Muhammad Zaidan (10 December 1948 – 8 March 2004), also known as Abu Abbas ( Abū ʿAbbās;  ) or Muhammad Abbas, was (with Tal'at Ya'qoub) a founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) Organization.

Political background
Zaidan was born in 1948 in Safed, Palestine, though other sources state that he was born in a Syrian refugee camp.

He studied at the Damascus University where he joined the radical, pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) under Ahmed Jibril in 1968. In 1977, major disagreements arose between the PFLP-GC, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and other Palestinian factions based in Lebanon. Zaidan, who opposed Syrian involvement in the Lebanese war, left the PFLP-GC and created the PLF with Talaat Yaacoub, which eventually split into three separate factions (and then later re-merged). Zaydan's faction of the PLF, which was the largest of the three, moved its headquarters to Tunisia.

PLF leader
Since its inception in 1977, the Abbas-led PLF was a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization and received support from both the PLO and Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. Unlike the PFLP-GC, the PLF has supported peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Zaidan was elected to the Executive Committee of the PLO in 1984 and represented the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in 1989 during peace negotiations with Israel. Although Zaidan was wanted by Israel for his involvement in guerrilla attacks against Israel (including attacks against civilians) throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Israel allowed him to travel freely in the Gaza Strip throughout the 1990s because he supported the peace negotiations. One notable attack by the PLF under Zaidan's leadership resulted in the deaths of Danny Haran (age 28) and his two daughters, Einat (4) and Yael (2) in April 1979 in their Nahariya, Israel home by Samir Kuntar.

Achille Lauro hijacking
Throughout the 1980s, the PLF launched attacks on both civilian and military targets in the north of Israel, across the Lebanese border. In 1985 he masterminded the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. During the hijacking, 69-year-old American Jewish passenger Leon Klinghoffer, who used a wheelchair, was shot dead and thrown overboard. The four hijackers, fearful of United States military intervention, surrendered to Egypt in return for safe passage out of Egypt, based on the pretext that they had done no harm to any of the passengers. Four F-14 aircraft from the U.S. 6th Fleet intercepted the plane carrying the hijackers to Tunisia and escorted it to Sigonella, a NATO base in Italy. There they discovered that Zaidan and PLO political officer Hassan were also on the plane. Insider deals within the Italian government made them both flown from Sigonella to Rome. From there, Zaidan and Hassan boarded a Yugoslav civilian airliner bound for Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Despite American requests for the extradition of Zaidan from Yugoslavia, he was not extradited because of Yugoslav relations with the PLO. He then flew to Aden, South Yemen and from there to Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein sheltered him from extradition to Italy. He remained in Iraq and commanded the PLF (reunited in 1989) until the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Italy sentenced Zaidan in absentia to five terms of life imprisonment for his role in the Achille Lauro hijacking. He was also wanted in the US for crimes including terrorism, piracy and murder. In 1996, he apologized for the Achille Lauro hijacking and the murder of Leon Klinghoffer and advocated peace talks between Palestinians and Israel; the apology was rejected by the US government and Klinghoffer's family.

Death in custody
On 14 April 2003, Zaidan was captured by American Special Forces in Iraq while attempting to flee from Baghdad to Syria. Italy subsequently requested his extradition. The Pentagon reported on 9 March 2004 that Zaidan had died the previous day, of natural causes, while in U.S. custody. The PLF accused the Americans of assassinating their leader. The U.S. authorities agreed to give Abbas' body to the Palestine Red Crescent Society for burial in Ramallah on the West Bank. However, his burial there was blocked by the Israeli authorities, and he was buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery in Damascus instead.

References

External links

 Achille Lauro hijacking, BBC H2G2
 U.S. captures mastermind of Achille Lauro hijacking, David Ensor, CNN, 16 April 2003
 The World Should Know What He Did to My Family, Smadar Haran Kaiser, Washington Post (mirror), 18 May 2003

1948 births
2004 deaths
Fugitives wanted by Iraq
Hijackers
MS Achille Lauro
Palestinian Liberation Front members
Palestine Liberation Organization members
Palestinian Arab nationalists
Palestinian nationalists
Palestinian people who died in prison custody
People imprisoned on charges of terrorism
Prisoners who died in United States military detention
People convicted in absentia

Muhammad Zaidan


Michael Brown (born August 21, 1937) is a Canadian sprint canoer who competed in the early to mid-1960s. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, he was eliminated in the repechage round of the K-1 1000 m event. Four years later in Tokyo, Brown was eliminated in the semifinals of the K-2 1000 m.

References
Sports-reference.com profile

1937 births
Canadian male canoeists
Canoeists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Living people
Olympic canoeists for Canada

Michael Brown (canoeist)


Renfield is a 2023 American action comedy horror film directed and produced by Chris McKay, and written by Ryan Ridley from a story by Robert Kirkman, who also served as producer. Inspired by characters from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, the film stars Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, and Nicolas Cage.

The film tells a story of the character Renfield from the Dracula universe. The film entered development hell after the commercial failure of The Mummy (2017). Kirkman later pitched a new version of the film, leaning more into the comedic aspects of the story, and the production rights were acquired by Skybound Entertainment. Dexter Fletcher was originally announced as director in 2019, but McKay eventually replaced him, working off the Ridley script and Kirkman's original pitch. Much of the cast joined between August 2021 to January 2022, and filming took place from February to August 2022.

Renfield had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival on March 30, 2023, and was released in the United States on April 14, 2023, by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised the comedic tone and performances but criticized the screenplay and story. It has grossed $26 million worldwide against its budget of $65 million, making it a box office flop.

Plot

In the early 20th century, Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula meets English lawyer R. M. Renfield. Renfield hopes to broker a land deal, and after proving to be a useful assistant, he ends up becoming Dracula's familiar, which grants him immortality and super strength and speed when he consumes bugs.

Ninety years later, Renfield has grown weary of bringing victims to Dracula as well as the latter's abuse. They recently had a close call with vampire hunters who almost killed the count, so the duo moves to New Orleans to recuperate. There, Renfield discovers a 12-step self-help group for people in codependent relationships. He tracks down one of the group member's abusive lovers so he can give him to Dracula without feeling remorse. But during the abduction, they're attacked by an assassin hired by the rival Lobo crime family, whom Renfield kills.

The assassin's boss Teddy Lobo drives off in a hurry, and runs into a sobriety checkpoint that is run by police officer Rebecca Quincy, who arrests Teddy. At the police station, Teddy is released from custody by corrupt police officers, while Rebecca has a confrontation with her sister Kate, an FBI agent.

Dracula tells Renfield that the criminals he has brought as food are insufficient, and that the vampire desires the blood of the pure instead. Renfield goes to a restaurant to abduct commoners while Rebecca is also led there by clues from the crime scene. The two are caught in an attack on Rebecca's life that Teddy has been pressured into making. Instead, Renfield and Rebecca defend themselves, killing several gang members and leading Teddy to escape.

Teddy's mother, Bellafrancesca, orders him to hunt down the man who killed her footsoldiers, and he ends up encountering Dracula when Renfield is away. The two agree to form an alliance while Renfield has taken to heart the teachings of his self-help group and decides to make a life for himself apart from his master. Setting up an apartment and changing his attitude to one of helpfulness, Renfield gives a statement to the police to help them finally stop the Lobos. However, Dracula learns of Renfield's betrayal and slaughters the support group members in front of his former minion.

Rebecca appears and finds Renfield surrounded by dead bodies, causing her to arrest him until she is swarmed by corrupt police officers and the Lobos, who also want revenge on Renfield. Rebecca refuses to hand Renfield over, and she barely escapes with him. The next morning, Rebecca finds that Renfield has saved her life, and he explains his true origin while confirming that he wants to reform himself. The two fight through a group of corrupt police officers and Lobo henchmen that come to the apartment to kill them and escape, but after attempting to call Kate, Rebecca discovers that she's been taken hostage by Dracula and Bellafrancesca. She and Renfield stockpile weapons and bugs to storm the Lobos' headquarters, only to find that Dracula has empowered over a half-dozen gang members, including Teddy, to have all of Renfield's supernatural abilities.

Renfield kills Teddy and the gang members while Rebecca heads to stop Dracula, only to find that Kate is beaten to near-death and only the healing properties of Dracula's blood can save her, which he will offer in exchange for Rebecca's loyalty. She tricks Dracula and injures him by exposing him to sunlight, leading to him having a final standoff with Renfield and Rebecca that ends with the two capturing him in a magical circle.

Renfield and Rebecca beat Dracula into pieces with weapons from the Lobo family's torture gallery, along with many methods of vampire weaknesses. They then encase the pieces in concrete and scatter them among the city's water system. Kate is healed, Bellafrancesca is arrested, and Renfield resurrects his self-help group friends with Dracula's blood, feeling empowered to make a new life for himself.

Cast

Additionally, Helen Chandler and Edward Van Sloan respectively appear as Mina Seward and Van Helsing via archive footage from Dracula (1931).

Production

Development
In July 2014, Universal Pictures announced classic horror film properties, including the character of Count Dracula, as part of a unified shared universe with Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan attached to oversee its development. After the negative reception of Dracula Untold (2014), its connections to a unified series were downplayed, and The Mummy (2017) was re-positioned as the first film in the series. The Mummy, a critical and commercial failure, resulted in Universal's decision to shift its focus to individual storytelling and move away from the shared universe concept.

Renfield is based on an original pitch by Robert Kirkman and uses a screenplay by Ryan Ridley. In November 2019, Dexter Fletcher was hired to direct the film for Universal and Skybound Entertainment. The film was described as a comedic approach to the story of Count Dracula, in the vein of Taika Waititi's vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows (2014), that focuses on the character of Renfield. In 2020, Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man became a commercial and critical success for Universal and served as a relaunch to its monster universe. In April 2021, Chris McKay entered negotiations to direct after Fletcher left to work on a reboot of The Saint for Paramount Pictures. McKay was hired because he reportedly gave a successful pitch combining the story's mix of humor and action, "something the studio was looking to have more of". In March 2023, McKay described the film as a "quasi-sequel" to Universal's 1931 English-language film Dracula, depicting the same characters of Dracula and Renfield ninety years on, with the film's black-and-white opening scene depicting the beginning of Dracula (1931) with Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult respectively inserted in place of Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye as Count Dracula and Renfield.

Casting

Nicholas Hoult was cast as Renfield in August 2021. Nicolas Cage was cast to play Count Dracula in November, Awkwafina and Ben Schwartz were added to the cast in December, and Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Bess Rous, James Moses Black, Caroline Williams, and Brandon Scott Jones were confirmed to star the following year. An "enormous" fan of Dracula and the source material, Cage prepared for his role by observing the distinctive ways Dracula was portrayed on screen by Bela Lugosi, Frank Langella, and Gary Oldman. "What can I bring that will be different?", he said, "I want it to pop in a unique way. We've seen it played well, we've seen it play not so well, so what can we do? So I'm thinking to really focus on the movement of the character ... [and] that perfect tone of comedy and horror". Cage mentioned An American Werewolf in London (1981), Ring (1998), and Malignant (2021) as inspirations for the role. The film is Cage's first live-action film by a major studio since Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011).

Filming
Filming began in New Orleans on February 3, 2022, with Mitchell Amundsen serving as cinematographer. On February 8, more than twenty vehicles belonging to the production crew were burglarized. One security guard was present at the time of the incident, which occurred late at night in a secured parking lot. Crew member Elmo Peoples said the vandals had stolen his insurance papers, two bank cards, and a laptop. He added, "I'm supposed to be here all week and I don't even want to come back because I feel like they don't really care about us as much as the main characters or actors." Love Bugs Film LLC reassured the production crew that they would hire additional security. Filming wrapped on April 14, 2022, exactly one year prior to the film's scheduled release.

The film's black-and-white opening scenes recreate the events of Dracula (1931) with Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult respectively inserted in place of Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye as Count Dracula and Renfield ("compositing the actors into the old backgrounds — we're just erasing [the original actors] and putting Cage and Hoult in"), with Helen Chandler and Edward Van Sloan appearing as Mina Seward and Van Helsing via archive footage. Zene Baker, Ryan Folse and Giancarlo Ganziano served as editors.

Release
Renfield had its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival on March 30, 2023  and was released in US theaters on April 14, 2023, by Universal Pictures. The film was released on Blu-Ray and DVD in the US on June 6, 2023 and began streaming on Peacock June 9.

Video game
Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, a video game based on the film, was developed by Mega Cat Studios, published by Skybound Games and released on April 12, 2023, for Microsoft Windows. Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood is a bullet hell roguelike game.

Reception

Box office
Renfield grossed $17.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $9.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $26.7 million. It has been deemed a box office flop.

In the United States and Canada, Renfield was released alongside The Pope's Exorcist, Mafia Mamma, Sweetwater, and Suzume, and was projected to gross $8–10 million from 3,375 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3.1 million on its first day, including $900,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $8.1 million, finishing fourth behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Pope's Exorcist, and John Wick: Chapter 4. The film made $3.1 million in its second weekend (dropping 61%), finishing in eighth.

Critical response
  Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 86% positive score.

Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film three out of five stars, writing, "It fulfils the basic requirements of a beat-'em-up formula established by Buffy and Blade, but that's it. To get any further, we'd have wanted a real sharpening of the emotional stakes." Amy Nicholson of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "The small gags are great, the overall story arc is weak—particularly a quasi-romantic subplot where a cop (Awkwafina) challenges Renfield to turn from heel to hero", and gave the film a B grade.

Conversely, Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film a score of two out of five stars, calling it "a gore-splattered, consistently tiresome, one-joke movie that could only have been pitched in a Hollywood development meeting as, you know, 'It's fucking Dracula! Alison Willmore of Vulture praised the film's premise, but said it had "maybe a comedy sketch's worth of ideas to stretch over a feature-length run time." ABC News's Peter Travers wrote, "what started as a clever, contemporary spin on the Dracula myth gets swallowed up into a quicksand of cartoonishly repetitive, R-rated action cliches that make Renfield seem too long at a scant 93 minutes."

Accolades
Renfield received a nomination for Best Comedy Poster at the 2023 Golden Trailer Awards.

References

External links

2023 black comedy films
2023 comedy horror films
2023 films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2020s monster movies
2020s action comedy films
2020s action horror films
2020s police comedy films
American black comedy films
American comedy horror films
American sequel films
American splatter films
American vampire films
Dracula films
Films about narcissism
Films based on works by Bram Stoker
Films directed by Chris McKay
Films scored by Marco Beltrami
Films set in castles
Films set in New Orleans
Films set in Transylvania
Films set in the 1800s
Films set in the 2020s
Films shot in New Orleans
Gothic horror films
Psychological abuse in fiction
Universal Pictures films
Vampire comedy films

Renfield (film)


Ana Cristina Teles Meneses Hormigo (born 13 April 1981) is a Portuguese judoka, who played for the extra-lightweight category. She won a bronze medal for her division at the 2008 European Judo Championships, and eventually defeated Italy's Valentina Moscatt for the gold at the 2011 IJF World Cup in Lisbon. Hormigo is also a member of Associação Judo Clube União Albicastrense, and is coached and trained by Abel Louro.

Hormigo represented Portugal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she competed for the women's extra-lightweight class (48 kg). She defeated India's Devi Khumujam Tomb in the first preliminary round, before losing out her next match by a waza-ari (half-point), and an ōuchi gari (big inner reap) to North Korea's Pak Ok-Song. Because her opponent advanced further into the semi-finals, Hormigo offered another shot for the bronze medal by defeating Kazakhstan's Kelbet Nurgazina, with two koka, and a sankaku gatame (arm crush triangular arm lock), in the repechage rounds. Unfortunately, she finished only in seventh place, after losing out the final repechage bout to Russia's Lyudmila Bogdanova, who successfully scored a waza-ari and a tomoe nage (circle throw), at the end of the five-minute period.

References

External links

 NBC Olympics Profile

1981 births
Living people
People from Castelo Branco, Portugal
Portuguese female judoka
Olympic judoka for Portugal
Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Castelo Branco District
20th-century Portuguese women
21st-century Portuguese women

Ana Hormigo


A gunboat is a naval watercraft. It is designed for carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.

Gunboats were used since prior to the stream era, they changed with it. They were used in the American Civil War and were also used in e.g. World War I and II, and the Vietnam War.

History

Pre-steam era
In the age of sail, a gunboat was usually a small undecked vessel carrying a single smoothbore cannon in the bow, or just two or three such cannons. A gunboat could carry one or two masts or be oar-powered only, but the single-masted version of about  length was most typical. Some types of gunboats carried two cannons, or else mounted a number of swivel guns on the railings.

All navies of the sailing era kept a number of gunboats on hand.

Steam era

With the introduction of steam power in the early 19th century, the Royal Navy and other navies built considerable numbers of small vessels propelled by side paddles and later by screws. Initially, these vessels retained full sailing rigs and used steam engines for auxiliary propulsion.

Gunboats experienced a revival during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Union and Confederate forces quickly converted existing passenger-carrying boats into armed sidewheel steamers. Later, some purpose-built boats, such as , joined the fray. They frequently mounted 12 or more guns, sometimes of rather large caliber, and usually carried some armor. At the same time, Britain's gunboats from the Crimean War period were starting to wear out, so a new series of classes was ordered. Construction shifted from a purely wooden hull to an iron–teak composite.

In the later 19th century and early 20th century, "gunboat" was the common name for smaller armed vessels. These could be classified, from the smallest to the largest, into river gunboats, river monitors, coastal-defense gunboats (such as ), and full-fledged monitors for coastal bombardments. In the 1870s and 1880s, Britain took to building so-called "flat-iron" (or Rendel) gunboats for coastal defence. When there would be few opportunities to re-coal, vessels carrying a full sailing rig continued in use as gunboats; , a sloop preserved at Chatham Historic Dockyard in the United Kingdom, exemplifies this type of gunboat.

In the United States Navy, these boats had the hull classification symbol "PG", which led to their being referred to as "patrol gunboats". They usually displaced under , were about  long,  draught and sometimes much less, and mounted several guns of calibers up to . An important characteristic of these was the ability to operate in rivers, enabling them to reach inland targets in a way not otherwise possible before the development of aircraft. In this period the naval powers used gunboats for police actions in colonies or in weaker countries, for example in China (see e.g. Yangtze Patrol). This category of gunboat inspired the term "gunboat diplomacy". With the addition of torpedoes, they became "torpedo gunboats", designated by the hull classification symbol "PTG" (Patrol Torpedo Gunboat).

Vietnam War

US riverine gunboats in the Vietnam War, included Patrol Boats River (PBR), constructed of fiberglass; Patrol Craft Fast (PCF), commonly known as Swift Boats, built of aluminum; and Assault Support Patrol Boats (ASPB) built of steel. U.S. Coast Guard 82-foot s supplemented these US Navy vessels. The ASPBs were commonly referred to as "Alpha" boats and primarily carried out mine-sweeping duties along the waterways, due to their all-steel construction. The ASPBs were the only US Navy riverine craft specifically designed and built for the Vietnam War. All of these boats were assigned to the US Navy's "Brownwater Navy".

Surviving vessels (incomplete)
 (1776) – USS Philadelphia resides at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.
 (1861) – USS Cairo is on display at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
 (1863) – The remains of the CSS Chattahoochee are currently on display at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia.
 (1905) –  BAP América resides in Iquitos Peru.
 (1912) – SS Zhongshan is currently preserved in Wuhan, China.
 (1930) – ARP Humaitá (C2), Museum ship as of 1992 located in Asunción, Paraguay.
 (1936) – ARM Guanajuato (C-07), located in Boca del Río, Veracruz and is undergoing restoration.

Related pages
 Gunboat diplomacy

Notes

References
 Anderson, Roger Charles, Oared Fighting Ships: From classical times to the coming of steam. London. 1962.
 Chapelle, Howard, The History of the American Sailing Navy Norton. 1949.
 Friedman, Norman. US Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History. 1987; Naval Institute Press. .
 Glete, Jan, Navies and Nations: Warships, Navies and State Building in Europe and America 1500–1860 (vol 2) Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm. 1993.
 Preston, John Antony, Send a Gunboat! The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904. Conway Maritime, London. 2007. .

Other websites

 HMS Gannet

Ship types
Naval ships

Gunboat


St John Ambulance is a volunteer-led, charitable non-governmental organisation dedicated to the teaching and practice of first aid and the support of the national emergency response system in England. Along with St John Ambulance Cymru, St John Ambulance Northern Ireland, and St John Scotland, it is one of four United Kingdom affiliates of the international St John Ambulance movement.

The St John Ambulance Association was founded in 1877 to provide first aid training. In 1887, the St John Ambulance Brigade was founded to provide uniformed medics at public events. In 1968, the two were merged into the present foundation. The organisation is a subsidiary of the England and the Islands priory (i.e. branch) of the Order of St John. Until 2012, it also managed St John Ambulance services in the Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

History
The St John Ambulance Association was set up in 1877 by the Venerable Order of Saint John to teach industrial workers first aid so that they could provide on-the-spot treatment in emergencies. Workers rarely had ready access to a doctor in 19th-century workplaces, and since accidents were frequent, death or disability from injuries was common. The organisation in Ipswich was founded in 1880.

In 1887, trained volunteers were organised into a uniformed Brigade to provide a first aid and ambulance service at public events. In many parts of England (and in parts of Scotland, until 1908), St John Ambulance was the first and only provider of an ambulance service right up to the middle of the 20th century, when the National Health Service was founded. When there were far fewer doctors and hospital beds than today, St John Ambulance nurses looked after the sick and injured in their own homes.

The St John Ambulance Brigade and St John Ambulance Association merged in 1968 to form St John Ambulance, a single organisation providing both training and first aid cover.

In 1998, members of a paedophile ring which operated from within the St John Ambulance Brigade for several decades were arrested by police. The ring was headed by Leslie Gaines, superintendent of the Farnborough Division of the Brigade in Hampshire.

A significant restructure in 2012 consolidated 43 counties into eight large regions; these regions were then further merged during 2016 into four regions. During 2013, St John Ambulance trained approximately 278,000 adults through its workplace and community first aid programmes, and directly trained 91,000 schoolchildren. St John Ambulance personnel attended 45,000 public events, treating approximately 102,000 individuals. It also distributed 100,000 free first aid guides nationwide and its free smartphone app was downloaded by 148,000 people.

Key dates
 1540: The original Order of St John, the Knights Hospitallers is disbanded in England by Henry VIII
 1826: An idea to re-establish the Order within England is put forward by some remaining French Knights of the original worldwide Order
 1841: The "St John's Day Declaration" is prepared to seek official recognition of the new Order by the original Order, now known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
 10 July 1877: St John Ambulance Association forms to teach first-aid in large railway centres and mining districts
 June 1887: St John Ambulance Brigade is formed
 14 May 1888: English Order of St John is granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria
 1908: By reciprocal agreement, St John Ambulance Brigade ceases to operate in Scotland and St Andrew's Ambulance Association ceases to operate in England
 March 1922: St John Ambulance Cadets is formed
 1968: The Association and Brigade merge to form a unified St John Ambulance
 January 1987: Badger Setts are introduced to celebrate 100 years since the formation of the Brigade
 1999: The Priory of England and the Islands is formed
 2012: St John Ambulance changes its county structure to a regionalised model across England
 2017–2018: Celebration of the organisation's 140th anniversary

Community first responders
St John Ambulance community first responders (CFRs) are trained volunteers who provide emergency treatment to people in their region and are dispatched by NHS ambulance control to medical emergency (999) calls, with the scheme operating as a community partnership between St John Ambulance and local ambulance service trusts. CFRs are dispatched to attend Category 1 "immediately life-threatening" calls such as cardiac arrest, diabetic emergency, unresponsive patient, breathing difficulties and seizures.

Night time first aid cover
St John Ambulance conduct front line first aid in towns and cities at night. First aiders, backed by healthcare professionals (including registered doctors, nurses and paramedics) deliver first aid to members of the public in these areas at night and provide a safe environment to ensure safe and prompt treatment to those who require it. St John Ambulance often have ambulances crewed by their Emergency Ambulance Crews (EACs) who will convey patients to hospital if they cannot be safely treated and discharged from the static treatment centre, and respond to emergency calls within the city centre from the 999 system.

First aid cover at events

St John Ambulance provides first aid cover at thousands of events every year, including major events such as the London Marathon and Hyde Park concerts, as well as smaller events such as fetes and local fairs. This service is provided free to patients at the point of delivery, although a charge is often made to the event organiser for provision of the service at their event, to subsidise the charity's free cover of community and charity events, as well as the organisation's wider charitable output. Where necessary, St John Ambulance can also provide paramedics, doctors, nurses and cycle responders, as well as mobile treatment centres, ambulances and other medical provision, and support functions including command & control vehicles and incident catering units.

Training
St John Ambulance runs courses in first aid and health and safety for members of the public, training 254,000 people in 2013. Its First aid at work course is used by many companies to train designated individuals as first aiders, as required by employment laws; specialist training is also available, including courses for schools staff and people working with children, and professional drivers.

Charitable community first aid courses also offer people of all ages the chance to learn basic first aid skills at little or no charge. In 2013, 24,000 people attended these courses.

Youth division

St John Ambulance teaches first aid to thousands of young people, through programmes including Badgers (for seven- to ten-year-olds), Cadets (ten- to 17-year-olds), Student Volunteering Units (based in colleges and universities) and RISE, a specialist project aimed at those not in education, employment or training. Cadets volunteer alongside their adult counterparts on events.

In 2013, 91,000 schoolchildren were trained in first aid by St John Ambulance's schools team, and the organisation made training materials for schools available to download for free from its Teach the difference website.

In 2014, the organisation launched The Big First Aid Lesson, a free first aid lesson, which was streamed live into classrooms across England. 32,384 students took part in the inaugural event. Events took place the following three years. The Big First Aid Lesson was not held in 2018, to allow the team to focus on promoting first aid as part of the national curriculum.

Super Badger Award
St John Ambulance Badgers work towards the "Super Badger Award". This award consists of members completing 12 subjects, such as "Creative", "Global" and "Wild" Badger. The award is split into five sections, where Badgers advance through completing more subjects. Badgers who achieve their Super Badger receive a ceramic trophy of Bertie Badger, the Badger mascot, dressed in the original Badger uniform. The programme was reviewed and redesigned in 2016, and the new version launched in 2017, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the formation of Badgers.

Grand Prior's Award scheme
The Grand Prior's Award is the primary award designed for Cadets. The award consists of the completion of 16 subjects throughout Cadet membership, until the age of 18. The programme started being reviewed and updated in early 2017 and was released in mid-2021.

Amalfi Challenge
The Amalfi Challenge was open to all Cadets and adult volunteers aged 16 to 25. The structure of the award involved goals set by the individual themselves, and undertaking tasks categorised into service, relationships, society and challenge, with the Amalfi Award being achieved by completing 12 such tasks. The Amalfi Challenge is discontinued in England.

The Sovereign's Award
The Sovereign's Award is given to young St John Ambulance volunteers in recognition of outstanding work in the areas of personal development, benefit to St John, and benefit to their community. It is awarded to a maximum of ten people worldwide each year. The award is presented at the Young Achievers' Reception hosted by Anne, Princess Royal, Commandant-in-Chief for Youth. The event is also attended by the National Cadet of the Year for England and the Islands, National Cadet of the Year for Cymru Wales, Regional Cadets of the Year from England and the Islands, Deputy Cadet of the Year for Cymru Wales, District Cadets of the Year and nominated young people, aged 7–17.

Student volunteering units
St John Ambulance units dedicated to meeting the needs of student and university communities can be found at many institutes of higher education across England. These units, formerly known as LINKS units, were originally established at universities to form a "link" between Cadets and adult volunteering, allowing people to stay affiliated to the organisation and maintain their skills while in higher education. However, student volunteering units have become integral parts of the student community and the 90% of their members are new to St John Ambulance at the point of joining.

Raising of awareness and campaigning
St John Ambulance campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of first aid, and equip more people with life-saving skills. Its 2013 Save the Boy campaign, demonstrating how to put a casualty in the recovery position, reached 15 million people through television and online media.

In January 2015, it launched a new campaign, The Chokeables, designed to teach parents how to treat a choking infant. The animated film featured the voices of actors John Hurt, David Walliams, Johnny Vegas and David Mitchell.

During the annual Save a Life September campaign, St John Ambulance trainers hold free first aid demonstrations in public spaces around the country, handing out first aid guides to attendees. A free first aid app for smartphones is also available to download.

Between 9–16 October 2018, St John Ambulance was involved in the promotion of Restart A Heart Day 2018, overseen by the Resuscitation Council UK, on behalf of the European Resuscitation Council and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. St John Ambulance and partner organisations trained over 200,000 people in emergency resuscitation during the two weeks.

In 2022 St John Ambulance partnered up with BBC Radio Manchester following the inqury into the Manchester Arena bombing. St John volunteers provided free emergency first aid awareness to the public throughout Manchester, and between May and December over 16,000 members of the public were trained in a life saving skill.

Ambulance services

St John Ambulance supplies ambulance services in England, providing patient transport services to over 100,000 people a year, and working in partnership with NHS trusts, private healthcare groups, local authorities and individuals.

Ambulance Operations, the division of the organisation responsible for the provision of ambulances, provides a range of services including NHS frontline ambulance support, specialist transfer services for paediatric and neonatal patients and specialist emergency response services for bariatric patients. St John Ambulance has delivered over 1.2 million hours of volunteer frontline 999 ambulance support to NHS ambulance trusts since early 2020, treating over 150,000 patients. A national network of ambulance hubs allows both volunteer and salaried Emergency Ambulance Crew and Paramedics to deploy in support of almost every NHS ambulance trust in England. In some regions, such as the Isle of Wight, St John Ambulance crews are critical for the business continuity of the NHS ambulance trust and make up an integral part of their ability to respond to emergencies.

In 2010, St John Ambulance was awarded the Private Ambulance Service Team of the Year Award by the Ambulance Services Institute, for the work it carried out with the CATS (Great Ormond Street) and the South Thames Retrieval Service (Evelina Children's Hospital).

First aid and medical equipment services
St John Ambulance Supplies (often abbreviated to SJS) is a trading sub-division of St John Ambulance providing first aid and medical equipment and consumables, training equipment, publications, health and safety equipment and clothing. Where a profit is made, surplus from sales are diverted into supporting the charitable work of the Order of St John and the St John Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem.

SJS opened its doors at St John's Gate in Clerkenwell on 12 February 1879, and was originally known as The Stores Depot. It is now a major commercial operation supplying to the public, private and voluntary sector. The store is now only available online.

Vehicles
Originally, individual divisions of St John Ambulance were responsible for providing their own vehicles. These have taken many and varied forms, beginning with horse-drawn ambulances. Even into the late twentieth century, with some centralisation of control and classification of vehicle types such as Motor Ambulance Units (the title arising historically as a distinction from horse-drawn units), First Aid Posts and Rapid Deployment Vehicles, there remained within the organisation an enormous range of deployed vehicles of different types and even assorted local vehicle liveries. Some ambulances were donated second-hand from industrial plants, some were purchased (from different suppliers) and some were local conversions of commercial vehicles. At the start of the twenty-first century, new legislation regarding emergency ambulances effectively rendered a significant proportion of the then-current St John Ambulance fleet redundant. The solution was the development of a specialist St John Ambulance vehicle, which was designed jointly by the organisation and vehicle manufacturer Renault. The result was the Crusader 900 ambulance.

An early assessment suggested that 100 of the Crusader ambulances (costing, at that time, £40,000 each) would be required immediately, representing an investment of £4million. In 2000, St John Ambulance committed itself to raising £2million by public subscription, whilst English and Welsh Freemasons committed a further £2million, supplying 50 Crusader ambulances which were handed over in local ceremonies across the country during 2000 and 2001. This very large donation allowed the rapid transformation of the national St John Ambulance fleet of front-line ambulances within a much shorter time-scale than could otherwise have been possible. Subsequently, many local Provinces of Freemasons have maintained relations with their local St John Ambulance County units and supported the running costs of these vehicles or even donated further (additional) Crusader ambulances.

By 2004, the national St John Ambulance emergency vehicle fleet was in a standard corporate livery, with standard vehicle types:

 Crusader – a front-line emergency ambulance, based on the Renault Master (or similar);
 4x4 ambulance – a four-wheel drive emergency ambulance, based on the Nissan Patrol (or similar), but with additional headroom, for rural and off-road deployment;
 Support vehicle – either based on a van, car or a 4x4 vehicle, Support Units can be used for a variety of purposes. For instance, a Support Car may be used to carry members to and from duties, in a logistical capacity, or even as a response vehicle on larger duties. Support Vans are normally used only for logistical purposes. Mini-buses are also available and can be used for logistics or the transport of members.

In 2020, St John undertook a review of its fleet capabilities and developed a fleet refresh strategy. Many older vehicles were retired from service with a gradual replacement with newer models based on the MAN TGE 3.5-tonne chassis. Box-body and AWD variants of the MAN ambulance were introduced in late 2020, in a new,  green livery style. , the organisation has 250 vehicles in its fleet.

Specialist vehicles
St John Ambulance also maintains specialist response options in particular locations, such as Cycle Response Units, control and command units, as well as larger vehicles or trailers used as static first aid posts.

Training
Volunteers receive training according to the role they fulfil. Those volunteering to provide Event First Aid services first attend a four-day Operational First Aid (FA) course covering common injuries and illnesses, basic life support, administration of over-the-counter medication, major trauma and casualty care; in addition to organisation-specific elements such as safe discharge and patient report forms.

Further progression is to the Advanced First Aider (AFA) course, a four-day course covering medical gasses administration, basic airway management, splints, taking vital signs and manual handling with equipment. Advanced First Aider is the standard required for entry to the Cycle Response Unit, Medical Response Team (a specialist resource for working in dense crowds) and Ambulance Training.

Ambulance training, open to both existing First Aid volunteers and external candidates, takes the form of a 6-month training program with volunteers qualifying as Emergency Ambulance Crew (EAC). A small number of paid staff are also trained to the same standard to provide an organisational personnel baseline to fulfil core NHS and specialist contracts. The Emergency Ambulance Crew training program encompasses a combination of classroom and distance learning alongside practical assessments, written exams and a portfolio. Course content is in line with that of NHS Emergency Ambulance Crew and includes medical gasses administration, airway management (including supraglottic devices), intermediate life support, trauma care, obstetrics, paediatrics, major incident response, emergency medications administration and in-depth anatomy and physiology.  Once qualified, EAC's must spend a minimum of 12 months (reduced to 6 months for paid staff) as Newly Qualified Emergency Ambulance Crew (NQEAC) before being allowed to practice autonomously. Volunteer Emergency Ambulance Crew are deployed as frontline 999 crews in support of the NHS, as ambulance crews to events and as part of specific community response programs such as night time economy support. An additional 4-week Level 3 CERAD blue light driving is available upon qualifying as an EAC and all SJA ambulance crews must be staffed by at least one emergency response driver.

The training for those delivering Youth Services comprises emergency life support training, coupled with training from the organisation's youth leader training suite including Essential skills in youth work and Leadership skills in youth work, depending on the volunteer's role.

In addition to medical training offered, members have the opportunity to carry out other operational roles. These include event planning, event management, radio communications/control, plus other support roles.

Healthcare professionals
Qualified healthcare professionals may also volunteer their time in St John Ambulance including nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists and doctors. Professionals can carry out any skill appropriate to their type, level of training, competence and when relevant to the situation or patient. Healthcare professionals wear coloured rank slides to distinguish them from internally trained first aiders and ambulance personnel.

Regional structure
In 2012, St John Ambulance was reorganised into a regional structure, to increase accountability and maximise charitable outputs. Previously the organisation had been divided into 42 semi-autonomous county organisations.

As part of the reorganisation, a more streamlined structure was introduced, with fewer layers of management between the front-line and the St John Ambulance board.

St John Ambulance regions
The four regions are:
 East  East of England and East Midlands
 London & South  London and the South East
 North  North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber
 West  West Midlands and South West

Each region is managed by a paid regional director and is responsible for the delivery of programmes developed and overseen by the national headquarters (NHQ). All regions are accountable to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and are independently inspected by the CQC against 14 different outcomes, such as care and welfare of people who use the services, cleanliness and infection control and supporting workers.

During regionalisation in 2012, St John Ambulance in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man became separate from England.

District
Each region is divided into several districts. A district may contain one or more former counties from the previous structure and may only have part of a county in. Each district is managed by a district manager (volunteer), and area managers report to them. District managers are in overall charge of all activities in their district, assisted by the area managers. They have a support team of district specialists in place coordinating functions such as event cover and youth provision, but they have no line management responsibility and report to their respective regional departmental manager. Each district usually contains three to six areas.

Area
Districts are further divided into geographic areas, led by an area manager (volunteer). Unit managers report to the area manager, and the area manager is in overall charge of the activities of the units in their area, within the boundaries of policies, etc., set by Regional Headquarters (RHQ) and NHQ. They are assisted/advised by district specialists to provide the day-to-day functions of the organisation, such as member training and event cover. Each area usually contains 815 units.

Unit
A unit (formerly a division) is the smallest administrative division of St John Ambulance. Most volunteers are managed within a unit by another volunteer. An adult unit is led by a unit manager, who may have one or more assistant unit managers to assist them. The unit usually has a weekly meeting where members train, practice their skills, and occasionally have visits from guest speakers. Units plan and execute the cover of most of the events requested of the organisation, supported by their area and district managers, district specialists and regional events team. Units are where most people start their time in the organisation. There are two types of youth units: Badger Setts (for ages 7–10) and cadets (for ages 10–18). They are typically based on the same site as an adult unit are supervised by adult volunteers.

Other types of units exist, such as Student Volunteering units within universities, cycle response units, other specialised units, and sometimes informal social groups, each with a distinctive command, management or leadership structure. Specialised units are sometimes "virtual units" meaning the unit does not physically meet regularly but works over the internet etc. Historically, there were ambulance divisions (for men), nursing divisions (for women), ambulance cadet divisions (for boys) and nursing cadet divisions (for girls). No single-sex divisions remain.

Ambulance Operations
Whilst all volunteers are assigned a home unit, volunteer Emergency Ambulance Crew are also seconded to a "Virtual Ambulance Unit" structured around the regional NHS ambulance trust they deploy in support of. Virtual Ambulance Unit's (VAU's) are managed by a combination of Local, District and Regional Ambulance Leads who provide managerial advice and support specifically to Ambulance Operations staff due to the nature of the role. CPD, portfolio support and ambulance specific development is managed through the VAU whilst HR pertaining to the individual volunteer and event support is managed through the volunteers home unit.

Uniform and ranks

St John Ambulance first aid personnel wear a service delivery uniform consisting of a green shirt; black combat trousers; and either a green and black Parka Jacket, a reversible fleece, or green and black softshell jacket with appropriate black footwear. Epaulettes on the shirts vary in colour depending on the profession of the volunteer: Black for first aid personnel, green for registered paramedics, grey for registered nurses, and red for registered doctors. Healthcare professionals' (HCPs) epaulettes do not show specialism such as midwives. Student HCPs wear black epaulettes until they are qualified in their respective profession.

On the service delivery uniform, a role bar is worn to denote the wearer's role in that event.  High-visibility two-tone yellow-and-green tabards (accepted to denote medical personnel) are only worn when the risk assessment of the event calls for it.

Badgers wear a branded black polo-shirt and a branded black jumper, where they can wear the badges they earn through the Super Badger programme.

Cadets wear the same uniform as their adult counterparts, though are permitted to wear a brassard on their left arm (during ceremonial processions only; not whilst performing clinical duties) where they are able to show their current/highest Grand Prior Award badge at the top-centre; up to three badges, including duty hours, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Sovereign's Award, national competitions winners badge, Amalfi Challenge (discontinued) or Diana Award (if won for services to St John Ambulance); and the Super Badger award (if achieved) at the bottom of the brassard.

A ceremonial uniform still exists for adult volunteers, consisting of a peaked cap, tailored jacket, white shirt, black trousers, black shoes and a clip-on tie. All rank insignia are worn on the outer layer of the jacket.

British Armed Forces
A section of St John Ambulance, St John Ambulance British Forces Overseas (SJABFO), has British units running where there are a large number of British servicemen and women with their families overseas. These are namely in Cyprus, with units in Germany beginning to close in preparation for the British withdrawal from Germany in 2019. The divisions are directly linked to the UK and national headquarters so that members can transfer to another unit or region/district/area as they would be able to do at home. Cyprus and Germany are a part of St John Ambulance as two districts, unattached to any region, within the organisational structure. The uniform reflects the current service delivery uniform in England.

Volunteers can receive training in the full range of St John Ambulance qualifications.

The overseas forces units (then "divisions") were founded in 1980. They remained very strong for several years, however, as the forces in Germany were reduced many divisions closed. Since the final withdrawal of forces in Germany is expected in the next few years, the role for St John Ambulance will end. However, the two units in Cyprus founded in 1991 will continue to provide a service to the community there.

As well as providing medical cover at events, St John Ambulance British Forces provide first-aid training for people of all ages.

St John Ambulance British Forces Overseas works closely with the German Ambulance Services, particularly the sister organisation, Die Johanniter, in providing first aid and ambulance cover German public events where many British or English Speakers are expected to attend. Members can occasionally be seen on their non-emergency and emergency vehicles responding to public calls. St John Ambulance can also be seen working with Malteser, the German Red Cross and local fire brigades which provide ambulance services. The German Emergency Services also assist St John Ambulance at British events on military areas where many German civilians are expected to attend. With the planned withdrawal of British forces from Germany in 2019, this partnership, in this aspect at least, will be discontinued.

Relations with the Order of St John and other organisations
Although the Order of St John is largely seen as a Christian organisation for historical reasons, St John Ambulance does not restrict membership to, or promote, any particular religion or denomination. Technically, it falls under the sovereignty of the King, and thus is linked to the Church of England; however, this relationship is more tradition than authority, and adult members are not required to pledge allegiance to or support either the monarchy or the Christian faith. Historically, Cadet members pledged to join to the monarch and God, though this is no longer a requirement.

St John Ambulance personnel serve alongside the British Red Cross, whose members also undergo advanced training in first aid and event cover. However, the British Red Cross no longer has an event first-aid (EFA) department due to lack of profit and funding. (The Red Cross EFA department officially closed in March 2020.) Both organisations' work supports the statutory services in times of civil emergency or crisis. In peacetime, St John Ambulance is senior to the Red Cross. However, in wartime, the Red Cross would become senior due to an agreement with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

St John Ambulance, St. Andrew's First Aid of Scotland and the British Red Cross co-author and authorise the official First Aid Manual, the de facto UK guide for emergency first aid.

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic in England, St John Ambulance equipped their personnel with protective equipment to prevent the spread.

In March 2020, the charity had around 8,500 volunteers available to support alongside the NHS in hospitals. This was trialed the same month, which saw volunteers in NHS hospitals across England including the NHS Nightingale Hospital London.

St John Ambulance announced in January 2021 that their staff would be volunteering to help in the national vaccination program for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, alongside NHS staff. Training centres were established across the country to train a targeted 30,000 vaccination volunteers. These volunteers would be made up of pre-existing volunteers and newly recruited people, and would be trained to one of the three operational roles.

30,000 vaccination volunteers were recruited and trained between November 2020 and March 2021. Vaccination volunteers were assigned a Vaccination Volunteering Lead (VVL) who served as the volunteer's line manager. The majority of VVLs were volunteers themselves, and were recruited from pre-existing volunteers within the organisation.

The programme was hit by a number of technical problems throughout its operation including using the rostering system GRS, which hadn't been used by the charity before. This ultimately led to many delays to volunteers being able to deploy to vaccination centres, and many didn't continue with the programme after completing their training.

In December 2021, the organisation put out a press release with the aim of encouraging people who had been trained as a vaccination volunteer to return to the organisation, as there had been a significant number of volunteers who had been trained but never completed a shift.

Between July and September 2022, St John Ambulance sought an additional 5,000 Vaccination Volunteers to support the programme. Morale was low amongst the volunteers, who had already been recruited, due to lack of engagement and St John Ambulance volunteers not being utilised in parts of the country.

Due to the decrease in public events throughout 2020, when Event Operations began to restart in 2021, the charity provided additional training for vaccination volunteers to be able to support Event Operations as First Aiders. Following successes at the Great North Run 2021 and Brighton Marathon 2021, the programme was rolled out more extensively, primarily in London, and was informally called the SJA Reserves Programme. Although it never left the pilot phase, the programme trained a significant number of vaccination volunteers to be able to support some of the charity's largest Event Operations including the London Marathon, the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, and the funeral of Elizabeth II.

By July 2021, volunteers had volunteered over 1 million hours towards the COVID-19 response programme since the beginning of the pandemic, including work in hospitals, responding to NHS 999 ambulance calls and on the vaccination programme. The organisation's involvement with the vaccination programmes ended on 31 March 2023, having delivered 1.7 million hours to the overall Covid response.

See also
 St John Ambulance Ireland
 Service Medal of the Order of St John

References

External links

 Caring on the Home Front A website dedicated to the memories of St John Ambulance and British Red Cross volunteers during World War II.

England
Medical and health organisations based in England
Charities based in London
Youth organisations based in England
1877 establishments in England
Organizations established in 1877
Ambulance services in England

St John Ambulance (England)


Coated urea fertilizers are a group of controlled release fertilizers consisting of prills of urea coated in less-soluble chemicals such as sulfur, polymers, other products or a combination. These fertilizers mitigate some of the negative aspects of urea fertilization, such as fertilizer burn. The coatings release the urea either when penetrated by water, as with sulfur, or when broken down, as with polymers.

Overview

Urea is widely used as a nitrogen fertilizer. Its high solubility in water makes it useful for liquid application, and it has a much lower risk of causing fertilizer burn than other chemicals such as calcium cyanide or ammonium nitrate. However, the risk of fertilizer burn with urea can be unacceptably high in some situations, such as higher temperatures. The high water-solubility of urea can be disadvantageous in some cases as well.

One particular technique to mitigate these disadvantages has been to encapsulate prills of urea with less-soluble chemicals. These coatings permit the gradual release of urea in a controlled fashion, allowing for less-frequent applications.

Sulfur-coated urea
Sulfur-coated urea, or SCU, fertilizers release nitrogen via water penetration through cracks and micropores in the coating. Once water penetrates through the coating, nitrogen release is rapid. The particles of fertilizer may in turn be sealed with wax to slow release further still, making microbial degradation necessary to permit water penetration. The size of fertilizer particles may also be varied in order to vary the time at which nitrogen release occurs. Sulfur-coated products typically range from 32% to 41% elemental nitrogen by weight. The sulfur coating process was originally developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Sulfur-coated urea products can only be applied in granular form, and thus cannot be applied via liquid fertilization methods. It is not uncommon to find empty sulfur husks in turf once the nitrogen is released. Another disadvantage has to do with the relatively large particle size of sulfur-coated urea fertilizers, which makes their use on closely mown surfaces like putting greens impractical. However, more recently, materials with smaller particle sizes have been developed, permitting the use of sulfur-coated ureas on putting greens.

Polymer-coated urea
Polymer-coated urea, also called plastic-coated urea, or PCU, fertilizers can permit a more precise rate of nitrogen release than sulfur-coated urea products. It's possible to produce polymer-coated products where the nitrogen release can be delayed for 10 months after application. The primary disadvantage of polymer-coated urea products is their relatively high cost compared to sulfur-coated urea.

Combination products
Products that use a combination of sulfur-coating and polymer-coating also exist. Typically, these products consist of urea, coated with a layer of sulfur, which is in turn coated with a layer of polymer. Each coating layer is generally less than the normal thickness for the individual processes. These products are generally used as less-expensive alternatives to purely plastic-coated products, while still providing precise nitrogen release characteristics.

See also
 Labeling of fertilizer
 Turf management
 Urea-formaldehyde

References

Fertilizers
Tennessee Valley Authority

Coated urea


Diuris, commonly known as donkey orchids, bee orchids, nanny goat orchids or pansy orchids, is a genus of more than sixty species of flowering plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae and is endemic to Australia, apart from one species endemic to Timor. The name "Diuris" refers to the hanging sepals but the common name "donkey orchid", derives from the ear-like petals common to all species. Many have mainly yellow flowers with darker markings and are thought to mimic nectar-producing flowers which open at the same time.

Description
Orchids in the genus Diuris are terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herbs, usually with a few inconspicuous, fine roots and one or two tubers lacking a protective sheath. The stem is short, erect and unbranched with a leaf-like cataphyll at each node. There are between one and ten grass-like leaves at the base of the plant.

The inflorescence is a raceme with a few to many brightly coloured, resupinate flowers on a wiry stalk. The dorsal sepal is shorter but wider than two lateral sepals and forms a hood over the column. The long, narrow, lateral sepals hang like a pair of tails below the labellum. The petals are different from the sepals, having a narrow base with the main part widely expanded, in the form of donkey ears. As is usual in orchids, one petal is highly modified as the central labellum, differing markedly from the other petals and sepals. The labellum has three distinct parts with the central part folded and the lateral parts arranged on either side of the column, often spreading widely, sometimes with a scalloped or wavy edge. The column is short with narrow wings. Flowering time depends on the species but most species flower between September and November. One of the earliest to flower, D. brumalis flowers in June and D. emarginata sometimes flowers as late as January. The fruit which follows flowering is a thin-walled, dehiscent capsule containing up to 100 winged seeds.

Taxonomy and naming
The genus Diuris was first formally described in 1798 by James Edward Smith and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Smith did not nominate a type species.

The common name "donkey orchid" refers to the ear-like petals. The scientific name is derived from the Greek dis meaning 'double' and oura, 'tail', referring to the two narrow lateral sepals.

Distribution and habitat
Donkey orchids occur in all Australian states, but not the Northern Territory with one species (D. fryana) found in Timor. In New South Wales, most species grow among grasses in sclerophyll forest. In Western Australia, most grow in moist places such as coastal swamps or near granite outcrops. Donkey orchids usually grow as individual plants or in loose colonies and most occur at low altitudes, although D. monticola grows at up to . Some species flower more profusely after fire and D. purdiei will only flower following a summer fire. In fire-prone areas, the tubers lie dormant in the soil and are not harmed by bushfires.

Ecology
Donkey orchids are coloured like flowers that attract pollinating insects such as wasps, bees and flies but no Diuris produce nectar and very few have a scent. It is thought that Diuris species deceive insects by falsely advertising the presence of food and this hypothesis is supported by experiments on only one species, D. pardina.

Gallery

Species
The following is a list of Diuris species accepted by the Plants of the World Online as of September:

 Diuris abbreviata F.Muell. ex Benth – lemon doubletail (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris aequalis F.Muell. ex Fitzg. – buttercup doubletail (N.S.W.)
 Diuris alba R.Br. – white donkey orchid (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris amabilis D.L.Jones – lovely moths (N.S.W., A.C.T.)
 Diuris amplissima D.L.Jones – giant donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris arenaria D.L.Jones – Tomaree donkey orchid, sand doubletail (N.S.W.)
 Diuris aurea Sm. – golden donkey orchid (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris basaltica D.L.Jones –  little golden moths, small golden moths (Vic.)
 Diuris behrii Schltdl. – golden cowslips (S.A.)
 Diuris blakneyae (F.M.Bailey) D.L.Jones (Qld.)
 Diuris brachyscapa D.L.Jones & C.J.French – western wheatbelt donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris bracteata Fitzg. (N.S.W.)
 Diuris brevifolia R.S.Rogers – short-leaved donkey orchid (S.A.)
 Diuris brevis D.L.Jones & C.J.French – short-nosed donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris brevissima Fitzg. ex Nicholls (N.S.W.)
 Diuris brockmanii D.L.Jones & C.J.French – south coast donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris brumalis D.L.Jones – winter donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris byronensis D.L.Jones – Byron Bay donkey orchid (N.S.W.)
 Diuris calcicola R.J.Bates (S.A.)
 Diuris callitrophila D.L.Jones – Oaklands doubletail, Oaklands diuris (N.S.W.)
 Diuris carecta D.L.Jones & C.J.French – sedge-loving donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris carinata Lindl – tall bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris chrysantha D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. – granite donkey orchid (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris chryseopsis D.L.Jones – common golden moths, small snake orchid (N.S.W., Vic., Tas. S.A.)
 Diuris concinna D.L.Jones – elegant donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris conspicillata D.L.Jones – spectacled donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris corymbosa Lindl. – common donkey orchid, wallflower orchid (W.A., S.A., Vic., N.S.W.)
 Diuris cruenta D.L.Jones & C.J.French – Kemerton donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris cuneata Fitzg.
 Diuris curta D.L.Jones (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris decrementum D.L.Jones & C.J.French – common bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris disposita D.L.Jones (N.S.W.)
 Diuris drummondii Lindl. – tall donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris eborensis D.L.Jones (N.S.W.)
 Diuris eburnea D.L.Jones (W.A.)
 Diuris emarginata R.Br. – tall donkey orchid
 Diuris emarginata var. emarginata (W.A.)
 Diuris emarginata var. pauciflora A.S.George
 Diuris exitela D.L.Jones – Mount Moffat doubletail (Qld.)
 Diuris filifolia Lindl. – cat's face orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris flavescens D.L.Jones – pale yellow doubletail, Wingham doubletail (N.S.W.)
 Diuris fragrantissima D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. – fragrant doubletail, Sunshine diuris (Vic.)
 Diuris fryana Ridl. (Lesser Sunda Islands)
 Diuris fucosa D.L.Jones (N.S.W., Vic.)
 Diuris gregaria D.L.Jones – clumping golden moths (Vic.)
 Diuris hazeliae D.L.Jones – yellow granite donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris heberlei D.L.Jones – Heberle's donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris immaculata D.L.Jones – little Esperance bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris inopinus D.L.Jones (N.S.W.)
 Diuris insignis D.L.Jones & C.J.French – dark bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris inundata D.L.Jones & R.J.Bates (S.A.)
 Diuris jonesii C.J.French & G.Brockman – Dunsborough donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris laevis Fitzg. – nannygoat orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris lanceolata Lindl. – large golden moths (N.S.W., Vic., S.A., Tas.)
 Diuris laxiflora  Lindl. – bee  orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris leopardina D.L.Jones & R.J.Bates (S.A.)
 Diuris littoralis  D.L.Jones & C.J.French – Green Range donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris longifolia R.Br. – purple pansy orchid, common donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris luteola D.L.Jones & B.Gray – northern doubletail (Qld.)
 Diuris maculata Sm. – spotted doubletail (Qld., N.S.W., Vic., S.A., Tas.)
 Diuris magnifica D.L.Jones – large pansy orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris micrantha D.L.Jones – dwarf bee orchid, tiny bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris monticola  D.L.Jones – highland golden moths (N.S.W., Vic., Tas.)
 Diuris nigromontana D.L.Jones – Black Mountain leopard orchid (A.C.T.)
 Diuris ochroma D.L.Jones – pale goat orchid, pale golden moths (N.S.W., Vic.)
 Diuris oporina D.L.Jones – autumn donkey orchid, northern white donkeys tails (Qld.)
 Diuris oraria D.L.Jones & C.J.French – northern coastal donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris orientis D.L.Jones – eastern donkey orchid, wallflower donkey orchid (N.S.W., S.A., Vic., Tas.)
 Diuris ostrina D.L.Jones & C.J.French – Darling Scarp donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris pallescens D.L.Jones & C.J.French – pale donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris palustris Lindl. – swamp doubletail, swamp diuris (S.A., Vic., Tas.)
 Diuris pardina Lindl. – leopard orchid, leopard doubletail (N.S.W., S.A., Vic., Tas.)
 Diuris parvipetala (Dockrill) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. – slender purple donkey orchid (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris pedunculata R.Br. – small snake orchid (N.S.W.)
 Diuris perialla D.L.Jones & C.J.French – early donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris picta J.Drumm. – granite bee orchid, granite donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris platichila Fitzg. – Blue Mountains doubletail (N.S.W.)
 Diuris porphyrochila D.L.Jones & C.J.French – Yalgorup donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris porrifolia Lindl. – small-flowered donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris praecox D.L.Jones – early doubletail, Newcastle doubletail, rough doubletail (N.S.W.)
 Diuris protena D.L.Jones – northern golden moths (Vic.)
 Diuris pulchella D.L.Jones – beautiful donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris punctata Sm. – purple donkey orchid (N.S.W., Qld., Vic.)
 Diuris punctata var. punctata
 Diuris punctata var. sulphurea Rupp
 Diuris purdiei Diels – Purdie's donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris recurva D.L.Jones – mini donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris refracta D.L.Jones & C.J.French – dainty donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris secundiflora Fitzg. – one-sided donkey orchid (N.S.W.)
 Diuris segregata D.L.Jones & C.J.French – Northampton bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris semilunulata Messmer in H.M.R.Rupp – late leopard orchid (N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic.)
 Diuris septentrionalis D.L.Jones & C.J.French – northern bee orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris setacea R.Br. – bristly donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris striata Rupp (N.S.W.)
 Diuris subalpina D.L.Jones – slender golden moths (N.S.W., A.C.T., Vic.)
 Diuris suffusa D.L.Jones & C.J.French – mottled donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris sulphurea R.Br. – tiger orchid, hornet orchid (N.S.W., Qld., S.A., Tas., Vic.)
 Diuris systena D.L.Jones & L.M.Copel. – New England golden moths (N.S.W.)
 Diuris tinctoria D.L.Jones & C.J.French – sandplain donkey orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris tinkeri D.L.Jones & C.J.French – Arrowsmith pansy orchid (W.A.)
 Diuris tricolor Fitzg. – long-tailed donkey orchid, pine donkey orchid (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris unica D.L.Jones (N.S.W., Qld.)
 Diuris venosa Rupp – veined doubletail (N.S.W.)

Natural hybrids
 Diuris × fastidiosa R.S.Rogers 1927 (D. lanceolata × D. palustris)
 Diuris × nebulosa D.L.Jones 1991 (D. aurea × D. punctata)
 Diuris × palachila R.S.Rogers 1907 (D. behrii × D. pardina)
 Diuris × polymorpha Messmer in H.M.R.Rupp 1944 (D. lanceolata × D. platichila)

References

External links

Diurideae genera
Orchids of Australia
Flora of East Timor

Diuris


The autism rights movement is a social movement that wants changes for autistic people and their caregivers. It wants the autism spectrum to be accepted by society as just a difference in ability to function in daily life. It does not believe autism is a mental disorder that needs to be cured.

The autism rights movement is sometimes controversial.  It argues against the belief that most people with autism have low intelligence. Some people in the movement do not agree that this is true. There is fear that professionals, such as social workers, may try to prevent autistics from being married or having children. Also, people in the movement say that autistic people should not be treated differently from anyone else.

The movement has a variety of goals:
 more acceptance of autistic behavior
 treatment to teach autistic people how to cope with daily life
 opposing cures for autism
 creating more social networks and events for autistic people to attend as they are able
 recognizing autistic people as a minority group

Autism rights activists are sometimes called neurodiversity activists. Neurodiversity is a word for how everyone's brains are different. Autistic people have different brains to people who do not have autism. People who do not have autism are called neurotypical people. The word 'neurodiversity' is preferred to 'autism' because it is not saying that autism is a medical condition. 'Neurotypical' is said instead of 'normal' because people think that normal means better.

Related pages
 Autism spectrum
 Social movement and Activism
 Neurodiversity

References

Controversies
Autism
Human rights

Autism rights movement


Sugarloaf Mountain is a mountain located in Greene County, New York.
The mountain is part of the Devil's Path range of the Catskill Mountains.
To the northwest, Sugarloaf is separated from Plateau Mountain by Mink Hollow Notch; to the southeast, Sugarloaf is separated from Twin Mountain by Pecoy Notch.

Sugarloaf Mountain stands within the watershed of the Hudson River, which drains into New York Bay.
The northeastern slopes of Sugarloaf Mtn. drain into Schoharie Creek, thence into the Mohawk River, and the Hudson River.
The northwestern slopes of Sugarloaf drain into Roaring Kill, thence into Schoharie Creek.
The southwestern and southeastern slopes of Sugarloaf drain into Beaver Kill, thence into Esopus Creek, and the Hudson River.

Sugarloaf Mountain is within New York's Catskill State Park.
The Devil's Path hiking trail traverses the summit ridge of Sugarloaf.
The Long Path, a 357 mi (575 km) long-distance hiking trail through southeastern New York, is contiguous with this stretch of the Devil's Path.

Notes

See also

 List of mountains in New York
 List of mountains named Sugarloaf

External links
 Sugarloaf Mountain Hiking Information Catskill 3500 Club

Mountains of Greene County, New York
Catskill High Peaks
Geography of Greene County, New York

Sugarloaf Mountain (Greene County, New York)


"Let's keep the Goan tradition and culture alive, worldwide"

Kavllea Kiteak Rodtai Darant
You crow, why are you cawing near the door

Type: Dulpod

Source: Lourdinho Barreto. Goemchem Git. Pustok

Musical form: Binary

Literary form: Ethnological Aspects

Translated by: Alfred Noronha, Panaji, Ilhas, Goa, 27.05.2005

Kavllea kiteak rodtai darant,

You crow, why are you cawing near the door,

Konnui marit tuka faran.

Someone may shoot you.

Mhojea potichi khobor haddlea tor kavllea,

If you have brought me news of my husband you crow,

Uddon voch rê borean.

Fly out immediately.

Sokannim kavllo bhitor ailo,

In the morning the crow flew in.

Munxgar bosun roddunk laglo.

And started cawing from the drumstick tree,

Kavllo roddta mhunnosor mogacho poti,

As the crow was cawing, my beloved husband,

Ghara nhõi rê paulo.

Came home.

Poti ghara nhõi rê paulo,

As soon as my husband came home.

Mogach´ beigu mhaka dilo.

He gave me a loving kiss.

Ani dogancho amcho mogacho anvddo,

And these our yearnings of love,

Xekim mellon bhaglo.

Was eventually satisfied after our union.

Polleiat

Dulpod Goenche

Sondorbh

Konknni
Dulpod
Romi panam

Kavllea Kiteak Rodtai Darant - Dulpod


Jennifer Lynn Allard (born 1968) is a former All-American softball player at the University of Michigan and the current head coach of the University of Pittsburgh softball team. Allard played for the Michigan Wolverines softball team from 1987–1990, where she was named an All-Big Ten player four straight years. She was a third baseman as a freshman and sophomore and a pitcher as a junior and senior. In 1989, Allard was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a nominee for the Honda-Broderick Cup. She has been the head coach at Harvard since 1995, where she led the Crimson to its first Ivy League championship in 1992 and has followed with three more Ivy League crowns. In 1997, Allard told her team that she was a lesbian, becoming one of the first major college coaches to openly announce her homosexuality. In 2008, Allard was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.

University of Michigan (1987–1990)
After graduating from Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California, Allard played softball for Hall of Fame coach Carol Hutchins at the University of Michigan from 1987-1990. She began at Michigan as a third baseman, but became a pitcher in her junior and senior years. As a freshman, Allard led the Wolverines with 26 RBIs, while hitting .331, second best on the team. She led the team in batting average in 1988 and 1989 and was named an All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year in 1989. She was also a four-time All-Big Ten Conference selection, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors as a senior. In 1989, Allard was also nominated for the Honda Broderick Award. She was the recipient of Michigan's Conference Medal of Honor, an award given to the highest-achieving female student-athlete. Named to the Big Ten All-Decade team in 1992, Allard ranked in the top four all-time in 15 hitting and pitching categories at the time of her graduation from Michigan. In 2008, Allard was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, only the fourth softball player inducted into the Hall (after Penny Neer, Vicki Morrow, and Alicia Seegert).

Head coach at Harvard (1995–2023)
In 1992, Allard accepted a full-time coaching position as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa. In 1995, Allard accepted the head coaching position for the Harvard University softball team.  She has been the head coach at Harvard for 21 seasons, compiling a career record of 536-400-3, and is the longest tenured softball coach in the Ivy League.    She holds 313-249-1 overall record at Harvard, including a 127-49 record in the Ivy League.   Harvard has won four Ivy League softball titles in its history, all during Allard's time as coach.  Allard has also been Harvard's coach during each of its four 30-win seasons and its three NCAA Championship berths. She has coached 33 first-team All-Ivy League players selections, four Ivy League Players of the Year, three Ivy Pitchers of the Year and two Ivy Rookies of the Year.

In 1998, Allard led Harvard to the best season in the history of the program, as the team recorded a 34-22 record, captured its first Ivy League championship with a perfect 12–0 league record and earned its first bid to the NCAA Championship, where it defeated Boston College in the regional.  The Crimson was led in 1998 by Ivy Player of the Year Tara LaSovage and Pitcher of the Year Tasha Cupp.

In 2000, Allard's team won its second Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament berth.  The 2000 Crimson went 11-1 in league play.  In 2001, Harvard again won the Ivy League title after posting an 11–3 League record.  In 2002, the team had a 31-10 record in 2002, breaking the record set by the 1998 team, and winning the ECAC championship.  In 2007, Harvard won its fourth Ivy League championship under Allard with a record of 31–15 record and a 14–6 record in the Conference. Harvard also won back-to-back Ivy championships in 2011 and 2012.

Allard earned a master's degree from the Harvard School of Education in 1999 and a master's in psychology from the Harvard Extension School in 2003.

Personal life
In 1997, Allard told her team that she was a lesbian, becoming one of the first major college coaches to openly affirm her homosexuality.  Allard made the announcement to her players in an email.  "What I wrote," Allard recalled, "was something like, 'I know you'll potentially be stopping by my suite or calling, and I just want to let you know that my partner has decided to move on campus with me and you'll soon get the opportunity to meet her.'"   She added, "I wanted to be very honest about how I was living and not be shamed or silenced by it.  I ask and expect my athletes to be honest about things. They don't have to tell me everything, but if they are going to tell me something, I want them to be truthful. And because I want to model that, I couldn't tell them I'm hiding my partner behind the left field fence and I'm embarrassed to have them know her."   Allard has spoken at conferences on the subject of homosexuality in athletics and has become an advocate for the rights of gay and lesbian athletes.  "As a coach, I'd like to see increased dialogue among teams, and resources for gay athletes need to come more to the forefront," she said. "It's a big learning experience to have a gay athlete on the team."

See also
University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor

Notes

1960s births
Living people
Softball coaches from California
Michigan Wolverines softball players
Iowa Hawkeyes softball coaches
Harvard Crimson softball coaches
Harvard Extension School alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
Lesbian sportswomen
American lesbians
American LGBT sportspeople
LGBT people from California
Sportspeople from Irvine, California
Softball players from California
LGBT softball players
Pittsburgh Panthers softball coaches

Jenny Allard


Wildcoast (stylized WiLDCOAST) is an international non-profit environmental organization that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife.

Headquartered in Del Mar, California, Wildcoast established a Mexican division in 2007, Costasalvaje A.C. in Ensenada to manage its conservation programs in Latin America.

Charity Navigator awarded Wildcoast its four-star charity ranking.  The organization received the Excellence in Organizational Development Award from Nonprofit Management Solutions in 2006. It also received the San Diego Earthworks E.A.R.T.H. Award in 2007. In 2008, Wildcoast received the Green Wave Award from the Surfer's Path Magazine.

Campaigns
 Demanding an end to ocean pollution - Wildcoast's Clean Water Now! page
Protecting  sharks from exploitation - Wildcoast's Sharks... Killing Machines or Victims? page
  Defending the sea from toxic waste and overfishing - Wildcoast's Defiende el Mar page
 Saving endangered sea turtles -  Wildcoast's Sea Turtles page
 Preserving the beautiful San Ignacio Lagoon -  Wildcoast's Laguna San Ignacio page

Conservation programs

Wildlands conservation
One of Wildcoast's primary missions is to preserve spectacular, undeveloped coastal areas throughout the peninsula of Baja California such as Bahía de los Ángeles, Bahía Concepción, Bahía Magdalena, Laguna San Ignacio and the North Central Pacific Coast.  These are some of the most ecologically important coastal areas remaining on the planet and are teeming with wildlife including endangered species of sea turtles, whales and migratory birds.  Inhabited by people who make their living from fishing, ranching, and ecotourism, these locations are threatened by megaresort construction, land speculation, energy development, and mining projects.

Working in partnership with local community-based organizations and landowners, Wildcoast provides support for land conservation projects such as easements, private reserves, concessions, and sustainable development projects.  Many of Wildcoast conservation projects are carried out with members of ejidos, or communal agrarian cooperatives and private landowners to help them hold on to their ancestral land and receive financial incentives to protect the land from development. Wildcoast made history by working with the Laguna San Ignacio Conservation Alliance in the brokering of a deal to protect the entire  territory of the Ejido Luis Echeverria in San Ignacio Lagoon.  The legally binding deal is being praised as a model for conserving both the environment and the local way of life.  San Ignacio is the world's last undeveloped gray whale lagoon and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Along the North Central Coast of Baja California Wildcoast has protected more than  of coastline through conservation easements.  In addition, Wildcoast worked to halt a series of megaresort and marina projects slated for this region in Baja California that would have obliterated world-class coastal biodiversity sites.

Wildlife conservation
The focus of the Wildlife Conservation Program is to protect endangered marine species and their habitats.  In 2006, Wildcoast carried out a wildly successful campaign "Defiende el Mar" (Defend the Sea) to support the creation of marine protected areas along the central coast of California and Mexico's Gulf of California. The campaign took place at the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany involving partnerships with Mexican soccer stars, Jorge Campos and "Kikin" Fonseca, to promote marine protected areas.  The campaign resulted in the establishment of a  marine reserve in Bahía de los Ángeles in the Sea of Cortez and a network of marine reserves near the coast of Monterey and Santa Cruz in California.  Jorge Campos, one of the world's greatest goalies, received the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Environmental Hero award for his work with Wildcoast to defend the ocean.  From 2007-2008 the Wildcoast pro-MPA campaign featured Mexican wrestler El Hijo del Santo who has ardently campaigned for new marine reserves in California and marine conservation in Mexico.

The Wildcoast "Don't Eat Sea Turtle" campaign, an ongoing effort to reduce the demand for sea turtle eggs and meat throughout Mexico and Latin America received worldwide attention with its celebrity spokespeople, model Dorismar, and musicians Maná and Los Tigres del Norte.  The campaign featured public service announcements, posters, post cards, advertisements on bus stops, and a conference and press event in Acapulco – a center for the black market trade in sea turtle eggs.  Randy Olson of Shifting Baselines called the campaign the "best ocean campaign in human history".

Wildcoast has launched a new initiative to protect sharks.  This campaign resulted in the cessation of a shark massacre in the Mexican state of Guerrero after an American surfer was killed in a shark attack in May 2008.

Recently, Wildcoast has also focused on the establishment of Marine Protected Areas in California.  A science-based network of Marine Protected Areas is critical to ensure the survival of marine wildlife into the future as well as maintaining Southern California's greatest resource.

Coastal conservation
Every year thousands of Californians are exposed to hazardous waste, viruses, and bacteria contained in the millions of gallons of untreated water that flows daily into our ocean.  Recreational ocean users and people fishing along the US-Mexico border are those most affected.  The Coastal Conservation Program was developed to raise awareness of the public and environmental health risks associated with the pollution, to create a dialogue among stakeholders – residents, businesses, government agencies and to promote national media attention on a problem that threatens our communities and is often dismissed as an insurmountable problem.

Wildcoast proposes solutions to the pollution associated with increasing levels of urban and industrial development in the Californias.  In 2006, Wildcoast launched the "Clean Water Now!" campaign along the U.S.-Mexico border to reduce the exposure of children to toxic sewage and to reduce beach closures in the region.  As part of the campaign, they helped to pressure a contractor into cleaning up collector systems along the U.S.-Mexico border for renegade sewage flows.

In the ongoing effort to promote community involvement in clean water solutions along the US-Mexico Border, Wildcoast held three community forums for residents to discuss the issues and solicit involvement.  More than 100 people attended the forums and pledge support for the campaign.  In addition, Wildcoast sponsored the 2nd Annual Kids for Clean Water Surf Contest and the 4th Annual Dempsey Holder Memorial Expression Session and Ocean Festival.  More than 600 people from all walks of life gathered to learn more about ocean pollution and ways to clean it up.  In 2008, Senator Dianne Feinstein with the support of the White House appropriated more than $66 million to upgrade the sewage treatment facility along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Wildcoast is a member of the Save San Onofre. A coalition to halt the development of a toll road that would seriously impact the fabled Trestles surf break and San Onofre State Park in Orange County, California.  The campaign included a trip to Sacramento to ask that legislators stop the toll road project as well as participation in the massive "Big Wednesday" protest at the Del Mar Fairgrounds against the Toll Road in February 2008.

Media
Wildcoast is noted for its ability to work with the media in English and Spanish to bring attention to pressing coastal and marine conservation issues of global concern. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, BBC News, National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, CBS News, Good Magazine, and Newsweek have reported on the work of Wildcoast. In addition, the organization is a frequent guest on television networks Televisa, TV Azteca, Azteca America, Univision, and Telemundo to promote ocean and marine conservation.

Popular culture
Wildcoast worked with the cast and crew of the HBO series John from Cincinnati while filming took place in Imperial Beach. Wildcoast's "Clean Water Now" signs are displayed prominently in the Yost surf shop and Wildcoast T-shirts, staff members and events also make appearances. The opening credits feature Wildcoast "eco-lucha libre" stars in the ring.

References

External links
Wildcoast.org (Wildcoast / Costasalvaje)

Environmental organizations based in California
Organizations established in 2000
International environmental organizations
Non-profit organizations based in San Diego
Water resource policy

Wildcoast