Contrast is a puzzle-platform game developed by Compulsion Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and NVIDIA Shield.

Gameplay
The game is set in a noir atmosphere aesthetically inspired by Belle Epoque and Art Nouveau. The player must solve puzzles that require movement between the physical world, which is represented as 3D, and shadows, which are represented as 2D. The player may sometimes manipulate different light sources in the 3D world (spotlights, film projectors, etc.) to create the shadow paths that reach into new areas; "collectibles", available through game-play, offer insight into the game's characters and the world in which they live. The goal of the game is exploration and discovery through problem solving.

Dawn and Didi are the two characters who appear as full 3D figures. The player controls Dawn, an imaginary friend, who is able to manifest as a three-dimensional shadow. Dawn is able to jump between two shadows, no matter how far apart they are.  Almost all other characters appear as shadows against the visual walls, but they still interact with the world as though they are "real."

Plot
The game opens with Didi's invisible friend Dawn entering her room before Didi's mother puts her to bed before the mother leaves for the evening to sing at a local nightclub. Didi sneaks out of her house to watch her mother's performance, and ends up eavesdropping on her father meeting her mother, telling her mother about his newest plan to strike it rich, which is to open a circus. Didi's mother is not convinced, and leaves while the father tells her his hotel room number. The father then goes to meet with his headlining performer, the great Vincenzo, who is reluctant to perform without money up front, and refuses to lend a film reel of his performance to Didi's father, who wants to show it to his investors as a way to convince them to continue providing funding for the circus. Didi and Dawn steal the film reel, and follow the father to the cinema where he is soon confronted by mafia members, who start beating him when he claims the projector for the film is not working, and that he needs more cash to convince Vincenzo. Dawn and Didi start the film in the projector, which impresses the two mob members enough to continue their funding for the circus. Didi's father then goes to his hotel to wait for his estranged wife, who in the ensuing confrontation is vehement that she will not take the father back into the family until Didi intervenes, at which point she reluctantly allows the father to return to their home.

Several days later, with the circus nearly ready to open, Didi and Dawn set out to meet Vincenzo, who in the previous confrontation between Didi's mother and father is revealed to be Didi's biological father. They overhear Vincenzo accosting Didi's father, pointing out how ill prepared the circus is, with several attractions either broken or missing actors. Dawn and Didi fix the circus acts, and then go to see Vincenzo in his workshop, where Vincenzo reveals that Didi was the result of an accidental pregnancy between him and Didi's mother, saying that he wasn't capable of caring for Didi with his work. Didi persists, saying that she's already shown herself to be capable of being his assistant after fixing the circus, but Vincenzo refuses, and after comforting a crying Didi, brings her back to her mother and father. His opening act is then started, but the light fixtures overload and the bulbs explode, leaving him unable to perform. Dawn and Didi then repair a lighthouse and use its light to allow Vincenzo to perform, whose act is a great success. Dawn and Didi then follow her parents backstage, and after Didi's father says that he is clearly incapable of providing after there were so many malfunctions in all of his schemes and that Vincenzo should take Didi in, Vincenzo and Didi's mother rebukes him, Vincenzo pointing out that he is clearly suited, having risked his life to be with Didi, whereas Vincenzo has not done nearly as much for her. The game ends with Didi's family formally reuniting, and Vincenzo offering to let Didi see his workshop again, remarking that even if he didn't bring Didi on his upcoming world tour, she'd probably still find a way on her own steam. The game closes with Vincenzo directly displaying the same power that Dawn has, physically appearing in the game's shadow world next to Dawn and Didi, and thanking Dawn for looking after Didi, and remarking to Dawn that "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Through in game collectibles, it is revealed that Dawn and Vincenzo were originally a pair of illusionists from an alternate dimension, with Vincenzo building upon the work of Einstein to create his devices that allow him to manipulate reality. It is left unknown why Dawn has been left more permanently tied to this shadow world.

Reception

Contrast received mixed reviews upon its release. On Metacritic, the Xbox 360 version of the game got a score of 65/100, the PC computer version a 62/100, and the PlayStation 4 version a 59/100. Dan Stapleton of IGN gave the game a 7.5, praising the gameplay and the puzzles. He said, "Contrast is a game full of heart, beauty, and at least a few excellent puzzles." Carolyn Petit of GameSpot gave the game a score of 5.0, complimenting the atmosphere of the game but criticizing the gameplay and the puzzles. VentureBeats McKinley Noble gave Contrast a 55 out of 100 score, stating that while he liked the overall concept, it suffered from overly "glitchy" gameplay and "lifeless" environments.

Notes

References

External links
 Official Contrast website
 Contrast development blog
 Interview with Compulsion Games

2013 video games
Focus Entertainment games
Art games
Neo-noir video games
PlayStation Network games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation 4 games
Indie games
Puzzle-platform games
Video games developed in Canada
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video games featuring non-playable protagonists
Video games set in the 1920s
Video games set in Paris
Windows games
Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
Xbox 360 games
Xbox One games
Unreal Engine games
Video_games_with_silhouette_graphics
Single-player video games
Video games set in France
Belle Époque
Compulsion Games games

Contrast (video game)


Mortimer Newlin Stead Sellers (M.N.S. Sellers) (born 1959) is Regents Professor of the University System of Maryland, Elkins Professor of the University System of Maryland, Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and past President of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR). His work primarily concerns the philosophy of law, legal theory, and global justice with an emphasis on international law, constitutional law, comparative law and legal history. He has been a Regents Professor of the University System of Maryland since 2003, the highest honor in the UM System.  Sellers is best known for his books on republican legal and political philosophy, global justice, international law, and universal human rights.  He has been Director of the University of Baltimore Center for International and Comparative Law since 1994.

Education
The interdisciplinary nature of Sellers' work has been consistent throughout his career. After graduating from Harvard College, summa cum laude, and Harvard Law School, with honors, Sellers studied history, philosophy, and Civil Law at University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and Frank Knox Fellow, receiving his doctorate in Literae Humaniores (philosophy and classics).  He has taught in the University of Baltimore School of Law since 1989, and has taught and pursued research as a visitor at Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, Georgetown University Law Center, Bryn Mawr College, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the Academy of International Law in The Hague.

Career
Along with authors such as Philip Pettit and Jürgen Habermas, Sellers has been a leader in reviving republican ideas among philosophers and lawyers and in international politics.  Sellers' conception of republicanism is grounded in the history of ideas, with an emphasis on constitutional procedures and the concept of the common good.  Sellers has written extensively on the republican antecedents of the French Revolution and the American Revolution, and the influence of legal philosophy and legal education on political and social change.  He has been an active participant in the development of post-Soviet and post-authoritarian legal institutions in Europe, Asia, and South America.

Sellers' public influence arises in part from his editorship (with Mark Agrast) of the book series ASIL Studies in International Legal Theory and (with David Gerber) of ASCL Studies in Comparative Law, both published by Cambridge University Press. Much of the most important new thought in international and comparative law has been published in these series. He is also the editor (with Stephan Kirste) of the IVR Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy.

In addition to his scholarly work, Sellers has been active in promoting international cooperation between lawyers and judges to advance global justice, through the European-American Consortium for Legal Education (EACLE) and the Brazil-United States Administration of Justice Project, among other initiatives. He is an associate editor of the American Journal of Comparative Law and a member of the editorial board of the Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie, Lusíada Direito, Notícia do Direito Brasileiro, and Glossae: The European Journal of Legal History. Sellers is an elected member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, a former H.L.A. Hart Fellow of University College, Oxford, and former Lauterpacht Fellow of Cambridge University. Sellers is married to the journalist Frances Stead Sellers.

See also:  Sellers family

Bibliography

Books by M.N.S Sellers
Law, Reason, and Emotion (Cambridge, 2017)
Parochialism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Foundations of International Law (Cambridge, 2011)
The Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective (with Tadeusz Tomaszewski) (Springer, 2010)
The Internationalization of Law and Legal Education (with Jan Klabbers) (Springer, 2008)
Autonomy in the Law (Springer, 2007)
Republican Principles in International Law: The Fundamental Requirements of a Just World Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)
Universal Human Rights: Moral Order in a Divided World (with David Reidy) (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005)
Place, Memory and Time (with Anthony F.C. Wallace and H. Dabbs Woodfin) (Nicholas Newlin Press, 2004)
Republican Legal Theory: The History, Constitution and Purposes of Law in a Free State (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
The Sacred Fire of Liberty: Republicanism, Liberalism and the Law (Macmillan, 1998)
The New World Order: Sovereignty, Human Rights, and the Self-Determination of Peoples (Berg, 1996)
American Republicanism: Roman Ideology in the United States Constitution (Macmillan, 1994)
An Ethical Education: Community and Morality in the Multicultural University (Berg, 1994)

References

University System of Maryland
American legal scholars
1959 births
Living people
Harvard Law School alumni
American Rhodes Scholars
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Harvard College alumni

Mortimer Sellers


RHEM 3 or RHEM 3: The Secret Library is an adventure game from Knut Müller and Got Game Entertainment.

Plot
The player again arrives into the city of RHEM, with a note from Zetais who studied the artifact in RHEM 2: The Cave. Kales uses the note given by the player to unlock a gate leading to the inner area of RHEM. The game's overall plot is not fully revealed until the player comes back to this area after solving a large number of puzzles.

As stated in the game's title, in order to solve most of the major puzzles, the player must first find and enter a "hidden library", a jumble of rooms containing roll doors and books on shelves. The books themselves contain hints to solve the other puzzles.

The player's goal is to find 10 green crystals scattered throughout RHEM, much like the other two games, in order to unlock the passage to a black crystal.

A new puzzle to access an Easter Egg part of the game resides near the game's end, requiring the input of several scattered, hidden clues. When that's solved, a key to change the route for the player's tram can be retrieved, allowing an extra stop on the way out.

There, 4 concept pictures of the game and a new message from Kales can be found. It takes the input of 4 glyphs to access the message. Kales then states that a special, 5-pointed "Star key" will be needed to access more of RHEM, foreshadowing the series' later events.

Notable changes and appearances
Rhem 3 is the first to have its own official musical soundtrack, compared to RHEM and RHEM 2, which had only ambient weather sounds.

In addition, numerous references to RHEM and RHEM 2 are shown in-game:

2 pairs of framed screenshots from the other RHEM games are shown in Kales' office and apartment.
An iPod-like device residing in Kales' apartment holds messages from him, the ending fly-by from RHEM, and one of the rail-car rides in RHEM 2.
After solving a certain symbol puzzle, a door can be opened, which leads both to a green crystal, and a staircase leading down. the stairway leads to a previously inaccessible area of RHEM 2 (A cavern near the end of the game with a rotating bridge), although the equipment there is disabled.
After solving the hidden puzzle, three photo albums from all three RHEM games up to this point can be looked at.
A new character is introduced: A bald man named Meneandas. He knows about the black crystal's secret and understands that the player will need it.

Reception

RHEM 3 received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the game received a score of 69/100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Sophia Tong of IGN gave the game a score of 6.5/10, praising the game's puzzles but criticizing the environmental and sound design. Steven Hopper of GameZone gave the game a score of 7.0/10, both praising and criticizing its old-school factor in terms of difficulty and gameplay, which can attract "hardcore adventure fans" to the game but turn away casual players at the same time.

References

External links
 http://www.rhem-game.com/en/rhem3/index.htm

2008 video games
Adventure games
First-person adventure games
MacOS games
Video games developed in Germany
Windows games
Got Game Entertainment games
Single-player video games

fr:RHEM : le Monde ultime

RHEM 3: The Secret Library


H.I.P. H.O.P. was France's first television show and first regular nationwide weekly show in the world to be dedicated to the hip hop culture. It was broadcast each Sunday afternoon on the French national channel TF1 in 1984, from January 14, for 43 weeks, which had a certain impact on the beginnings of the French hip hop scene. The host was Sidney, who was already presenting a hip-hop radio program since 1981, along with the Paris City Breakers. They had guests such as Herbie Hancock on February 19, Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa, The Rock Steady Crew, Art of Noise and Madonna, plus graffiti artists such as Futura 2000.

Michael Holman, host of Graffiti Rock, claims to be the very first person to broadcast a nationwide hip-hop television show, but the show was launched in June 1984 by 88 syndicated stations across the US starring Kool Moe Dee, Special K, Run-DMC and The New York City Breakers. Just two years prior, in 1982, Holman aired on New York cable TV two much earlier programmes that were dedicated to hip-hop culture called On Beat and TV New York. These local TV shows already had featured hip-hop artists such as Fab 5 Freddy, DJ High Priest, The New York City Breakers, graffiti artist Phase 2, Futura, DJ Jazzy Joyce, K-Rob and Tim Single.

External links
 About H.I.P. H.O.P. and Sidney on MCM website
www.crimeskiproductionz.com

References

1984 French television series debuts
Hip hop television
French music television series
1980s French television series

H.I.P. H.O.P.


The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol. The museum houses art, artifacts (prehistoric and historic), and ecofacts that reflect New York's cultural, natural, and geological development. Operated by the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education, it is the oldest and largest state museum in the US. Formerly located in the State Education Building, the museum now occupies the first four floors of the Cultural Education Center, a ten-story,  building that also houses the New York State Archives and New York State Library.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NYSM, State Archives, and State Library to close temporarily, with museum employees continuing to work behind the scenes, offering virtual programming and online exhibitions. The Museum reopened to the public with reduced hours and days of operation and some exhibits still unopened on May 17, 2021.

History

The New York State Museum was founded in 1836 as the  New York State Geological and Natural History Survey, formed in 1836 by Governor William Marcy to document the mineral wealth of the state.  In 1870, it was reorganized as the New York State Museum of Natural History under the trusteeship of the regents of the State University.  The museum was located in the State Education Building from 1912 until 1976, when it was moved to the Cultural Education Center upon the Empire State Plaza's completion. The current location opened on July 4, 1976, and 15,000 people took part in the ceremony which included a performance by Don Mclean.

In June 2015, the museum announced the largest renovation in its history. Over three to four years,  of exhibition space was to be modernized. The NYSM is to remain open throughout the rebuilding process, although individual galleries may be closed during construction and re-installation.

Notable staff
 Frederick James Hamilton Merrill – museum director (1894–1904)
 John Mason Clarke – museum director (1904–1925)
 William Martin Beauchamp – archaeologist (1884–1910)

Layout and organization

The large majority of the museum's permanent exhibits are located in the voluminous first floor, which features high ceilings that can accommodate large artifacts and displays, such as a subway car, fire engines, a reconstructed Mohawk Iroquois Longhouse, and a mastodon skeleton.  Several smaller galleries and halls on the first floor house various temporary art exhibitions, as well as temporary scientific, historical, and cultural exhibits.

Presentations and lectures (such as the weekly lecture series) are held in the Museum Theater, located near the West Gallery.  A student visitors center is located behind the museum's main lobby.  The Museum Store, located adjacent to the main lobby, offers souvenirs, high-quality mineral specimens, and selected New York State publications on science, history, and natural history.

The second floor, generally not accessible to the public, contains education and youth services.  The museum's staff, including the Division of Research and Collections and the Exhibits Division, is located on the third floor, also not accessible to the public.

The fourth floor features a functioning carousel built between 1912 and 1916 which visitors may ride free of charge, plus supplementary exhibits covering regional topics and several historic cities in New York State, such as Buffalo and Rochester.  The windowed walls surrounding this floor afford visitors a panoramic view of the Empire State Plaza and other areas of downtown Albany, hence the gallery's name, "Windows on New York".

Research
As a research institution, the New York State Museum houses several programs, centers, and initiatives that further the geological, biological, archaeological and historical understanding of areas within and outside of New York State.  The following is a list of several of these programs.
 The Biodiversity Research Initiative (BRI)(defunct) – A partnership among conservation and environmental groups in New York State, the Biodiversity Research Initiative seeks to advance information and research for the conservation of New York State's biodiversity by funding research projects, sponsoring conferences and seminar series, and directing other initiatives. BRI hosts a biennial scientific conference at the New York State Museum. Partner groups include the American Museum of Natural History, Audubon New York, the New York Natural Heritage Program, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, the State Education Department, the State University of New York, and The Nature Conservancy.
 The Center for Stratigraphy and Paleontology (CSP) – In addition to conducting basic research on the stratigraphy and fossil history of the State and adjoining regions, and disseminating subsurface geological data to the public, the CSP also works to conserve and make accessible the extensive subsurface and fossil collections of the New York State Museum.
 Cultural Resource Survey Program (CRSP) – A cultural resources management (CRM) program that conducts historical and archaeological research for the State of New York.  The program's work assists other State agencies, such as the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the Office of General Services (OGS), in meeting and adhering to their state and federal preservation mandates.  This specifically refers to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, a federal law enacted in 1966 to preserve the cultural and historic resources in the United States. In doing so, CRSP works closely with New York State's Historic Preservation Officer and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
 The Laboratory for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics (LCEG) – The LCEG is a molecular phylogenetics laboratory designed for use by researchers studying animal and plant evolution.  The facility provides technology that allows Museum researchers to analyze genetic variability among organisms by DNA nucleotide sequencing.  The laboratory also houses the Museum's Genome Bank, a frozen tissue collection that complements the traditional dried-specimen collections by preserving plant and animal DNA for future study.
 The Wildlife Science and Conservation Initiative – This program works to address the impact, both broad and fine, that human disturbances and habitat fragmentation have had on the behavior, ecology, and evolution of carnivores.  While their work has primarily focused on carnivores in New York State, the Initiative has also worked to develop an automated telemetry system in Panama and investigates behavioral changes among male lions in Tsavo, Kenya.

Collections
The collections of the New York State Museum include geological samples, paleontology specimens, historic materials, and art.  Their anthropological collections are extensive, and include the collections of several early and well-known anthropologists, including Lewis H. Morgan and Arthur C. Parker.  These collections are open to researchers for analysis.  A supplementary storage facility in Rotterdam, New York, houses material not presently displayed, including artifacts from the September 11 attacks.

Permanent exhibits

 The Adirondack Wilderness – This exhibit explores the geology and prehistoric flora and fauna of the Adirondacks, the impact historic activities such as logging, mining, and recreational use had on regional environment and ecology, and the area's contemporary state, including conservation efforts, resource exploitation, and artistic interpretations.
The American Stoneware Collection – In 2014, a collection of 19th-century American stoneware was donated to the museum by Adam Weitsman. The exhibit includes stoneware jugs, crocks, pitchers, jars, and water containers.
Ancient Life of New York – A Billion Years of Earth History – A paleontological collection of fossils over a billion years old (some of the oldest in the eastern United States).  The exhibit includes blue-green bacteria, fossilized tree stumps and spiders from Gilboa, New York, trilobites, and armored fish.
 Birds of New York – Includes a display of over 170 native New York bird species in their natural settings.
 Black Capital: Harlem in the 20s – An exhibit of the art and culture of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s, including a history of its development and the impact and influence it had on later cultural and artistic trends.
 Carousel – Located on the museum's fourth floor, this full-sized carousel was made between 1912 and 1916 by the Herschell-Spillman Company of North Tonawanda, New York.  It remained in use until the early 1970s in Cuba, New York, after which it was dismantled and obtained by the NYSM.  The carousel is fully operational, and free rides are offered to visitors throughout the day.

 Cohoes Mastodon – The skeletal remains of a mastodon excavated in Cohoes, New York in 1866.  The skeleton was previously located in the Museum's front lobby. Returned from repair and restoration in 1997, it is available for viewing in the South Hall of the museum with a new display stand and interactive learning tools.
 Fire Engine Hall – An exhibit of historic fire fighting vehicles from the 19th and 20th centuries.
 The Governor's Collection of Contemporary Native American Crafts
 Metropolis Hall – An exhibit on the history of New York City, including a complete R9 New York City Subway car, and recreations of a Chinatown herbalist, Little Italy barbershop, and other storefronts. Also included is a reproduction of the brownstone front stoop streetscape setting of the Sesame Street preschool educational television program.
 Minerals of New York – Geological displays from the New York State Museum's mineral collection.
 Native Peoples of New York – An exhibit focusing on the prehistoric and historic cultural development of New York State, spanning the chronological spectrum from the Paleoindian period (c. 10,000 BCE) up to and including the ethnology of Native groups in New York today.  Included in the exhibit are numerous prehistoric artifacts (e.g. pottery and stone tools), lifelike dioramas, scale models, and a full-sized replica of an Iroquoian longhouse.
 Research Gallery – Highlights current work being conducted by staff members of the NYSM's Division of Research and Collections.
 Windows on New York – Located on the fourth floor, the Windows on New York display highlights the history and characteristics of many of New York State's different regions.

 The World Trade Center: Rescue, Recovery, Response – Tells the history of the World Trade Center and the September 11, 2001, attacks, including the rescue efforts, the evidence recovery operation at the Fresh Kills Landfill, and public response to the attacks. Has numerous artifacts from the site including the remains of an Engine 6 ladder truck, and the flag that was flown from next to the North Tower.

See also
 List of New York State Historic Markers

References

 Cultural Education Center at Emporis Buildings.
 Moon New York State Handbook by Christiane Bird. (c) 2006. Page 338.

External links

 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. A scholarly journal published by the NYS Museum since 1887, with articles focusing on the botany, zoology, entomology, geology and archaeology of New York State.  Digitized by the New York State Library.
 New York State Geological Survey
 Unofficial Gateway to the New York State Geological Survey

Art museums and galleries in New York (state)
Empire State Plaza
History museums in New York (state)
Museums in Albany, New York
Native American museums in New York (state)
Natural history museums in New York (state)
Geology museums in New York (state)
Museums established in 1836
1836 establishments in New York (state)
Paleontology in New York (state)
New York State Education Department

New York State Museum


Alvarado Street is a north–south thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California in the United States. The street was named after California governor Juan Bautista Alvarado.

Geography
North of Glendale Boulevard, it starts off as a residential street.  It becomes a major thoroughfare south of Glendale Boulevard.  Directly south of Pico Boulevard and north of Venice Boulevard, Alvarado Street merges with Hoover Street.  Alvarado Street is signed as State Route 2 from Glendale Boulevard to the Hollywood Freeway. Landmarks on the thoroughfare include the Saint Vincent Medical Center, the Metro station for the B and D Lines at Wilshire Boulevard across from the adjacent MacArthur Park, and the Pico-Union Branch Library.

Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant and El Pollo Loco's first United States restaurant are located on Alvarado Street, which is where it quickly became a local favorite. Edward's Steak House was originally located on this street. Also, the Peoples Temple's Los Angeles building was located at 1366 South Alvarado Street. The Romanesque Revival–style structure was designed by architect Elmer Grey in 1912 for the First Church of Christ, Scientist.

Metro Local line 2 operates on Alvarado Street. The Metro Shuttle 603 also operates on Alvarado Street going only southbound.

Notable landmarks
 Langer's Deli
 MacArthur Park
 St. Vincent Medical Center
 Westlake Theatre

References

External links

Central Los Angeles
Echo Park, Los Angeles
Pico-Union, Los Angeles
Streets in Los Angeles
Westlake, Los Angeles

Alvarado Street


Anthony Deion Branch Jr. (born July 18, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He is the director of player development and alumni relations at the University of Louisville. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisville.

Branch was named the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005, after tying former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice and former Cincinnati Bengals tight end Dan Ross for the Super Bowl reception record with 11 catches for 133 yards. He was the first receiver to win the award since 1989 when Jerry Rice had his 11 catch game. Branch played for the Seattle Seahawks from 2006 to 2010 before a second stint with the Patriots for the next two seasons, which included an appearance in Super Bowl XLVI.

Early years
Branch was born in Albany, Georgia. He attended Monroe Comprehensive High School in Albany, where he lettered in both football and track and field.

College career

Junior college
After graduating from high school, Branch attended Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi, where he played football for two seasons and was also a teammate of Javon Walker. As a freshman in 1997, Branch caught 37 passes for 639 yards and five touchdowns, and also returned 14 kickoffs for a 23.6 yard average. In 1998, Branch had 70 receptions for 1,012 yards and nine touchdowns, while also returning 15 punts for a 12.8 yard average and 17 kickoffs for a 19.6 yard average. His performance in his sophomore season earned him second-team All-American honors.

Louisville
Branch played two seasons for John L. Smith at the University of Louisville beginning in 2000. As a junior, Branch started ten games and led the team with 71 receptions for 1,016 yards and nine touchdowns. His 6.45 catches per game ranked sixth in the nation. The Cardinals finished the 2000 season with a record of 9–3, won the Conference USA Football Championship and went to the 2000 Liberty Bowl where Branch had a Liberty Bowl record 10 catches for 170 yards and 1 touchdown reception in their 22–17 loss to Colorado State. He was named an All-Conference USA first-team selection in addition to being voted the Cardinals' Most Valuable Player and Outstanding Offensive Performer.

As a senior in 2001, Branch again led the team in catches with 72, recording a conference-best 1,188 yards as well as nine touchdowns. He also returned 10 punts for 112 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown return. The Cardinals finished the 2001 season with a record of 11–2, won the Conference USA Football Championship again and went to the 2001 Liberty Bowl where Branch had a 34-yard touchdown reception in their 28–10 win against BYU. He was again named a first-team All-Conference USA selection following the season.

Professional career

New England Patriots
Branch was drafted by the Patriots in the second round (65th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft. In his rookie season in 2002, Branch started 7 of 13 games played for the Patriots, missing the final three games of the regular season with a leg injury. He finished the season with 43 catches for 489 yards and two touchdowns, ranking him third on the team behind Troy Brown and David Patten. On special teams, Branch led the Patriots with 36 kickoff returns for 863 yards and added two punt returns for 58 yards. In Week 4 against the San Diego Chargers, Branch caught 13 passes, the second-highest single-game total by a rookie in NFL history.

In 2003, Branch started 11 of 15 games played for the Patriots, missing only the team's Week 6 game against the Tennessee Titans with an injury. He led the team with 57 catches for 803 yards, recording first downs on 40 of his receptions, 24 of which came on third down. In the Patriots' victory in Super Bowl XXXVIII over the Carolina Panthers, Branch caught 10 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. His 17-yard catch on the final drive with seconds remaining set-up Adam Vinatieri's game-winning 41-yard field goal.

Branch returned in 2004 to start the Patriots' first two games of the season before suffering a leg injury in the first half of the team's Week 2 game against the Arizona Cardinals. He would not return until Week 11, starting every remaining game and finishing the regular season with 35 receptions for 454 yards and four touchdowns. Branch had a 60-yard touchdown catch in the Patriots' AFC Championship game win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning him NFL Offensive Player of Championship Sunday honors. Two weeks later, in Super Bowl XXXIX, Branch tied a Super Bowl record with 11 catches for 133 yards. He was named Super Bowl MVP, the first wide receiver to do so since 1989. The Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles for Branch's second Super Bowl ring.

In 2005, Branch played in 16 games (15 starts) for the first time, setting career highs with 78 receptions for 998 yards and five touchdowns. In the Patriots' Divisional playoff loss to the Denver Broncos, Branch had 8 catches for 153 yards, including a former career-long catch of 73 yards.

2006 holdout and trade
Following the 2005 season, Branch entered the final year of his five-year rookie contract signed in 2002, with his base salary scheduled to be $1.045 million in 2006. In May 2006, the Patriots offered Branch a three-year contract extension through 2009. The offer had a $4 million signing bonus and $4 million option bonus. In base salaries, he would have received $1.4 million in 2007, $4.3 million in 2008, and $4.75 million in 2009.

It was the last formal contract discussion between the two sides, leading Branch to hold out of the team's mandatory June minicamp, training camp, and the preseason.

On August 25, 2006, the Patriots announced that Branch was given permission to seek a trade and negotiate a contract with other teams through September 1, 2006. Both the Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets made trade offers to the Patriots, but neither trade was consummated before the September 1 deadline. After the deadline passed, Branch filed two grievances against the Patriots with the NFL claiming the Patriots did not bargain in good faith and did not trade him after being offered a second-round selection by another team.

Branch remained on the team's Reserve/Did Not Report list through the first week of the regular season. By not reporting, Branch was fined over $600,000 by the Patriots.

On September 11, 2006, the Patriots traded Branch to the Seattle Seahawks for a first-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft. Branch subsequently signed a six-year, $39 million contract extension with the Seahawks.

On the same day as the trade, the Patriots filed tampering charges against the Jets, claiming that the Jets revealed the Patriots' trade proposal to Branch in the process of their contract negotiations, compromising the Patriots' negotiating position. In February 2007, the NFL cleared the Jets of the tampering charges.

Seattle Seahawks
After being traded to Seattle, Branch played in the final 14 games of the season for the Seahawks in 2006, starting 13 of them. He finished the season ranked second on the team with 53 receptions for 725 yards and four touchdowns. He added 8 catches for 96 yards in the team's two playoff games.

Branch had 343 yards for the Seahawks in the first five games (all starts) of the 2007 season, before suffering a foot sprain and not returning until Week 11. He went on to start six more games before a strained right calf kept him out of the team's final regular season game against the Atlanta Falcons and their Wild Card playoff win over the Washington Redskins. He returned for the Seahawks' loss to the Green Bay Packers the next week but did not record a reception. He finished the regular season third on the team with 49 catches for 661 yards and four touchdowns.

In 2008, Branch missed eight of the first nine games to injury but started the team's other seven games. He finished the season fourth on the team with 30 catches for 412 yards and four touchdowns. He returned in 2009 to play in 14 games (five starts), recording 45 catches for 437 yards and two touchdowns.

Branch began his final season in Seattle in 2010 by starting three of the team's first four games, catching 13 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown.

New England Patriots (second stint)

On October 11, 2010, Branch was traded back to the Patriots for a fourth-round selection in the 2011 NFL Draft. The pick was to be the higher of the Patriots' 2011 fourth-round selections, their own pick or the Denver Broncos selection acquired in an earlier trade involving running back Laurence Maroney; the Broncos selection was higher. The move reunited Branch with former quarterback Tom Brady and came less than a week after the Patriots traded All-Pro receiver Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings for a third-round draft selection in the 2011 NFL Draft.

In his first game back with the Patriots, Branch had 9 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown in an overtime win over the Baltimore Ravens. On Thanksgiving, Week 12, against the Detroit Lions, Branch had a career long 79-yard touchdown catch from Brady in the third quarter, and added a 22-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter in a Patriots win. Two weeks later, against the Chicago Bears, Branch caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Brady at the end of the first half of a Patriots victory.

In 11 games, of which he started nine, with the Patriots in 2010, Branch had 48 receptions for 706 yards and five touchdowns.

In 2011, Branch had five touchdown receptions and 702 receiving yards. The Patriots reached Super Bowl XLVI where they would face the New York Giants. Branch had 3 catches for 45 yards, but the Patriots lost 21–17. He became a free agent after the season and re-signed on March 22. Branch was released during final cuts ahead of the season, but he re-signed on September 18. On November 17, 2012, he was waived to make room for practice squad receiver Greg Salas, but he again re-signed on December 11 due to injuries to Julian Edelman and Donté Stallworth.

Indianapolis Colts
On January 8, 2014, Branch signed with the Indianapolis Colts but was released by the team shortly after.

NFL career statistics

In January 2016, ESPN ranked Branch #30 among the 50 greatest Super Bowl players of all time. On February 7, 2016, Branch appeared on the field at Levi's Stadium before Super Bowl 50 as the NFL honored 43 years of Super Bowl MVPs just as he did on February 5, 2006, on Ford Field during the same ceremony before Super Bowl XL.

Personal life
Branch and his wife Shola began dating when they were both at the University of Louisville, the couple was married in 2007. The couple have four children, two daughters D'ahni and Nylah, as well as twin boys Deiondre and Deiontey. Deiondre contracted meningitis shortly after birth and has been left with irreversible brain damage that prevents him from walking or talking. Shortly after Deiondre was born in 2004, Branch set up the Deion Branch Foundation, aimed at helping children.

Head coaching record
Branch served as interim head coach for Louisville's appearance in the 2022 Fenway Bowl, following the departure of Scott Satterfield at the end of the regular season to accept a different position.

References

External links

 Louisville profile

1979 births
Living people
American football wide receivers
Indianapolis Colts players
Jones County Bobcats football players
Louisville Cardinals football coaches
Louisville Cardinals football players
New England Patriots players
Seattle Seahawks players
Super Bowl MVPs
Players of American football from Albany, Georgia
Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
African-American coaches of American football
African-American players of American football
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American sportspeople

Deion Branch


Professor Walter Llewellyn Bullock (7 March 1890 – 19 February 1944) was a prominent member of the Bullock family, an English scholar, critic, teacher, lecturer and promoter of Italian Studies at the Universities of Chicago and Manchester where he was Serena Professor of Italian. He was founder, in 1937, and general editor of Italian Studies as the annual journal of the Society for Italian Studies. He left his exceptional collection of over 5,000 books and several hundred pamphlets including over 2,600 volumes printed between 1500 and c. 1625 and important critical editions of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ariosto, and Torquato Tasso, as well as many works on the Questione della Lingua to the John Rylands University Library at the University of Manchester.

Family
Bullock was born in London in 1890, the eldest son of Rev. Llewellyn Christopher Bullock and Cecil Spearman, daughter of Edmund Spearman C.M G. and Lady Maria Louisa Spearman (née FitzMaurice). Walter was the elder brother of Sir Christopher Bullock.

Early life
He was educated first at Liverpool College, where his father was a teacher, and then at Rugby School from 14 to 19 years old, leaving in 1909.

Bullock then travelled to the United States, where he became a metallurgical chemist in a large malleable-iron metal factory for five years. He spent his spare time taking a drama course and writing and performing plays.

He was a gifted actor and, when he entered Harvard University in 1913, he augmented his income-–he paid all his university expenses from his earnings as a tutor and out of scholarships won—by playing the leading man to Gertrude Kingston who had brought her repertory company to America in 1915 in a production of Shaw's plays. In 1917 he took both his B.A. and M.A. at Harvard.

Due to rheumatic fever as a child, he had a weak heart and was refused admission by the British, Canadian and American armies. Wanting to make some contribution to the War, he travelled with a mission subsidised by Harvard to Russia and Romania. He was in Petrograd at the time of the Russian Revolution; present at the storming of the Winter Palace; saw the fall of Kerensky and was nearly burnt to death by Bolsheviks who set fire to the car in which he was out on rescue work with others on his mission. He was then sent to Romania where he worked for two years in citizen relief running farms in the summer and soup kitchens in winter.

Returning to America in 1919, he married Hélène Louise Buhlert of Boston. His health had suffered from the hardships in Romania and after recuperating in Maine, he was able to resume studies at Harvard taking his PhD in Romance Languages in 1922. Having initially specialised in Old French, he decided to devote himself to the Italian field especially the Cinquecento.

He had started collecting sixteenth century Italian books whilst a student and described himself as a "bibliomaniac".

Academic career

University of Chicago
In 1922, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Italian at Bryn Mawr College and after five years accepted, in 1927, an Associate Professorship in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in the University of Chicago. Professor William Nitze (father of Paul Nitze) described Bullock as "an enthusiastic and very effective teacher….and excellent research scholar.  His library which he had accumulated with scrupulous care and at considerable financial sacrifice was one of the best in existence".

He continued his interest in acting participating in the Quadrangle Players of Chicago and producing fortnightly plays.

For many years he was Chairman of the Romance Section of the Modern Languages Association and established a Sede of the Dante Alighieri Society of Chicago. He was heavily involved supplying rotographs of rare European manuscripts to American scholars.

In 1933, he was award the Cavaliere della Corona d'Italia by King Victor Emmanuel in recognition of his services to Italian Studies in America.

His summers were often spent in Italy where he came to know the country and people well.

University of Manchester
In 1935, he was offered the Chair of Italian Studies at the University of Manchester. Relations between England and Italy were strained which made promotion of such studies difficult but he was undaunted.

Shortly after his arrival, he was elected to the Italian Committee of the Modern Languages Association and was one of its most active members until the outbreak of War.

In 1937, he realised, with the help of other scholars, his project of founding a quarterly review-–Italian Studies-–"planned as an English organ for the general furtherance, by publication or recording, of literary and scholarly work in the Italian field". The outbreak of War in 1939, and the intervention of Italy in 1940, forced Bullock to relinquish all his most cherished plans: contact with Italy became impossible and many students and others, who were co-operating with his efforts to further the cause of Italian scholarship, were called away on war service. His own researches and the publication of Italian Studies had to be suspended.

War service
During the War, he worked for Civil Defence and lectured to the armed forces. His close understanding of America and England led him to work for greater mutual understanding.

He began to compile an Italian-English, English-Italian Dictionary. When Italy surrendered, he endeavoured to work for a truer understanding of the Italian position.

His arduous work of lecturing to the forces, entailing long and difficult journeys often in the black out led to strains on his health and he died suddenly aged only 54.

He was buried at St Stephen's Church, Great Wigborough in the north east corner of the churchyard.

Legacy
He left his library, of 5,000 books and several hundred pamphlets, for the use of scholars, which is now housed in the John Rylands Library, University of Manchester. It comprises:
 over 2,600 volumes printed in the 16th century;
 nearly 2,000 books and pamphlets consisting of later editions of 16th-century works;
 a large number of reference works;
 hundreds of volumes of modern Italian writers and works of criticism.

See also
Bullock family
Sir Edward Bullock
Colonel John Bullock
Sir Christopher Bullock

References

External links

1890 births
1944 deaths
Academics from London
Harvard University alumni
Civil Defence Service personnel
People of the Russian Revolution

Walter Llewellyn Bullock


The Banner o Ingland is the St George's Cross. The reid ruid kythed as an emblem o Ingland durin the Middle Ages an the Crusades an is ane o the earliest kent emblems representin Ingland. It won status as the naitional banner o Ingland durin the 16t century.

Saunt George becam the patron saunt o Ingland in the 13t century, an the legend o Saunt George slauchterin a draigon dates frae the 12t century.

Banners o the Unitit Kinrick
Ingland

Banner o Ingland


In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, it is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batter.

Second, it is a method of dismissing a batter, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (The term "bowled out" is sometimes used instead.)

Third, it is used in scoring to indicate which bowler is credited with dismissing a batter, when the batter is dismissed by being bowled, leg before wicket (LBW), caught, stumped, or hit wicket.

Delivery of a ball

Dismissal of a batter

This method of dismissal is covered by Law 32 (Bowled) of the Laws of Cricket.

A batter is out Bowled if his or her wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler. It is irrelevant whether the ball has touched the bat, glove, or any part of the batter before going on to put down the wicket, though it may not touch another player or an umpire before doing so. Such rules mean that out Bowled is the most obvious of dismissals: almost never requiring an appeal to the umpire; a bowled batter will usually acknowledge the dismissal voluntarily.

If the delivered ball deflects off the bat, and bowls the batter, then the informal term is known as played on, knocked on, chopped on, or dragged on. If the wicket is put down without the batter making any contact with the ball, then it is known as clean bowled, with variations of this being bowled through the gate, where the ball travels between the bat and pad, or bowled around the legs, where the ball goes behind (to the leg side of) the batter and hits the stumps.

A batter cannot be bowled from a no-ball, wide or dead ball.

A batter is out Bowled even if he/she could be given out by another method of dismissal instead. For example, if a batter edges the ball onto the stumps (such that the bails are removed) and the ball is then caught by a fielder, the batter would be given out Bowled instead of caught.

Out Bowled is the second most common method of dismissal after caught, accounting for 21.4% of all Test match dismissals between 1877 and 2012.

The bowler is credited with the wicket if the batter is bowled.

Muttiah Muralitharan holds the Test record for dismissing most batters (167) through the method of out Bowled.

Scoring

For example, a scorecard may say that a batter was 'c Smith b Jones', which reads as 'caught Smith, bowled Jones', and means he was out caught by Smith, when the bowler was Jones.

Or it might say 'lbw b Jones', which reads as 'lbw bowled Jones', and means he was out LBW when the bowler was Jones.

References

Cricket laws and regulations
Cricket terminology

Bowled


Ai-Fak () is a 2004 Thai drama film. It is based on the S.E.A. Write Award-winning novel by Chart Korbjitti, Khamphiphaksa (The Judgment, also the English-language title for the film).

Plot

A young man, Fak, is a revered novice Buddhist monk, and the entire village has turned out to the local temple to hear him preach a sermon. Fak's talk is interrupted a coughing fit by his widower father, though, and Fak struggles to maintain his focus. Fak then decides he must put aside his aspirations for monkhood to take care of his father. Then he is conscripted by lottery into the army. He hopes that when he completes his national service, he will return to the village, be ordained as a monk and devote his life to religion.

On his return home from the army, the bus to his village breaks down. During the stop, Fak steps over to the side of the road, near a lotus pond, to urinate. There, among the lotus, he sees a beautiful woman bathing, fully clothed (as is customary in Thailand). Fak zips up and eventually arrives at home, where he finds his father in a very happy state. His father's reason for being so happy is that he has remarried. Fak's stepmother then appears from behind a mosquito net: it's the woman from the lotus pond. Her name is Somsong, and though she is sweet and devoted, there is something clearly wrong with her, perhaps some type of mental illness.

Though there are happy times, with Fak joining his father at work as a janitor for the local school, his reunion with his father is short-lived after his father becomes ill and dies. Because Fak made a promise to his father that he would look after his stepmother, Fak's goal of returning to the monkhood must again be put aside.

Though Fak is well liked in the village, the villagers do not like Somsong and have labeled her "crazy". And after Fak's father's death, the villagers start to treat Fak differently: they believe he is having an affair with his stepmother. Fak at first ignores the gossip, but it becomes harder and harder to deny because of Somsong's behavior. On one occasion, during a likay performance at a village fair, Fak is accosted by Somsong after she sees Fak talking with a young woman. Somsong is suffering from delusions that she and Fak are married, and she is jealous. Somsong also has the unfortunate habit of shedding her clothes and running naked in public, or simply lifting her dress and exposing herself. During one of these episodes, some villagers happen upon Fak just as he's chased the nude Somsong down and is attempting to cover her up. But what the villagers think they are witnessing is Fak having sex with his stepmother. Fak has been judged.

Fak has taken his father's old job as school janitor. One day a dog that's thought to be rabid wanders onto the school grounds. Fak is given the job of killing it. He grabs a hoe and uses it to strike the animal, hitting it with a glancing blow that only injures it and makes it angrier. Fak eventually finishes the snarling dog off, but it is a bloody task. For a brief moment, Fak is seen as a hero by the students and faculty, and he feels a bit better about himself.

Fak must prepare for his father's cremation. He invites the school's headmaster, the village headman and others. He orders 50 sandalwood blossoms for attendees to place on the burning casket. But no one shows up for the ceremony, except for the monks he engaged to chant over his father, and the local undertaker.

Fak makes friends with the undertaker, a lowly person who is not well liked by the superstitious villagers because they believe he is unclean. Even Fak didn't particularly like the man, but after Fak tells him that he has never had sexual relations with Somsong, the man believes him.

After the cremation rite, the undertaker offers Fak some rice whiskey. Fak at first doesn't like the taste or the way it makes him feel. But he has a few more drinks and starts enjoy himself. Looking for relief from the pressure of taking care of his mentally ill stepmother and the harsh judgment of the villagers, Fak turns to the bottle and becomes an alcoholic. His downward spiral continues until he has angered the villagers, and they turn on him and beat him, leaving him to be assisted home by Somsong.

Cast
 Pitisak Yaowananon as Fak
 Bongkoj Khongmalai as Somsong

Accolades
 2004 Thailand National Film Association Awards: Best actor for Pitisak Yaowananon

Controversy
 Nude photos were taken on the film set of Bongkoj Khongmalai and uploaded to the popular Thai Internet forum Pantip.com. Police arrested a man but the actress asked that charges against the man be dropped after he issued a public apology. She then filed a complaint against the film's production company for taking the photos.

Further reading
 The Judgment, by Chart Korbjitti,

References
 Rithdee, Kong. March 26. 2004. "Rush to Judgement", Bangkok Post (retrieved via Rotten Tomatoes on November 2, 2006).

Notes

External links

2004 films
2004 drama films
Films based on Thai novels
Thai-language films
Works about judgement
Thai drama films

Ai-Fak


Firepower is an alias used by two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

The character has made minor appearances across several media, such as animated television and the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man 3, in which he was portrayed by Ashley Hamilton.

Fictional character biography

Jack Taggert

Jack Taggert worked on an experimental pilotable suit for Project: Firepower for Edwin Cord (a rival businessman of Tony Stark). The project was ostensibly designated by the U.S. Armed Forces, in conjunction with Senator Boynton, to serve as an ultimate deterrent against opponents of the United States. However, when Iron Man launched his "Armor Wars", attacking armored villains and even government agents without provocation, the Firepower program was modified with the specific goal of stopping Iron Man. While Taggert continued to train for the fight with Iron Man using a simulator rig, Boynton invited Tony Stark out to the first formal demonstration of the Firepower suit, believing that Iron Man would somehow find out from his "ex-employer", and hoping to lure the rogue Avenger into a trap. Stark chose to observe the tests from an SE helicopter, piloted by Jim Rhodes, thus allowing Stark to slip away as Iron Man and attack Firepower without his absence being noticed by Boynton or the military.  The tests against tank and jet drones proved so devastating, however, that Rhodey suggested aborting; however, determined to destroy every last bit of Iron Man technology not under his control, Stark joined the fight. Iron Man found that the massive Firepower suit was able to withstand his attacks, and Firepower was even able to ambush Iron Man through a canyon wall. When Iron Man placed a Negator pack (the device he used to disable his armor technology) on Firepower, he was surprised to find out it didn't work - the government had studied the Negator pack that Iron Man had attempted to use on Stingray, and found a way to shield Firepower's circuits from the pack's effects. Badly damaged and wounded, Iron Man retreated to the helicopter, hoping to buy some time. However, Stark and Rhodey quickly realized that the military would consider them "acceptable losses" in stopping Iron Man, so just as Taggert was being ordered to target the chopper, Iron Man flew away. Taggert launched the "Terminax", a low-power nuclear missile, and completely destroyed the Iron Man armor, leaving its bloody bits to fall to the desert floor.

Stark had faked Iron Man's death by sending out the "Silver Centurion" armor on autopilot, filled with the store of spare blood they had kept on board the chopper "just in case", so as to allow the world to believe that Iron Man was dead (Stark's injuries were blamed on the shockwave from the Terminax detonation). Stark was content to leave Iron Man dead, but it was during this time that Edwin Cord took advantage. He blackmailed Boynton and the military into allowing him to keep Firepower, threatening to reveal to the press one of Firepower's "true" purposes - riot control. Cord then used Firepower to threaten the Marsten Manufacturing group to turn down a Stark bid, to attack SE division Acutech, and to personally attack and threaten Tony Stark and his workers. Finally having had enough of Firepower, Stark locked himself inside his private laboratory to build a brand new set of armor, incorporating several improvements and new weapons, as well as the "classic" red-and-gold color scheme. Even as the new armor was completed, Firepower was attacking another Stark Enterprises-owned facility, so Stark quickly faced off against Firepower as the "new" Iron Man. Taggert, convinced that he could dispatch this new Iron Man as quickly as he did the "first", was stunned to find the Firepower armor outclassed by his opponent. Iron Man was able to defeat or neutralize all of Firepower's main weapons. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to win, Taggert activated the Terminax to launch without a set target, hoping that Iron Man would be vaporized in the attempt to stop or redirect the missile. However, the launcher backpack that housed the missile had been damaged by Iron Man's pulse bolts, trapping the Terminax and threatening everybody in the vicinity. Taggert pleaded with Iron Man to free him from the armor, but Iron Man told him that if the armor was magnetically sealed, there was nothing he could do to free him. Iron Man used an electromagnetic pulse - a trick learned from Force - to disable the Firepower armor (and his own) for six minutes. This bought Iron Man enough time to find a way to shut down the nuke's timer once the armors' systems came back online. Upon reboot, the timer had nine seconds left; Iron Man successfully stopped it in eight. Taggert, now no longer fearing being blown up, told Iron Man that there would be others just like him that would be out to kill Iron Man just as he had and destroy Stark Enterprises, whereupon Iron Man ripped the Firepower armor apart, stunning Taggert into acquiescence. Taggert and Cord were taken into custody, while Stark decided that the world still needed an Iron Man.

Taggert later resurfaces where he pilots a new Firepower armor given to him by Mandarin when he is recruited to help Iron Man's other enemies defeat Iron Man.

David Roberts
A second Firepower is a government official named David Roberts who was sent to bring down Atom-Smasher, an eco-terrorist who had sought to make illegal dumping grounds on a property owned by Stane International (used for government projects) and came to the attention of the media, prompting high-ranking government officials, fearing a scandal, to order Atom Smasher eliminated. Sleeker than the original, this Firepower actually has fewer weapons but seems to pack a harder punch with them. Firepower engaged Atom Smasher and was holding his own. Then, War Machine decided to end the fight with an EMP blast that rendered both inoperable until their systems rebooted. Since Firepower's auto reboots after 14 minutes while War Machine's rebooted in 6 minutes, Rhodes carried the suit out to the army detail outside of the Stane Facility and ordered them off the property.

Powers and abilities
Firepower's armor provides him with a high degree of protection from energy and physical attacks. His strength, reflexes and endurance have all been enhanced by his armor and he can fly at sub-sonic speeds. The suit is also air conditioned to prevent discomfort for the operator. The Firepower armor contains a vast array of sensors and an impressive array of weapons including four back-mounted surface-to-air missiles (and additional missiles mounted on leg hardpoints), chest-mounted heat beam lasers, mini-grenades and arm-mounted concussive cannons. The armor can also fire a small tactical nuclear missile known as Terminax from a back-mounted launch tube.  Described as a "two-ton tuxedo" by Jack Taggart, the suit was extremely large and its wearer had to be lifted into it with a special crane.

Other versions
The Ultimate Universe equivalent of Firepower is the codename for a London Metropolitan Police riot squad in power armor based on Iron Man's stolen technology. Iron Man intervenes when the Firepower armor is used against peaceful protesters, and with Justine Hammer's help provides the British Government with proof that the designs the Government purchased were stolen, leading to them being recalled. Their armor has a striking resemblance to the Mark VI MJOLNIR armor from the Halo series.

In other media

Television
 Firepower appeared in the Iron Man episode "The Armor Wars, Part 2", voiced by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. This version is an automaton built by Justin Hammer.
 Firepower appears in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Armor Wars". This version is an unnamed criminal hired by Obadiah Stane and passed off as the third member of the heroic Guardsmen alongside Force and Shockwave. However, Pepper Potts exposes the Guardsmen's criminal ties on live television before Iron Man and War Machine defeat them.

Film
Jack Taggert appears in Iron Man 3, portrayed by Ashley Hamilton. This version is a soldier recruited by Aldrich Killian to participate in the Extremis program. At the TCL Chinese Theatre, Taggert meets with Eric Savin, who gives him a number of injections. Upon using one and overdosing however, Taggert's Extremis virus malfunctions, causing him to explode, which injures Happy Hogan while Savin's regenerative capabilities protect him from the blast.

Video games
Firepower appears in the PSP, Wii, and mobile versions of the Iron Man 2 film tie-in game, voiced by Cedric Yarbrough. This version is a mercenary who joins A.I.M. in attacking Budapest before fighting War Machine.

References

External links
 Firepower I at Marvel.com

Comics characters introduced in 1993
Comics characters introduced in 1988
Marvel Comics supervillains
Characters created by David Michelinie
Fictional aviators
Fictional African-American people
Fictional government agents
Characters created by Bob Layton
Fictional mercenaries in comics
Iron Man characters

Firepower (comics)