131st Fighter-Bomber Wing
The 131st Fighter-Bomber Wing was a federalized Missouri Air National Guard unit during the Korean War. It was assigned to George AFB during August 1951. The wing trained at George AFB with North American F-51D Mustangs. It was relieved from active duty and returned to state control on 1 December 1952.

21st Fighter-Bomber Wing
The 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated at George AFB on 1 January 1953 with three (72d, 416th and 531st) Fighter-Bomber squadrons, equipped with F-86F Sabres. While at George AFB, the wing established and maintained tactical proficiency and provided air defense augmentation.  In December 1954, the wing was assigned to NATO and was reassigned to Chambley-Bussieres Air Base, France.

413th Tactical Fighter Wing
The 413th Tactical Fighter Wing was activated at George AFB on 11 November 1954 as the 413th Fighter-Bomber Wing. It was initially equipped with four (1st, 21st, 34th, and 474th) F-86H squadrons.

Transitioned to the F-100D/F in 1958, becoming the 413 TFW. The wing trained to achieve and maintain combat readiness by participation in tactical exercises, firepower demonstrations, joint training with US Army and US Marine Corps units, and tactical evaluations. Provided augmentation of Sixteenth Air Force to Morón Air Base, Spain through deployment of assigned squadrons on a rotational basis, 1958–1959. The 1st Fighter Day Squadron was commanded by then-Lieutenant Colonel Chuck Yeager from April 1957 until its inactivation in March 1959.  The wing was inactivated on 15 March 1959 for budgetary reasons.  The 34 TFS was inactivated, and personnel and F-100s of all four squadrons were reassigned to incoming 31 TFW.

31st Tactical Fighter Wing
On 15 March 1959 the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing was activated without personnel or equipment at George AFB, and absorbed the personnel and equipment of the inactivated 413 TFW.

The 31st was previously assigned to Turner AFB, Georgia as a Strategic Air Command fighter wing and had transferred its F-100s to the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina in 1956 after SAC turned all of its strategic escort fighters over to Tactical Air Command.  The 31st was maintained as an inactive "paper unit" by TAC with no personnel or equipment assigned until it was reactivated at George AFB.

The reassignment equipped four F-100D/F tactical fighter squadrons (306th, 307th, 308th, 309th) which were trained for  nuclear as well as conventional operational capabilities. The 31 TFW was reassigned to Homestead AFB, Florida on 31 May 1962.

355th Tactical Fighter Wing
The 355th Tactical Fighter Wing was activated at George AFB on 13 April 1962. Four operational tactical fighter squadrons (354th, 357th, 421st, and 469th) equipped with Republic F-105D/F aircraft. The wing trained in tactical fighter operations and deployed tactical squadrons overseas as required, primarily to combat duty in Southeast Asia.
 354th TFS deployed to Korat RTAFB and Takhli RTAFB, Thailand  24 January–21 February 1964, and 2 May–20 September 1964 as a part of the USAF buildup of forces in Thailand.

The 355 TFW was reassigned to McConnell AFB, Kansas on 21 July 1964.

32d/8th Tactical Fighter Wing
On 1 April 1964, the 32d Tactical Fighter Wing was activated and being organized at George AFB. Three fighter squadrons (68th, 433d, and 497th) were equipped with F-4Cs.

On 18 June 1964, the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing was reassigned without personnel or equipment to George AFB  from Itazuke AB, Japan as part of an overall effort to reduce the number of wings in Japan. The 8th TFW replaced and absorbed the resources of the 32d TFW. Operational squadrons of the 8th TFW at George were:
 68th Tactical Fighter Squadron
 433d Tactical Fighter Squadron
 497th Tactical Fighter Squadron

While at George AFB, the wing trained with the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II fighter aircraft. The 68th TFS deployed to Korat RTAFB Thailand during July–December 1964, with the wing participated in numerous exercises, operational readiness inspections, and the like.

The entire 8th TFW was reassigned to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand in December 1965 to commence combat operations in the Vietnam War.

Det 1 84 Fighter Interceptor Squadron
The Det1 of 84th FIS was (primary unit was at Castle AFB) opened in 1975 and was a live alert defense unit. One of many F106 units around the country to protect the US borders.

37th Tactical Fighter Wing

The 37th was reactivated on 30 March 1981 by Tactical Air Command at George Air Force Base, California. Its mission was to provide pilot transition training to the F-4G Phantom II "Wild Weasel" RADAR suppression aircraft. The mission was transferred to the 37th from the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, which was TAC's primary F-4E Phantom II training organization in a mission realignment. Both wings were under the TAC's 831st Air Division.  Assigned squadrons of the 37th (Tail Code: "WW") at George AFB were:
 561st Tactical Fighter Squadron: 30 March 1981 – 5 October 1989 (Yellow Tail Stripe)
 562nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron: 30 March 1981 – 5 October 1989 (Blue Tail Stripe)

As the only "Wild Weasel" training wing in the world, it provided instructor pilots and qualified aircrews for the other two "Wild Weasel" wings in the Philippines (3d TFW) and West Germany (52d TFW). As part of the training mission, the wing participated in numerous tactical, maritime, and  electronic warfare exercises locally and worldwide in hunter/killer tactics, suppression of enemy air defenses, force escort operations and dissimilar air combat training with Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve squadrons, and various allies. Wing aircrews and ground personnel won the United States Air Force Worldwide Fighter gunnery meet in 1985 and 1987.

In 1988, George AFB was scheduled in the first round of base closures passed by Congress under the Base Realignment and Closure program. On 5 October 1989, the 37th TFW turned over F-4G aircraft to the host 35th TFW at George AFB.

Superfund site
In June 2018, Military Times reported several cases of unusual medical conditions suffered by Air Force women and wives of service members, plus one case of a rare cancer that killed the Air Force husband of one of the affected women. The article claims that nearly 300 women have connected on Facebook, and shared tales of ovarian cysts, uterine tumors, birth defects in their children, hysterectomies, and miscarriages. Jet fuel, trichloroethylene, and PFOS/PFOA are said to contaminate the base's water supply. George AFB was designated a superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1990. Remedial action is still underway to clean up 33 separate hazardous wastes left there.

Closure
George Air Force Base was officially decommissioned in December 1992.  In 1993, President Bill Clinton announced a "Five Part Plan" to speed economic recovery in communities where military bases were to be closed.  One part of this plan called for improving public participation in the base's environmental cleanup program. George AFB was among a number of installations where environmental cleanup was placed on a "fast track" so base property could be quickly transferred to the community for reuse. While the base remains closed, local rumors continue of the Wherry housing units being haunted.

Names of facility
 Air Corps Advanced Flying School, 23 June 1941
 Victorville Army Flying School, 6 February 1942
 Victorville Army Air Field, 23 April 1943
 Victorville Air Force Base, 13 Jan 1948
 George Air Force Base, 2 June 1950

Major commands to which assigned
 West Coast Air Corps Training Center, 26 June 1941
 Air Corps Flying Training Command, 23 January 1942
 Re-designated: Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, 15 March 1942
 Re-designated: Army Air Forces Training Command, 31 July 1943
 Placed on standby and inactive status, 12 October 1945
 Air Technical Service Command, 1 November 1945
 Re-designated Air Materiel Command, 9 March 1946
 Transferred to jurisdiction of Sacramento Air Materiel Area, 15 May 1947
 Designated a sub-installation of San Bernardino Air Depot, 15 December 1948
 Continental Air Command, 1 April 1950
 Activated: 1 November 1950
 Air Defense Command, 1 January 1951
 Strategic Air Command, 23 July 1951
 Tactical Air Command, 15 November 1951 – 1 June 1992
 Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 – 15 December 1992

Major units assigned

 USAAF Bombardier School, June 1941 – December 1944
 87th Base HQ and Air Base Sq, 1 October 1941
 Redesignated: 87th Air Base Sq, 18 July 1942 – 30 April 1944
 Air Corps (later Army Air Force) Advanced Flying School, 26 June 1941 – 23 December 1944
 63d Troop Carrier Group, 18 November 1942 – 7 May 1943
 3035th AAF Base Unit, 1 March 1944
 Redesignated: 4196th AAF Base Unit, 1 November 1945
 Redesignated: 2756th AF Base Unit, 28 August 1948
 Redesignated: 2579th Air Base Sq, 1 May – 18 July 1950
 36th Fighter-Interceptor Training Wing, 8 January – 30 December 1943
 Army Air Force Radar Observer School, September 1944 – October 1945
 434th Troop Carrier Group, 1 October 1945 – 2 February 1946
 482d Bombardment Group,  5 July 1945 – 1 September 1945
 1st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 18 July – 1 December 1951
 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 18 July 1950 – 15 August 1955
 452d Bombardment Wing, 10 August 1950 – 26 October 1950
 116th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 7 November 1950 – 1 July 1951
 Federalized Georgia Air National Guard
 131st Fighter-Bomber Wing, 7 August 1951 – 1 December 1952
 Federalized Missouri Air National Guard
 146th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 25 October 1951 – 1 January 1953
 Federalized California Air National Guard
 479th Fighter-Day (later Tactical Fighter) Wing, 1 December 1952 – 1 October 1971

 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing, 1 January 1953 – 28 November 1954
 456th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 8 August 1954 – 18 August 1955
 518th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 8 January 1955 – 18 August 1955
 327th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 18 August 1955 – 2 July 1958
 329th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 18 August 1955 – 1 July 1967
 413th Fighter-Day (later Tactical Fighter) Wing, 24 October 1957 – 15 March 1959
 831st Air Division, 8 October 1957 – 20 April 1971; 1 December 1980 – 31 March 1991
 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, 15 March 1959 – 31 May 1962
 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, 8 June 1962 – 31 July 1964
 USAF Advanced Flying (later Combat Crew Training) School, 1 July 1962 – 8 January 1965
 431st Fighter-Interceptor (later Tactical Fighter) Squadron, 18 May 1964 – 30 October 1970; 15 January 1976 – 1 October 1978
 32d Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 April 1964
 Inactivated and replaced by 8th Fighter-Bomber (later Tactical Fighter) Wing, 10 July 1964 – 8 December 1965
 68th Fighter-Interceptor (later Tactical Fighter) Squadron, 16 June 1964 – 1 October 1968
 497th Fighter-Interceptor (later Tactical Fighter) Squadron, 18 June 1964 – 8 December 1965
 35th Tactical Fighter (later Fighter) Wing, 1 October 1971 – 15 December 1992
 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, 30 March 1981 – 5 October 1989

George Air Force Base in popular culture

The following projects used the base as a filming location from 1940–2005.

Movies
 The Starfighters
 The War of the Worlds: was namechecked as Victorville in the 1953 version of the film.
 Jet Pilot
 Face Off
 Jarhead

Television
 Six Million Dollar Man

See also

 United States Air Forces in Europe
 United States Air Force In Thailand
 California World War II Army Airfields
 35th Flying Training Wing (World War II)
 Western Air Defense Force (Air Defense Command)

References

Bibliography

 Donald, David (2004) Century Jets: USAF Frontline Fighters of the Cold War. AIRtime
 Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
 Menard, David W. (1998) Before Centuries: USAFE Fighters, 1948–1959. Howell Press Inc.
 Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002.  Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas
 Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. .
 Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites, History's Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.
 Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).
 USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers — 1908 to present

External links
 Global Access Victorville (redevelopment project)
 George AFB Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste (HTRW) (Superfund Site, EPA ID: CA2570024453)

Installations of the United States Air Force in California
Formerly Used Defense Sites in California
Airports in San Bernardino County, California
Victor Valley
Military facilities in the Mojave Desert
Military in San Bernardino County, California
Military Superfund sites
Superfund sites in California
Buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California
History of San Bernardino County, California
Post-World War II aircraft storage facilities
Victorville, California
Military airbases established in 1941
Military installations closed in 1992
1941 establishments in California
1992 disestablishments in California
World War II airfields in the United States

George Air Force Base


The premolar teeth of mammals are the teeth between the canines and the molars. There are at most a total of eight of them. The number is reduced in the dental formula of many species.

As the name suggests, they are like smaller molars, and their function is to crush  and grind food.

Teeth

Premolar


Feast III: The Happy Finish is a 2009 American horror comedy film and the third and final installment of the Feast trilogy. The film was released, direct to DVD, on February 17, 2009.

Plot
Honey Pie is mauled and beheaded by a monster, who quickly digests and excretes her head. Lightning survived the explosion near him and stumbles off. The remaining survivors (Biker Queen, Tat Girl, Tit Girl, Secrets, Bartender, Slasher and Greg, now with a pipe lodged in his head) are then attacked by monsters on the roof of the building that they are hiding on. Thunder is seen still alive and crawling away after being disemboweled, but is run over by a man named Shitkicker.

Shitkicker smashes open the front door of the police station and enters. The rooftop survivors make their way to the jail, where Hobo attempts to kill them, but gets beaten by the biker girls. Greg reveals that Slasher has a lot of used cars that the survivors can use to escape. Shitkicker is accidentally shot in the head by Secrets. The gunshot alerts the monsters, who enter the police station. The group then decides to run to the used car lot.

Once they exit, Slasher runs a different way from the group, and then trips Hobo as a distraction for the monsters. While a monster begins to eat one of Hobo's legs, Slasher runs towards a metal storage unit. The monster lets  Hobo go and resumes to go after Slasher, who is joined by Tat and Tit Girl of the biker women. Inside the unit, they meet about a dozen survivors who proceed to gang up and beat Slasher for ripping them off with his car deals. Slasher moves to the back of the unit and stands against the back wall. A monster spots a hole Slasher is standing in front of and uses the hole to rape Slasher, impregnating him. A monster then immediately bursts through Slasher's stomach, giving birth to a Slasher hybrid, killing the dozen survivors inside the unit. Meanwhile, Secrets, Greg and Bartender find the wounded Lightning and take him with them. Biker Queen frees the biker girls and they run from the Slasher/monster hybrid. They follow Hobo down a hole in an attempt to hide inside his buried school bus/meth lab.

Monsters follow them and kill Tit Girl. Biker Queen is finally able to get the bus started and as they leave, Tat Girl sets Hobo and a monster on fire, who then fall out of the back of the bus. The bus emerges from underground with Biker Queen and Tat Girl intending to abandon the remaining survivors; however, the bus dies just as the other survivors catch up. The monsters immediately swarm the bus, but the group is saved by a man named Short Bus Gus, who seemingly has the ability to repel the monsters. He then leads the survivors into the sewers in an attempt to reach the big city. While working their way through the sewers, Tat Girl is killed by infected townies. The survivors are about to be killed by the infected until another survivor known as Jean Claude Segal saves them. Jean Claude tries to lead the survivors to the surface when he is attacked by a monster and has one of his arms bitten off. The survivors are then separated into two groups, Jean Claude and Bartender, and Biker Queen, Secrets, Greg, Lightning and Short Bus Gus. While trying to cauterize one of Jean Claude's wounds, Bartender accidentally blows off his remaining arm.

The other group of survivors finds the Hive, which is a gigantic rave with infected townies and monsters who spew their vomit on the people, causing horrible mutation and insanity. The survivors are reunited, but are spotted by an infected townie and Biker Queen is infected. Jean Claude volunteers to stay behind to fight off infected townies to give the survivors a chance to escape. Jean Claude manages to fend off the infected townies for a short while before being ripped in half.

Short Bus Gus finds out that it has been his malfunctioning hearing aid that has been repelling the monsters and is impaled by a monster. The Slasher monster finally catches up with the group and kills the attacking monster and then forcibly removes the pipe lodged in Greg's head, killing him. Secrets is insane with grief and savagely attacks the Slasher/monster hybrid, killing him with the same pipe that was lodged in Greg's head.

Biker Queen takes off with one of the monsters, setting off its internal alarm system in an attempt to draw the monsters away from the remaining survivors. Bartender tells Secrets and Lightning that they are the only survivors left and that they have to repopulate now. Secrets looks up just as the foot of a giant robot crushes her, as well as Lightning, and walks away. Bartender slowly walks towards the camera and murmurs "Goddamn it".

Cast

Reception
Steve Barton of Bloody Disgusting rated it 3/5 stars and wrote that despite not being as crazy as the second film, it is "still one hell of a good ride".  Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting rated it 4/5 stars and wrote: "While Feast II felt nothing like the first film, Feast III somehow managed to recapture the entire aesthetics of the original".

References

External links

2009 direct-to-video films
2009 comedy horror films
2009 films
2000s American films
2000s English-language films
2000s monster movies
American comedy horror films
American monster movies
American sequel films
American splatter films
Dimension Films films
Direct-to-video horror films
Direct-to-video sequel films
Films directed by John Gulager

Feast III: The Happy Finish


An esplanade is a long, open, level area.  It is usually next to a river or large body of water for people to walk on. This allows people to promenade along the sea, usually for recreational purposes. They can ignore the state of the tide and do not have to walk on the beach. Esplanades became popular in Victorian times when it was fashionable to visit seaside resorts.

Infrastructure

Esplanade


Supply-side economics or trickle-down economics is a theory that if taxes were cut on the richest people in society, rich people would use their extra money to invest in the economy, but if taxes were increased, the wealthy would leave the country and invest somewhere else where the tax rates are lower.  People who support supply-side economics believe that taxes punished productivity and if they were lowered, people would produce more goods and services.  Many supporters of supply-side economics also support things such as limited government spending, low inflation, and regulating the economy less.

Economist Arthur Laffer supported supply-side economics with a theory called a Laffer Curve.  The theory stated that government will get no money if taxes were too high—nobody would pay them—and that the government would not get enough money if taxes were too low.  The theory also stated that if taxes were too high, the economy would be less productive and it would give the government less money and that if taxes were low, the economy would be productive and the government would get more money.

Supply-side economics was used while Ronald Reagan was president during the 1980's.  Income taxes on the wealthiest Americans were cut from 70% to 50% to 28% during his two terms.  Also, capital gains taxes were cut.  Supporters of supply-side economics mention that those tax cuts have resulted in economic recovery during the 1980's and the strong economic boom in the 1990's and first decade of the 21st century.

Critics of supply-side economics say that the wealthy gain a lot of money in the hope that a very small amount of it will trickle down to the poor, and they call it voodoo economics.  Many critics say that supply-side economic policies are bad because they result in a bigger gap between the rich and the poor.  They also criticize that the reduction in taxes results in the cutting of programs for the poor people who need it.  Other critics point out that large supply-cuts tax cuts,  in combination with increases in military spending, has resulted in the government being in a large amount of debt.

Economic policy
Presidency of Ronald Reagan

Supply-side economics


The Interagency Language Roundtable scale is a set of descriptions of abilities to communicate in a language. It is the standard grading scale for language proficiency in the United States's Federal-level service. It was originally developed by the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), which included representation by United States Foreign Service Institute, the predecessor of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC).

The scale grades people's language proficiency on a scale of 0–5. The designation 0+, 1+, 2+, 3+, or 4+ is assigned when proficiency substantially exceeds one skill level but does not fully meet the criteria for the next level. Thus the scale totals 11 possible grades.

Grades may be assigned separately for different skills such as reading, speaking, listening, writing, translation, audio translation, interpretation, and intercultural communication. For some of these skills, the level may be referred to with an abbreviation, for example, S-1 for Speaking Level 1.

ILR scale

ILR Level 0 – No proficiency
The baseline level of the scale is no proficiency, rated 0. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 0 individual:

 oral production limited to occasional, isolated words
 may be able to ask questions or make statements with reasonable accuracy only with memorized utterances or formulae
 unable to read connected prose but may be able to read numbers, isolated words and phrases, personal and place names, street signs, office and shop designations
 understanding limited to occasional isolated words or memorized utterances in areas of immediate needs.
 may be able to produce symbols in an alphabetic or syllabic writing system or 50 of the most common characters

ILR Level 1 – Elementary proficiency
Elementary proficiency is rated 1 on the scale. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 1 individual:

 can fulfill traveling needs and conduct themselves in a polite manner
 able to use questions and answers for simple topics within a limited level of experience; the native speaker must strain and leverage contextual knowledge to understand what is said
 able to understand basic questions and speech, which allows for guides, such as slower speech or repetition, to aid understanding
 has a vocabulary only large enough to communicate the most basic of needs
 writes in simple sentences or sentence fragments with continual spelling and grammar errors
The majority of individuals classified as Level 1 are able to perform most basic functions using the language; this includes buying goods, reading the time, ordering simple meals and asking for minimal directions

ILR Level 2 – Limited working proficiency
Limited working proficiency is rated 2 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:

 able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements
 can handle with confidence most basic social situations including introductions and casual conversations about current events, work, family, and autobiographical information
 can handle limited work requirements, needing help in handling any complications or difficulties; can get the gist of most conversations on non-technical subjects (i.e. topics which require no specialized knowledge), and has a speaking vocabulary sufficient to respond simply with some circumlocutions
 has an accent which, though often quite faulty, is intelligible
 can usually handle elementary constructions quite accurately but does not have thorough or confident control of the grammar

ILR Level 3 – Professional working proficiency
Professional working proficiency is rated 3 on the scale. Level 3 is what is usually used to measure how many people in the world know a given language.  A person at this level is described as follows:

 able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most conversations on practical, social, and professional topics
 can discuss particular interests and special fields of competence with reasonable ease
 has comprehension which is quite complete for a normal rate of speech
 has a general vocabulary which is broad enough that he or she rarely has to search for a word
 has an accent which may be obviously foreign; has a good control of grammar; and whose errors virtually never interfere with understanding and rarely disturb the native speaker

Individuals classified at level 3 are able to use the language as part of normal professional duties and can reliably elicit information and informed opinion from native speakers; examples include answering objections, clarifying points, stating and defending policy, conducting meetings, and reading with almost complete comprehension a variety of prose material on familiar and unfamiliar topics such as news reports, routine correspondence, and technical material in trained fields of competence.

ILR Level 4 – Full professional proficiency
Full professional proficiency is rated 4 on the ILR scale. A person rated at this level should have the following characteristics:

 able to use the language fluently and accurately on all levels and as normally pertinent to professional needs
 can understand and participate in any conversations within the range of own personal and professional experience with a high degree of fluency and precision of vocabulary
 would rarely be taken for a native speaker, but can respond appropriately even in unfamiliar grounds or situations
 makes only quite rare and minor errors of pronunciation and grammar
 can handle informal interpreting of the language

Individuals classified at level 4 are able to understand the details and ramifications of concepts that are culturally or conceptually different from their own language and can set the tone of interpersonal official, semi-official and non-professional verbal exchanges with a representative range of native speakers; examples include playing an effective role among native speakers in contexts such as conferences, lectures and debates on matters of disagreement, as well as advocating a position at length. While proficiency may match that of an educated native speaker, the individual is not necessarily perceived as culturally native due to occasional weaknesses in idioms, colloquialisms, slang, and cultural references.

ILR Level 5 – Native or bilingual proficiency
Native or bilingual proficiency is rated 5 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows:

 has a speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker
 has complete fluency in the language, such that speech on all levels is fully accepted by educated native speakers in all of its features, including breadth of vocabulary and idiom, colloquialisms, and pertinent cultural references

Equivalence with the European language proficiency scale CEFR

A table published by the American University Center of Provence gave the following correspondences between the ILR, the European language proficiency scale CEFR, and the proficiency scale of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL):

However, a comparison between the ILR self-assessment grids (reading, speaking, listening) and the CEFR assessment grid could suggest a different equivalence:

See also
 List of language proficiency tests
 Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills
 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the European language-proficiency scale
 Defense Language Proficiency Tests
 Interagency Language Roundtable
 Second language
 Second-language acquisition
 Studies in Language Testing (SiLT)
 Task-based language learning
 Wikipedia:Babel (originating at Commons:Babel), a similar, though informal, 0–5 language scale

References

 Original entry based on  which states: These descriptions are a product of U.S. Government grants and are in the public domain. They are cited here from Higgs 1984, Appendix B.

External links

 ILR scale description from the official site
 Foreign language proficiency scale

Language assessment

ILR scale


A technical support scam is a form of telephone fraud that tricks people by pretending that they are a service which helps people fix their computers. In most cases they convince the victim they have a computer problem that does not actually exist. A common type is when someone gets a call from someone (usually from places like India) pretending to be from a company that sounds real such as "Microsoft" or "Windows" support. Often the caller tries to gain the victim's trust. They may use confusing and very technical language to sound authentic. They may ask the victim to perform several tasks on their computer. Often they target legitimate files on the victim's computer saying these are viruses. These tactics are designed to scare people into letting the scammer fix the problem (that does not really exist). The caller may have the victim install malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking passwords or credit card information.

References

Types of crime

Technical support scam


According to Hinduism and Hindu mythology, Parvati is considered to be a mother goddess by many people. Parvati is a word in the Sanskrit language that means "daughter of the mountain". Hindu teachings call Parvati the daughter of the Himalayas Mountains, where she is said to live. She has two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya with her husband Shiva. Shiva is one of the main gods of the Hindu religion.

Parvati has four arms. In her arms she carries prayer beads, a mirror, a bell and citron. But when she sits by the side of her husband Shiva, Parvati has only two arms.  In her form with two arms, Parvati holds her right hand up in blessing and holds a lotus flower in her left hand.

Parvati's conveyance (vahana) is a lion or tiger. This means that Parvati rides a lion or a tiger.

In Hindu scriptures, Parvati is mentioned many times. She is called by many other names. Some of them are:

 Ambika, meaning the mother
 Gauri, meaning the fair one
 Shyama, meaning the dark one
 Kali, meaning the black one and goddess of kala(time(past,present and future) and death )
 Bhairavi, meaning awesome
 Durga, meaning inaccessible
 Bhavatarini, meaning savior of the world
uma, in her pervious life she has this name .

Hindu gods and goddesses

Parvati


Transylvania is a historical region in Central Europe. In the past, it was a part of Hungary, was an independent principality, belonged to the Ottoman Empire or was a province of Austria-Hungary. It has been part of  Romania since the end of World War I in 1918.

The borders was made up by the Siret River from east, river Tisza from west of north and south by the Carpathian Mountains.

Transylvania's main city, Cluj-Napoca, is seen as the region's informal capital. But Transylvania was also ruled from Alba Iulia during its dependence from the Ottoman Empire, and the seat of the Transylvanian Diet was moved to Sibiu for some time in the 19th century.

In popular culture, Transylvania is mainly known as the seat (and origin) of Count Dracula. This vampire story by Bram Stoker is based on a local nobleman Vlad III the Impaler, known for his cruelty. It also was the home of Elizabeth Báthory.

Transylvania


The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues tax forms to people and organisations who pay tax in the United States. These documents are used by taxpayers to report information about their finances. This includes information about income, which is required by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) in order to calculate how much tax must be paid to the federal government of the United States. There are over 800 forms. The best-known of these is Form 1040 used by individual people.

Types of forms

Form 1040 is used by individual people. It is used to report their income, calculate how much tax they have already paid, and how much more they need to pay. These are issued every year, and each person must send the form back with their information written in. The forms are normally due by April 15 of the next year.
Form 990 provides the public with financial information about a specific organization. It is also used by government agencies to make sure organizations that do not have to pay tax (such as non-profit organizations) comply with the rules. By doing this, they make sure that these organizations are really not making any profits.
Form 1040NR is used by foreign workers who have earned income from the United States.
Informational returns report information to taxpayers to help them complete their own tax returns. They are prepared by employers and banks. Copies of them are also sent to the IRS. An example is Form 1098, which is used to report interest that a taxpayer has paid on his or her mortgage.
Several forms begin with the code W. Some examples of these include:
Form W-2 is used by an employer to report wages paid to employees. It also reports the tax that was deducted from those wages. Employers must complete a Form W-2 for each employee to whom they pay a salary or wage. An employer must mail out the Form W-2 to employees on or before January 31. This gives the employees about 2 months to finish their tax returns before the April 15 due date.
Form W-9 is used to request a taxpayer's identification number and certification. To apply for this, the taxpayer must give some basic information like name, marriage status, and social security number.

References

Other websites
 Internal Revenue Service
Taxation in the United States

IRS tax forms


La Guerre des boutons or War of the Buttons is a 1962 French film directed by Yves Robert. War of the Buttons is about two rival kid gangs whose playful combats escalate into violence. The title derives from the buttons that are cut off from the rival team's clothes as combat trophies. The film is based on La Guerre des boutons, a novel by Louis Pergaud (1882–1915), who was killed in action in World War I and whose works portray a fervent anti-militarism.

The young and largely untrained actors included André Treton ("Lebrac"), Michel Isella ("l'Aztec") and Martin Lartigue ("Petit Gibus").  The character Petit Gibus's line of dialogue - uttered in frustration - "si j'aurais su, j'aurais pas v'nu" ("if I woulda known, I wouldn'ta come"), with its incorrect grammar (the correct form should be: "si javais su, je ne serais pas venu") has become a familiar tagline in France (the line was not in the original novel).

The film won France's Prix Jean Vigo.

The film was remade in Ireland in 1994 as War of the Buttons, in an Irish setting, and again in France in 2011, with the original title.

Cast
 Jacques Dufilho - L'Aztec's father
 Yvette Etiévant - Lebrac's mother
 Michel Galabru - Bacaillé's father
 Michèle Méritz - L'Aztec's mother
 Jean Richard - Lebrac's father
 Pierre Tchernia - Bédouin
 Pierre Trabaud - School teacher
 Claude Confortès - Nestor the postman
 Paul Crauchet - Touegueule
 Henri Labussière - A countryman
 Yves Peneau - The prefect
 Robert Rollis - Migue la lune's father
 Louisette Rousseau - Bacaillé's mother
 Christophe Bourseiller - Gaston
 Claude Bourseiller
 Tsilla Chelton
 François Boyer - The priest (uncredited)
 Marie-Catherine Faburel - Marie-Tintin (uncredited)
 Michel Isella - L'Aztec (uncredited)
 François Lartigue - Grand Gibus (uncredited)
 Martin Lartigue - Petit Gibus (uncredited)
 André Treton - Lebrac (uncredited)
 Claude Meunier - Bacaillé

References

External links

1962 films
French adventure films
Films based on French novels
Films directed by Yves Robert
1960s French films

War of the Buttons (1962 film)


Meridian 59 is a 1996 video game developed by Archetype Interactive and published by The 3DO Company. It was the first 3D graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and one of the longest running original online role-playing games. The development team included John Hanke, who later founded Niantic, Inc. and codeveloped Google Earth and Pokémon Go.

The game was launched online in an early form on December 15, 1995, and released commercially on October 7, 1996, with a flat-rate monthly subscription. Meridian 59 was later released as open source software, run by original developers Andrew Kirmse and Chris Kirmse.

Development

Meridian 59 (abbreviated M59) was developed by Archetype Interactive and published in September 1996 by 3DO. Meridian 59 is the only product Archetype Interactive ever released, and the company was acquired by 3DO in June 1996. Archetype was run by Steve Sellers, Mike Sellers, and John Hanke, with Andrew Kirmse and Chris Kirmse filling key technical roles. Damion Schubert contributed to the design along with a team totaling 22 employees and contractors. The game's technological base was initially inspired by Scepter of Goth.

The game was in an early beta stage in April 1996 when it was noticed by Kevin Hester and other game developers at 3DO. Trip Hawkins, CEO of 3DO, recognized the forward-looking value of the game and the company, and 3DO bought Archetype in June 1996.

The characters were structured so that faces are presented in the highest resolution, while the less important torso and legs use a lower resolution in order to increase access speed. Approximately 17,000 players joined the game's public beta that lasted up until its worldwide commercial launch on October 7, 1996, beating its next major rival, Ultima Online, by approximately a year. The servers divided players into parallel game worlds, each populated by a few hundred people, in order to keep each world from being overly crowded.

Prior to its release, the term "massively multiplayer" and the acronym "MMPRPG", "Massively Multi-Player Role-Playing Game", emerged in meetings within 3DO (beating out other monikers such as "large-n game"), as did the now-ubiquitous monthly subscription model. At the time, AOL was still charging per minute for online access, though a change to flat fees was anticipated. The game has received various updates throughout its life, each adding new monsters, spells, and areas. In its early years it was commonly conceived of as a graphical MUD, though this term, and Meridian 59s preferred "MMPRPG", was eventually displaced by the now-ubiquitous "massively multiplayer online role-playing game", a term coined by Richard Garriott of Ultima Online in 1997.

3DO shut down the game on August 31, 2000 and it was re-released by Near Death Studios, Inc. in 2002. Near Death Studios was co-founded by former Meridian 59 developers Rob "Q" Ellis and Brian "Psychochild" Green. A new rendering engine was added to the game in the Evolution expansion in October 2004, offering an alternative to its Doom-based graphics. This expansion also includes features like dynamic lighting, rebindable keys, mouselook, and other visual improvements.

Shortly after 3DO shut the game down on August 31, 2000 a developer of the game leaked the server software and the files for Meridian 59: Renaissance to a player, and since then there has been a thriving community of free-to-play servers.

Near Death Studios announced that the company would be ceasing operations on January 6, 2010, after which Meridian 59 would continue running, but not as a commercial concern of Near Death Studios. In February 2010, Meridian 59 was turned over to the original technical developers, Andrew and Chris Kirmse. On September 15, 2012, the team released the game to the public as freeware and most of the source code under the GPLv2 license. For a while, Meridian 59 had an international presence, with servers operating in Germany, run by the company MDO (active 2002-2009), and Russia, in addition to a Sacred Haven (non-PvP) server operated by Skotos. These are no longer operational.

Gameplay
The game is now aimed primarily at fans of PvP (Player vs Player) combat, as it is virtually lag free and has a player-run justice system implemented to mediate killing of other players. Unlike many online RPGs, it is not based around character levels and classes. Instead, each individual skill and attribute, including health, develop independently of one another. Hit points (health) are acquired by killing monsters that are a challenge for the player. Mana (magic points) is acquired by exploring and finding mana nodes in the game world. All base attributes except karma are static, but they can be adjusted with certain items and spells temporarily.

Players can develop their character by obtaining proficiency in skills from seven schools.  There is a school of weaponcraft and six schools of magic based on patron gods in the game world's mythos: Shal'ille, Qor, Kraanan, Faren, Riija, and Jala. Each school has a different focus and application in gameplay. Unlike character classes in other MMORPGs, players need not limit themselves to a single school: the rate of learning and total number of proficiency levels across all schools a player can attain is limited by their intelligence stat.

The game contains many features that modern games duplicated later: guilds have a dynamic voting system for changing leadership, customized sigils that appear on shields, and guild halls that can be won or lost. There are also in-game bulletin board systems (called newsglobes), a personal mail system that both players and NPCs can use to send messages, a political meta-game, and frequent expansions that expand the world and gameplay options.

Setting
Meridian 59 is a typical sword and sorcery setting where adventurers go out and fight monsters. In the game, there are few NPCs, with most of them static and unchanging. Most of the focus is on the activities of the players as they fight against the monsters in the land.

The game is set in the 59th provincial colony of an ancient empire which explored the universe through portals in a magical nexus. However, several hundred years ago, something went wrong and the young frontier colonies in Meridian 59 were separated from the Empire. Now the land is in turmoil. Political factions fight for territory and power, monsters, trolls, orcs, and the undead threaten to destroy all life, and the magical nexus is in a flux, causing disasters across the land. Meridian 59 features six cities and towns: the rebellious mining town of Jasper, the royal city of Barloque, the thriving but troubled Tos, the peaceful farming village of Marion, the crossroads lake-side university town of Cor Noth, and the independent jungle island settlement of Ko'Catan.

SchoolsWeaponcraft - Physical combat, including dodging, parrying, weapons skills, archery, shields, and disarming.Shal'ille - Based on the patron goddess of rain and peace. Healing, protection, uncursing, harming evil, curing, resurrecting, and making truces.Qor - Based on the patron goddess of evil and darkness. Damage, blindness, curses, and other ailments to control or harm opponents, as well as invisibility.Kraanan - Based on the patron god of war and valor. Combat "buffs", resistance to various kinds of spells, attribute modifiers, and miscellaneous other utilitarian spells with practical applications in combat.Faren - Based on the god of the earth and the elements. Mostly Area of Effect and Direct Damage spells based on lightning, ice, wind, fire, and other natural forces. This school also contains spells to resist the elements.Riija - Based on the patron god of illusion and trickery. Spells used to deceive players or confuse monsters, including hiding information, summoning illusory minions, and spells to manipulate the mind. Riija is also home to the most powerful teleportation spell in Meridian 59.Jala''' - Based on the patron goddess of music and artistry. The School of Jala consists of songs and jingles which have magical effects on all entities in the area, including negation of the effects of the other schools of magic, creation of potions and enchanted magical items, and mana and health regeneration.

Organizations
Players can join one of three political factions: Jonas D'Accor's rebels, the throne of Princess Kateriina, or that of her rival in Tos, Duke Akardius. Each faction offers certain bonuses to specific types of players. The rebels are seated in Jasper, Kateriina in Barloque, and Akardius in Tos. Players fight one another in the name of their respective factions either for territory or for control of tokens of power which may be used to sway the votes of the councilors of the land.

Players can also join player-created guilds. These are typically just small groups of friends who help each other out and socialize together, but sometimes they are more elaborate than that. There are often guild wars, in which multiple guilds fight one another in mortal combat to seize resources such as a Guild Hall or to declare total dominance of the server.

Previously, players could ally themselves with the warring Necromancer and Hunter factions. These factions each drastically altered the way the game was played for their members, and there were great rewards for killing members of the opposite faction. When Near Death Studios took over control of the game, this element was disabled. Instead, this PvP scenario has been reworked into faction wars. Players take on the role of soldiers under one of the three factions, and each faction gives its soldiers special benefits.  Soldiers receive a shield indicating their factional allegiance and gain additional stat rewards when they kill opposing faction members.

Reception

Reviewing the "Revelation" update, Next Generation described the game as "second-best" next to Ultima Online. They particularly commented that while the update expanded the game world by 50%, it still felt small and overcrowded with too little to do in it.

By June 1999, Meridian 59s retail sales in the United States had reached 14,359 units, according to PC Data. A writer for GameDaily called these numbers "minuscule", and remarked that it had "clearly fizzled on store shelves". However, the publication noted that 3DO had changed its business model to rely on online shopping and microtransactions, and had seen monetary success despite its poor sales in stores. Next Generation columnist Christian Svensson commented that despite the game's monthly pricing being roundly derided by a panel consisting of the heads of seven leading online gaming services at the September 1996 Online Game Developer's Conference, who said any flat rate system was unsustainable and "naive", "Since that time, we have seen the official launch of many online gaming services, and most have learned what consumers and the press have been telling them all along: A fair flat rate is the only way services will get subscribers."

The game received multiple awards, including the fantasy-role-playing game of the year for 1996. It was a finalist for Computer Gaming Worlds 1996 "Role-Playing Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. However, it won CNET Gamecenter's award in this category. The editors called it "arguably one of the truest role-playing games ever." The Dark Auspices expansion was named as a finalist by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for "Online Role-Playing Game of the Year at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which ultimately went to Ultima Online: The Second Age.

The game is known as the first 3D graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) and stands as one of the longest running original online role-playing games.

References

External links
 Meridian 59 web site – Official edition of the game
 Meridian Next web site – Open source fork of the game

 A good user guide for new starters
 The Last Survivors of Meridian 59, article in The New Yorker''
 Digital Human, audio interview with creators and players
 3d Client Project at code.google.com
 Game Developers Conference Vault - A Brief History about the creation of Meridian 59 by Damion Schubert
 Vice: How the World's Oldest 3D MMO Keeps Cheating Death

1996 video games
Active massively multiplayer online games
Commercial video games with freely available source code
Fantasy video games
Graphical MUDs
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
The 3DO Company games
Video games developed in the United States
Windows games
Windows-only games

Meridian 59


Sundiata Keita ( 1210 – c. 1260) was the founder of the Mali Empire. He ruled as emperor (mansa) from 1235 to 1260. He is celebrated as a hero of the Mandinka people of West Africa in the Epic of Sundiata. Sundiata changed his father's small kingdom into the core of the Mali Empire. It grew to be one of largest and richest empires of Africa.

Sundiata Keita was born in about 1210. His father was Naré Maghann Konaté, a king of the Mandinka. Keita was disabled from birth. His legend follows the theme of a culture hero overcoming extreme hardships to achieve greatness. According to the legend, Keita and his mother went into voluntary exile to avoid the risk of being killed by his jealous half-brother, Kankaran Tuman, who had become king in 1218. While Keita and his mother were in exile, the Mandinka were conquered by the Sosso Empire. Later, Keita was recalled by his fellow people to free them from this foreign oppression.

In the early 1200s, the independence of the Mandinka was threatened by the Sosso. Sosso was one of the many kingdoms that succeeded the Ghana Empire. Keita, who had already become a king, gathered his people and fought a battle with the Sosso army. In 1235, Keita and his army destroyed the army of Soumaoro Kanté, the ruler of the Sosso. This battle is called the Battle of Kirina, located in present-day Mali.

Further military advancements led to the expansion of the Mali Empire. The empire thrived, because it controlled many of the major gold fields and was an important center of trans-Saharan trade. Keita also successfully combined Islamic and traditional African beliefs to create a functional kingdom. Today, some of the Mandinka people of West Africa still regard Sundiata as a hero.

Little is known about the later life of Keita, but it is known that Keita ruled for about 25 years before his death. It is said that Keita was killed in an accident in his capital city.

References

1217 births
1255 deaths
Malian emperors

Sundiata Keita


Josquin des Prez (born near St Quentin some time between 1450 and 1455; died St Condé-sur-l'Escaut, 27 August 1521 was a French composer. He was one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance. He changed music from the sound of medieval compositions and developed the style which led to the great compositions of the 16th century Renaissance composers such as Adrian Willaert, Palestrina, Lassus and Byrd.

Life

Early years
Josquin was born ca. 1450-55 and died in 1521.
The name Josquin was a common name in Northern France and Flanders at that time. It was the name of a Breton saint who had lived in that area in the 7th century. The name Des Prez started off as a nickname in the family, and gradually it became the family name. The name Josquin des Prez is spelt in several different ways in old documents. He is often simply called "Josquin".

We know very little about his life. We know very little about what people thought about him during his life, although after his death many people admired his music. Even his birthplace is uncertain. We do not know where he got his musical training. He was described as a "pupil of Ockeghem", but that may just mean that he studied Ockeghem's music.

We know that he became a singer in the chapel of Aix-en-Provence, the chapel of the Duke of Anjou. After the duke's death in 1480 he worked for King Louis XI of France until he, too, died in 1483. We do not know where he worked after that, but he had some music published, including six chansons. He probably worked for some time in Milan.

Italy
In 1489 Josquin went to Rome and worked in the pope's chapel. He stayed there at least until 1495, possibly later. There he wrote music for the chapel, including some motets. His music was becoming well known in some parts of northern Italy. It was a time of war in Italy. Several times the king of France invaded parts of Italy. Josquin seems to have written several pieces for the French royal court, including some funeral music on the death of King Louis XII in 1515.

For a year (1503-1504) he was maestro di cappella in Ferrara. He may have left that job because of an outbreak of the plague. A few months after he left the famous composer Jacob Obrecht took over the job. Obrecht was only paid half the salary that Josquin had been given. Very soon afterwards, Obrecht died of the plague.

Later years in Northern France
From 1504 until his death in 1521 Josquin was back in Northern France, where had the job of provost in Condé-sur-l'Escaut, which may possibly have been his birthplace. The church was a very important one, and it had an excellent choir.

Before he died Josquin paid a lot of tax to make sure that after his death his property did not go to the local lord of the manor but would be given to his church. After his death his house was sold, and the money was used for special church services to remember him. There was a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the wall of his old house, and when church processions passed by they stopped in front of it and sang Josquin's motets Pater Noster and Ave Maria.

His Music
His music is nearly all choir music. It consists mainly of church music: motets and masses, although he also wrote some secular (non-religious) music, including some chansons (French songs) and some instrumental music. One popular song is called El Grillo . It means "the cricket" and it describes the sound of a cricket singing in the grass.

Josquin was a master of polyphony. His name had become so famous that, after his death, many publishers printed music by other composers and pretended it was by Josquin so that more people would buy it. During recent years musicologists have studied many of these manuscripts very carefully and tried to decide which ones were really by Josquin.

References

 Groves Online

1450s births
1521 deaths
Belgian composers
Franco-Flemish composers
Renaissance composers

Josquin des Prez


Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the south-western part of the country.

It is  near the valley of the Rhone River from its springs to Lake Geneva, that separates Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhone valley. It is also one of most well-watered parts, having large amounts of snow and rain up on the highest peaks in Switzerland. It is perhaps best known worldwide for the Matterhorn.

Geography
The canton of Valais is in the south of Switzerland. To its south is Italy, to the southwest France. To the north the canton there are the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Bern; the cantons of Uri and Ticino lie to its east.

The wide, icy Rhone valley dominates the area. There are many side valleys off the main valley. At the head of the Mattertal valley is Zermatt, a pretty tourist village dominated by views of the Matterhorn (4,478 m). Fifty of the mountains are more than 4,000m high, with the highest, Monte Rosa, that reaches to 4,638m (15,217 ft), and there are many glaciers.

The Rhône drains the main valley from east to west up to Martigny, Switzerland, then in a right angle north to its mouth in the Lake Geneva. After the small town of Saint-Maurice, the northern banks of the river belong to the canton of Vaud. The main valley is between the Bernese Alps in the north and the Pennine Alps in the south. Only about half of the total area is considered productive.

History
The Romans called the area Vallis Poenina ("Upper Rhône Valley").

In 888, Valais became a part of the kingdom of Jurane Burgundy.

King Rudolph III of Burgundy gave the area to the Bishop of Sion in 999, and made him Count of the Valais. The count-bishops had to defend their area against the dukes of Savoy.

in 1474 was the Battle of Planta, a place near the capitale Sion. The Bishop of Sion and the people of the Sieben Zenden, beat the Duke of Savoy. The Battle of Planta is a part of the Burgundy War.
After this battle, the bisoph conquired the area until Lake Geneva.

Valais did not follow the Protestant Reformation.

On March 12, 1529, Valais became an associate member (Zugewandter Ort) of the Swiss Confederation.

In 1628 the Valais became a republic, the République des Sept Dizains / Republik der Sieben Zenden but the bishop remained in power until Napoleon's troops invaded the Valais and created the République du Valais on March 16, 1798 but on May 1, 1798, the Valais became part of the Helvetic Republic and became independent again in 1802 as the Rhodanic Republic.

In 1810, the Rhodanic Republic was made a part of France, and was called the Simplon Department.

Valais became independent again in 1813 and on August 4, 1815 decided to join the Swiss confederation as a canton (state).

In 1845, the Valais joined the Catholic separatist league (Sonderbund), but never fought federal troops when other members of the league started fighting in 1847.

Economy
Wine production and tourism are some of the main industries of the canton. The Matterhorn near Zermatt is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Swiss mountains, as is its sister valley immediately east Saas Fee. Other parts of the mountains of the canton farther west are popular as well, such as the more French speaking resorts near Verbier and the Evolene & Arolla region. The resorts on the north side of the main Rhone river valley are popular, looking out southwards towards the Peninne Alps and still part of the southern slope of the Bernese Alps, such as the family oriented resort of Crans-Montana. The resorts in the Goms region are slightly less known, yet also receive attention during the summer hiking season and the winter ski season.

Apart from tourism, agriculture is still important, particularly cattle breeding in the mountains and dairy farming in the plains. The wine industry of the canton is the largest in Switzerland. There are also a large number orchards in the area, and saffron is also gathered here.

The most industrial western region of the canton is called Chablais. The area is very important for the economy. There are a lot of factories, the most important are the subsidiaries of Novartis and Syngenta, in Monthey. In the town of Collombey, there is an oil refinery.

Near Visp there is a large plant of aluminium manufacturing. Other metal products and chemicals are produced around Visp and Sierre.

Despite the thriving tourist industry, high level of infrastructure, and the many vineyards, canton Valais is still one of the poorest of the Swiss cantons, and not near the rich banking/financial cantons. A large portion of the canton's land and houses are now owned by foreigners.

Transport
A small airport is at Sion, but the main routes of transport are rail and road. Both networks are large and benefit from tourism.  Many of the road passes are well known, such as the Grimsel Pass. The longest land tunnel in the world, the Lötschberg Base Tunnel, will soon be working, in late 2007 perhaps, connecting by rail the town of Frutigen in canton Bern, with the town of Visp in canton Valais/Wallis. This is to better spread car traffic in the highly scenic Kandertal, and also to provide faster transport through the Bernese Alps from the populous Mittelland in the north to the southern canton of Valais. Cars may be loaded onto the trains as freight.

Demographics
Valais is mostly French speaking. The eastern part of the canton Upper Valais, however, speaks Walliser German. The French speaking population makes up a two-thirds of the population.

The people of the canton are spread thinly. The largest towns are the capitals Sion (Sitten), Sierre and Brig. There is no major city in the canton. Most of the population is Roman Catholic.

Towns and villages
 Anzère
 Bluche
 Brig
 Sion
 Sierre
 Monthey
 Martigny
 Crans-Montana
 Leukerbad
 Saas-Fee
 Verbier
 Visp
 Zermatt

Cities
The following are the cities of the canton, by district.

Related pages
 Sion, Switzerland - Capital of the canton.
 French language
 German language

References

Other websites

 Cantonal government
 Tourist office
 Photo database
 Official statistics

Wine regions

Valais


City car is a term used for an automobile that is shorter than a typical subcompact car, in the A-segment group. They're also referred to as an urban car because they're intended for short distances. The most common city cars are the Fiat 500, the Chevrolet Spark and Ford Ka (only sold outside the US).

Automobile body styles

City car


The colon (":") is a punctuation mark, simply consisting of two equally sized and vertically aligned dots.

Punctuation

Use in prose
A colon is a more significant pause than a semicolon. It is usually used to contrast two parts of a sentence:
It's official: McClaren makes the worst start by an England manager.
When the door was forced,  a scene of chaos was revealed: chairs overturned, drawers puu66tw7rz3,dlled out and emptied, broken crockery on the floor...
If you must  go, take the following: climbing rope, ice axe, compass, a large-scale map,  water and food, and good boots.
Man proposes: God disposes.
The Lord seeth not as man seeth: for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Use in other kinds of text
 Introduction of a definition, such as:
A: the first letter in the Latin alphabet
Hypernym of a word: a word having a wider meaning than the given one; e.g. vehicle is a hypernym of car

 Separation of the chapter and the verse number(s) indication in many references to religious scriptures, and also epic poems; it was also used for chapter numbers in roman numerals, as in:
John 3:14–16 (or John iii:14–16) (cf. chapters and verses of the Bible)
The Qur'an, Sura 5:18

 Separation when reporting time of day hour/minute/second (cf. ISO 8601), such as:
The concert finished at 23:45.
This file was last modified today at 11:15:05.
 Separation of a title and the corresponding subtitle, as in:
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 Separation of clauses in a periodic sentence
 Colons can also be used to start a list, such as, "He provided all of the ingredients: sugar, flour, eggs, and butter."

History
The colon's first appearance in English text is marked by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as 1589.

Diacritical usage

A special double-triangle colon symbol is used in IPA to indicate that the preceding sound is long. Its form is that of two triangles, each a bit larger than a point of a standard colon, pointing toward each other. It is available in Unicode as modifier letter triangular colon, Unicode U+02D0 (). A regular colon is often used as a fallback when this character is not available, or in the practical orthography of some languages (particularly in Mexico), which have a phonemic long/short distinction in vowels.

Mathematics
The colon is also used in mathematics, cartography, model building and other fields to denote a ratio or a scale, as in 3:1 (pronounced "three to one"). A betting odd of the form  corresponds to the probability .  Unicode provides a distinct ratio character, Unicode U+2236 () for mathematical usage.

In many non-English-speaking countries, the colon is used as a division sign: "a divided by b" is written as a : b.

The combination with an equal sign, , is used for definitions.

Computing
In computing, the colon character is represented by ASCII code 58, and is located at Unicode code-point U+003A. The full-width (double-byte) equivalent, :, is located at Unicode code point U+FF1A.

The colon is quite often used as a special control character in many operating systems commands, URLs, computer programming languages, and in the path representation of several file systems. It is often used as a single post-fix delimiter, signifying the immediate precedence of a token keyword or the transition from one mode of character string interpretation to another related mode. Some applications, such as the widely used MediaWiki, use the colon as both a pre-fix and post-fix delimiter.

For a double-colon, "::" the meaning has included the use of ellipsis, as spanning over omitted text; however, there have been other meanings as well.

Internet usage
On the Internet (online chats, email, message boards, etc.), a colon or multiple colons is sometimes used to denote an action or emote. In this use, it has the inverse function of quotation marks—denoting actions where unmarked text is assumed to be dialog. For example:

Kim: Pluto is so small, it should not be considered a planet. It is tiny!
Mel: Oh really? ::Drops Pluto on Kim's head:: Still think it's small now?

Colons may also be used for sounds (as with ":Click:"). One can contrast this use with the use of outer asterisks (for example, *cough* would denote that the speaker is coughing, as opposed to saying the word 'cough').

It also has the widespread usage of representing two vertically aligned eyes in a emoticon, such as :-), :( :P, :D, :3, etc

Related pages
Semicolon, the ";" punctuation marks

References

Punctuation
Typography

Colon (punctuation)


Stephen Lucid Robert McNichols (March 7, 1914 – November 25, 1997) was an American politician who served as Colorado's 35th Governor from 1957 to 1963.

Family roots and early life

McNichols' father, William H. McNichols, Denver's well-respected auditor for over thirty years, was influential in steering his two sons Bill and Stephen toward their success in state politics. Stephen McNichols graduated from East Denver High School and Regis College to pursue a law degree from Catholic University in Washington. After graduating in 1939, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a field officer in Baltimore and Boston. After a year of service, McNichols returned home to assist the Denver District Attorney, John A. Carroll. He later became an assistant in the U.S. Attorney General's antitrust division in Denver.

Marriage and service in World War II

In 1942, McNichols married Marjory Hart. The couple had five children, Stephen, Robert, William, Mary and Marjory. McNichols' family life as well as his municipal and judicial aspirations were put on hold, however, when the United States Coast Guard required his services as an officer in the amphibious corps in 1942. He distinguished himself in the service earning the Purple Heart, Bronze and Gold Stars and was promoted to lieutenant commander.

Service in the Colorado State Senate

Less than ten years after receiving his law degree McNichols opened his own law firm McNichols, Dunn & Nevans and was elected to the state senate. As a senator McNichols soon became recognized as a skilled planner and was respected for his ability to cross party lines to achieve his goals. During his two terms he was instrumental in developing a plan for long-range highway development, a school district reorganization proposal, and a scheme to centralize public utility management.

Lieutenant Governor of Colorado

McNichols' abilities to plan and pass legislation were rewarded in 1954 when he was elected as Edwin Johnson's lieutenant governor. When Governor Johnson was ill, which was much of the time during this administration, McNichols learned under this period the daily responsibilities of the governorship.

Governor of Colorado

McNichols took over the responsibilities of governor when Edwin Johnson became ill and was unable to complete his term.  It was this experience that helped McNichols to be elected Colorado's governor in 1956. The term was 2 years and McNichols was re-elected in 1958 and again in 1960.

Controversial activism and far-reaching plans distinguished McNichols' administration. As governor McNichols championed an improved system of school financial aid distribution and successfully lobbied for an increased university faculty salary cap. McNichols also advocated institutional reform for the State Hospital in Pueblo and State Penitentiary in Cañon City, both organizations fraught with corruption and aging structures. McNichols pushed public works projects securing federal funding for his long-range highway development program and seeing that the Fryingpan-Arkansas water development project was begun. He was also instrumental in the development of the Colorado State Archives and the governorship grew from a two to a four-year term during his administration.

To pass this tremendous package of legislation McNichols often alienated members of his own Democratic Party, and to pay for it he lobbied for an unpopular tax hike. Furthermore, McNichols' Fryingpan - Arkansas water diversion project caused friction between the Western Slope and Front Range regions. Another source of contention was McNichols' acceptance of the Executive Residence from the Boettcher Foundation. Many legislators disagreed with this decision and believed that it showed McNichols to be arrogant and power-hungry. Ironically, the same package of legislation that got him elected to the governorship in 1956 brought him defeat in his 1962 reelection campaign.

Later life and death

McNichols' defeat at the polls continued with an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1968, serving as a Democratic National Committee member, or as the Rocky Mountain Regions U.S. Commerce Director in 1977.

His public service came to an end on November 25, 1997 when he died due to heart failure. Governor Roy Romer said of McNichols, "I served in the state legislature during his tenure as governor and remember well his character, unique style and commitment to Colorado...He was one of our best governors, in an important time in our history."

Notes

References

External links
The Governors of Colorado
The Governor Stephen McNichols Collection at the Colorado State Archives

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1914 births
1997 deaths
20th-century American politicians
Colorado lawyers
Democratic Party Colorado state senators
Columbus School of Law alumni
Democratic Party governors of Colorado
Military personnel from Colorado
Politicians from Denver
Regis University alumni
United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
20th-century American lawyers

Stephen McNichols