Nesbitt's is a brand of orange-flavored soft drink sold in the United States. Nesbitt's was originally produced by the Nesbitt Fruit Products Company of Los Angeles, California. The company also produced several other flavors of soft drink under the Nesbitt's brand and other brand names, including Nesbitt's grape, strawberry and peach-flavored sodas.

History

The Nesbitt's Fruit Products Company was founded in 1924, named after its founder Hugh S. Nesbitt. The Nesbitt's brand debuted in 1927, initially as part of the company's line of soda fountain products.  Nesbitt's began bottling Nesbitt's orange and several other flavors in the late 1930s, putting it in direct competition with established market-leader Orange Crush.  Nesbitt's became the US market leader of orange soda pop during the late 1940s and 1950s, with advertisements featuring then-unknown model Marilyn Monroe in 1946, and proclaiming itself to be the "Largest selling bottled orange drink in the world".  Nesbitt's own brand of orange beverage was surpassed in popularity by Fanta in the late 1960s and then faded in popularity.  In 1972, the company was sold to The Clorox Company, and in April 1975, the bottling operation was sold to Moxie Industries, Inc. (later Monarch Beverage) of Atlanta.

Resurrection and legacy
Nesbitt's continued to be owned by Moxie Industries through the late 1970s and the 1980s while use of the Nesbitt's brand (for non-bottling usage) was passed along to several companies from 1976 through 1998, including ownership by Borden Inc. in the late 1980s. In 1999, Big Red, Limited of Waco, Texas, the parent company that owns rights to the Big Red soft drink brand, bought the Nesbitt's USA trademark from the Monarch Beverage Company under its North American Beverages Products division, which also includes NuGrape.  Although Big Red, Ltd. only actively promotes its Nesbitt's California Honey Lemonade drink, the company licenses the Nesbitt's soda brand to several small independent bottling companies throughout the US.

Retro soda producer Orca Beverage manufactures a bottled version of Nesbitt's Orange made with cane sugar and natural flavoring. In addition to orange, strawberry and peach Nesbitt's sodas are also available.

The group Negativland put out the "Nesbitt's Lime Soda Song" on their 1987 release Escape From Noise; written and sung by Richard Lyons, it was about a man who lost his temper after "a bee flew into" his soda and "we had to throw it away".

Internationally, Monarch Beverages owns and distribute Nesbitt's sodas.

In 2018 Keurig - Green Mountain merged with Pepsi - Dr. Pepper, owner of North American Beverages to become Keurig Dr. Pepper.

In 2021 the Nesbitt's brand does not appear on Keurig - Dr. Pepper website. Bottlers report they cannot get beverage base. Keurig Dr. Pepper responds to telephone inquires that the brand has been discontinued.

For the most recent information visit the Nesbitt's Orange Memorabilia Facts Page. This page is updated more frequently than this article.

Variants
(available outside U.S. only)
Nesbitt's Orange
Nesbitt's Apple
Nesbitt's Pineapple
Nesbitt's Sweet Red
Nesbitt's Grape
Nesbitt's Black Currant
Nesbitt's Still Honey Lemonade
Nesbitt's Still Kiwi Strawberry
Nesbitt's Splash Lemon Cola

References

External links
Nesbitt's Orange Memorabilia Page Contains photo albums of advertising, bottles and other items associated with the Nesbit Fruit Products Company.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise - Nesbitt's Orange Soda: Bright Star Went Black, Now Twinkles Dimly from June 8, 2006.

Orange sodas
American soft drinks
Monarch brands
Cuisine of the Western United States

Nesbitt's


Richard de Hoton (died 9 January 1308) was prior of Durham after his election to that role on 24 March 1290. He is notable for his professional tensions with his bishop Antony Bek.

Life
Having previously served as Prior of Lytham, he denied his bishop Antony Bek the right of episcopal visitation, launching appeals to York, Canterbury and Rome. Bek excommunicated Hoton for contumacy on 20 May 1300 and deprived him of his office the following day for disobedience, perjury and violation of monastic rule. King Edward I of England agreed a temporary reconciliation between Hoton and Bek on 20 June, though this was not to last and on 10 August Bek appointed the Prior of Lindisfarne, Henry of Lusby or Luceby, to replace Hoton. Ten days later Lusby forced his way into the monastery, forcibly removed Hoton from his stall and had him imprisoned. Lusby was formally installed on 24 August, but Hoton escaped from the prison on 16 December 1300.

On 1 March 1301 king Edward gave Hoton permission to spend two years at the papal court, and on 29 November that year Pope Boniface VIII declared that Lusby's appointment was uncanonical and that Hoton was to be reinstated. Lusby obeyed the pope, leaving Durham on 14 April 1302, with Hoton's proctor being put in possession of the monastery a week later. Hoton then arrived back in Durham on 1 August 1303, only to be suspended from office by the pope on 5 March 1306 and replaced as the monastery's administrator by Bek. Bek appointed Lusby to administer it as his proctor on 10 March, but the latter was expelled by the monks and Edward issued letters patent in April and June 1306 banning the pope's ejection of Hoton from taking place. Lusby died later in 1306 and Edward granted Hoton another year at the papal court (under royal protection) on 7 August that year. The pope then lifted Hoton's suspension and he was finally restored to his office on 1 December 1307, only to die at the papal court in 1308.

References

'Priors of Durham', Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 2: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces) (1971), pp. 32–36

1308 deaths
People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church
Priors of Durham
Year of birth unknown
13th-century English Roman Catholic priests
14th-century English Roman Catholic priests

Richard de Hoton


The Ploughman series was a series of Irish banknotes issued by the Currency Commission of Ireland as a transitional measure for eight Irish banks: Bank of Ireland, Hibernian Bank, Munster & Leinster Bank, National Bank, Northern Bank, Provincial Bank of Ireland, Royal Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank. They were initially issued between 6 May and 10 June 1929 as part of an arrangement to get the banks to withdraw their previous individual banknote issues. As part of the arrangement the banks would refrain from issuing their own notes in future. The commission instead issued their collective notes.

The notes were referred to as the ploughman series because they an image of a ploughman ploughing a field with a horse-drawn plough.

The notes, which were denominated in notes for £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100, used as the back images a collection of images of Ireland, in order the Custom House, Dublin, St. Patrick's Bridge, Cork, Currency Commission Building, Foster Place, Dublin, the Rock of Cashel, Croagh Patrick, and Killiney Bay, County Dublin.

The last issue was in 1941. The notes were finally withdrawn on 31 December 1953.

See also

References

Currencies introduced in 1929
Banknotes of Ireland
Currencies of the Republic of Ireland

Ploughman series


The George Clinton Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge is a continuous under-deck truss toll bridge that carries NY 199 across the Hudson River in New York State north of the City of Kingston and the hamlet of Rhinecliff.  It was opened to traffic on February 2, 1957, as a two-lane (one in each direction) bridge, although it was not actually complete. The formal opening was May 11, 1957. The original cost was $17.5 million.

The bridge, owned by the New York State Bridge Authority (NYSBA), carries two lanes of traffic and approximately 17,000 vehicles per day. It was designed by David B. Steinman and the builders were Harris Structural Steel and Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corporation, and is the second northernmost, and second newest, of the five bridges that NYSBA owns and operates. The bridge has two main spans, since there is an east and west channel in the Hudson River at this point.

Development
Planning for a bridge in this general area to replace the ferry service, which was viewed as sporadic and unreliable (there were no Hudson bridges for a half-hour or more drive time in either direction), began in the early 1940s. The site for the bridge, as originally proposed, was between Kingston Point and downtown Rhinebeck, and the design was initially a suspension bridge almost identical in appearance to the Mid-Hudson Bridge. When the site was relocated about  northward, there was no stable bedrock for anchorages, so the design was changed to a continuous under-deck truss. Construction commenced in 1954. When the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge was proposed, provisions were inserted in the enabling legislation that construction on that bridge could not commence until the Kingston–Rhinecliff was completed.

Like all NYSBA bridges, the Kingston–Rhinecliff is a toll bridge, with the toll collected only for eastbound vehicles. Originally, tolls were collected in both directions. In August 1970, the toll was abolished for westbound drivers, and at the same time, eastbound drivers saw their tolls doubled. The tolls of eleven other New York–New Jersey and Hudson River crossings along a  stretch, from the Outerbridge Crossing in the south to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in the north, were also changed to eastbound-only at that time.

In 2000 the state ceremonially renamed the bridge after George Clinton, New York's first Governor, fourth Vice President of the United States and a resident of the Hudson Valley.

In late 2019, a pedestrian path was added to the bridge. It is 4 feet wide, separated from traffic by a 3-foot-high barrier. The path is part of the Empire State Trail project. The path is on the south side of the bridge, next to eastbound traffic. It is for pedestrians only; bicyclists on the span will continue to be required to use the shoulders of the road.

At midnight on December 1, 2021, the bridge was converted to all-electronic tolling in the eastbound direction.

Tolls
In 2019, the bridge authority announced that tolls on its Hudson River crossings would increase each year beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023. As of May 1, 2021, the current toll for passenger cars traveling eastbound on the Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge was $1.75 in cash, $1.45 for E-ZPass users. In May 2022, tolls will rise to $1.55 for E-ZPass users and $2 for cash payers. In 2023, the E-ZPass toll will increase to $1.65, and the cash toll will rise to $2.15. No toll is collected for westbound traffic.

See also
List of fixed crossings of the Hudson River

References

External links

NYCroads: Historic overview
Toll schedule - NYSBA

Chas H. Sells rehabilitation project information

Bridges over the Hudson River
Bridges completed in 1957
Bridges in Ulster County, New York
New York State Bridge Authority
Buildings and structures in Rhinebeck, New York
Continuous truss bridges in the United States
Road bridges in New York (state)
Toll bridges in New York (state)
Steel bridges in the United States

Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge


The Young Victoria is a 2009 British period drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes, based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Produced by Graham King, Martin Scorsese, Sarah Ferguson, and Timothy Headington, the film stars Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Harriet Walter, Mark Strong, and Jim Broadbent among a large ensemble cast.

As screenwriter, Fellowes sought to make the film as historically accurate as possible. With this in mind, Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell and historical consultant Alastair Bruce were hired, and filming for The Young Victoria took place at various historical landmarks in England to further the film's authenticity. Despite this, some aspects of the film have been criticised for their historical inaccuracies.

Momentum Pictures released the film in the United Kingdom and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group opened The Young Victoria in limited theatrical release in the United States. Critical reception was generally positive.

Plot
Princess Victoria of Kent, the heiress presumptive to the British throne during the reign of her uncle King William IV, is subject to a political tug of war for influence over her. On one side is her mother, the Duchess of Kent, and the comptroller of the Duchess's household, Sir John Conroy. Conroy tries to force Victoria to sign papers declaring a regency to give her mother (and himself) power if Victoria ascends the throne before her 18th birthday (that is, while still a minor), the provision remaining in effect until she is 25 years old. On the other side is her maternal uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium, who uses family ties to secure an alliance between the United Kingdom and Belgium. He wants his nephew Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who is Victoria's cousin, to marry her. Albert is coached in Victoria's likes and dislikes. The Duchess invites the Coburg brothers, Albert and Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to visit. Victoria and Albert develop a mutual fondness, despite Victoria knowing that their uncle sent Albert to romance her. They begin writing to one another after Albert returns home.

At a birthday reception in Windsor Castle, King William states his wish to be closer to Victoria and insults her mother. When the King increases Victoria's income, it is rejected by Conroy, who physically subdues her in front of her mother, heightening their animosity. The King then sends the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne to advise her. Victoria agrees to make Melbourne her private secretary, and he appoints her ladies-in-waiting, who are from families politically allied to him.

King William dies shortly after Victoria's 18th birthday, thus avoiding a regency. After accession, Victoria immediately exerts her independence, physically distancing herself from her mother and banishing Conroy from her household and coronation. During her first meeting with the Privy Council, Victoria announces her intention to devote herself to serving her country and its people. Victoria moves into the newly-built Buckingham Palace. Her aunt, the dowager Queen Adelaide, advises her against acquiescing too much in Lord Melbourne's directives. Albert visits again, and he and Victoria further bond while discussing their mutual interest in social issues. Victoria resists a more intimate relationship, however, and Albert leaves.

When Sir Robert Peel seems likely to form a government to replace Melbourne's, he wishes to replace some of Victoria's ladies-in-waiting with supporters of his own party. When the Queen refuses, Peel rejects her invitation to form a new government, allowing Melbourne to continue as Prime Minister. The subsequent crisis damages Victoria's popularity, leading to demonstrations outside the palace. The turbulence draws Victoria closer to Albert through their letters, and she invites him back to Britain. Protocol prevents him from proposing marriage, so she asks him.

Their short honeymoon is loving, but Albert soon grows frustrated at his powerlessness. Queen Adelaide advises Victoria to allow him to assume more duties. Albert then reorganises the royal household and dismisses Conroy for mishandling the Duchess of Kent's funds. As Victoria's primary adviser, Albert blocks Lord Melbourne and King Leopold from influencing his wife. However, he and Victoria fiercely quarrel after Albert goes over her head to Peel about replacing some of her ladies-in-waiting.

When an anarchist attempts to shoot Victoria during an open-carriage ride, Albert is wounded when he shields her. His bravery leads to their reconciliation, and Melbourne urges her to share her work for social welfare with Albert. Their first child's birth helps reconcile Victoria and her mother, who had earlier sent a letter of support during the crisis.

The final title cards sketch their successful future together until Albert's death aged 42. Victoria lives on until her death aged 81, having reigned for 63 years.

Cast

 Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria
 Rupert Friend as Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
 Paul Bettany as Lord Melbourne
 Miranda Richardson as the Duchess of Kent
 Jim Broadbent as King William IV
 Thomas Kretschmann as King Leopold I of Belgium
 Mark Strong as Sir John Conroy
 Jesper Christensen as Baron Stockmar
 Harriet Walter as Queen Adelaide
 Jeanette Hain as Baroness Louise Lehzen
 Julian Glover as the Duke of Wellington
 Michael Maloney as Sir Robert Peel
 Michiel Huisman as Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
 Genevieve O'Reilly as Lady Flora Hastings
 Rachael Stirling as the Duchess of Sutherland
 David Robb as Lord John Russell

Production

Development
It was Sarah, Duchess of York, who conceived the idea for a film based upon the early years of Queen Victoria. She had been interested in the queen since her marriage to Prince Andrew, Duke of York, a great-great-great-grandson of Victoria and Albert, and had written two books about her with the help of an historian. The Victoria-Albert relationship in particular drew her into the queen's history, as she believed there were parallels between their marriage and her own with Prince Andrew, as they both "fought for their love" in the midst of public scrutiny. A friend set up a meeting with producer Graham King, to whom she pitched the idea along with several others. At the time wrapping up his work on The Departed, King, a native of Britain, had been looking for a project set in his home country for years. The producer later remembered, "she pitched me a bunch of things, and among them was a three-page synopsis of Victoria's early life: the precise span covered in The Young Victoria. [After that the film] just fell into place." King brought frequent collaborator Martin Scorsese onboard initially as a co-executive producer, as the Academy Award-winning director knew "pretty much all there is to know about British history."

Gosford Park screenwriter Julian Fellowes contacted King to present ideas for a script, and according to the producer, "[Fellowes] seemed to have the whole movie planned out in his head so we told him to go ahead and write it. Three months later, this incredibly impressive screenplay showed up on our desks." Fellowes was immediately hired by him and Scorsese. Fellowes chose not to end the film with Albert's death because he was wary of copying "the horror of biopics," where there is simply an important event after important event. Believing it had been done before and that the audience was already familiar with that part of Victoria's history, he thought it would be better suited for a television series or for another film.

For the film's director, King wanted someone "who would steer us away from the traditional BBC-type costume drama," and "make a period film for an MTV audience." By chance, someone recommended King watch the 2005 film C.R.A.Z.Y. by French-Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, and became immediately interested in hiring him. King offered the job to Vallée on their very first meeting. Though at first expressing a lack of interest, Vallée agreed to direct after reading the script. He commented, "When I read the script, I saw it's a family drama, a romance, a political plot at the same time." Vallee considered Victoria to be a rebel because "she has this attitude, which is you make noise, you want to yell and yell loudly to your parents and all the people, to authority... 'I'm going to do it my way.' That's what rock 'n' roll is all about. That's what I liked about her, this energy. [Victoria] was special and had this mystical quality."

Academy Award-winning costume designer Sandy Powell heard about the script and contacted King, who in turn hired her. Powell was given access to Victoria's wedding dress and coronation robes while researching. Based upon his work on The Lives of Others and his German nationality, Hagen Bogdanski was selected as the director of photography. Fellowes enlisted his friend Alastair Bruce's help with the coronation ceremony's historical authenticity, which led to Bruce's employment as the film's historical consultant, his first film credit.

Casting

For the title role, King required the candidate be British, and considered casting an unknown actress. British actress Emily Blunt read the script, and aware other actresses would fight for the part, she approached King early in the search process. Blunt later admitted she had a "non-existent knowledge" of the queen, but after consulting her mother about Victoria's successful marriage, Blunt told King that the queen "was a young girl who was very in love for the first time, and she was in a job where she felt way over her head. So I said to Graham, 'She's rebellious. She's a survivor.' I didn't want to approach her as the English rose, but as a young girl who was fighting." They awarded Blunt the role after viewing her entire filmography as well as her Golden Globes acceptance speech for Gideon's Daughter. Blunt noted, "I thought [Victoria] was remarkable and such a challenge. This young girl, who was so feisty and emotional and strong-willed, was very fascinating to me... In my life and in the job I've chosen to do, you have to perform all the time. And I thought Victoria was a bit of an actress." After winning the part, Blunt was allowed access to Windsor Castle, where she viewed Victoria's paintings, letters, diaries, and music composed by Albert himself.

Determined not to use any big Hollywood names, King looked at many European actors before settling on British actor Rupert Friend. They were aware of him from the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice. Vallée noted, "I had an image of Albert in my mind, before we cast Rupert, and how the actor might play him and when Rupert came on board he was just right. He had a very good understanding of the character and he did a lot of research to get him right, with the accent and his deportment. He really looks the part, he looks so romantic!" Co-producer Dennis O'Sullivan called Friend "our Scarlett O'Hara search." They believed the actor had the most chemistry with Blunt after selecting several to play chess with her. Friend's height (6 ft 1in) also played a factor in their choice. Friend believed "Albert was a true unsung hero. A great reformer, a doting husband and father, a hard worker and man of real integrity and modesty." The actor also thought their relationship was not "a gooey love story;" rather, their arguments showed it "wasn't an easy road by any means." Friend strove to immerse himself in the role, and learned the prince's particular characteristics, such as the way he rode a horse, walked, and played the piano. He worked with a voice coach and German instructor to perfect his accent, with the intention of "put[ting] in as much German as possible, because Victoria and Albert did speak German to each other."

Paul Bettany was cast as Lord Melbourne despite being roughly twenty years too young for the part. Vallée explained, "We couldn't find a 58-year-old actor who was sexy and good-looking enough. Paul was a more than good enough actor to age from the inside, and he plays him as a great politician and a great seducer." Early in the casting process the crew wanted to cast Miranda Richardson as the Duchess of Kent, and believed she had such great chemistry with Blunt that it became "genuinely uncomfortable watching them in a scene, as the scenes are so intense and real." Jim Broadbent and Mark Strong joined the cast as King William IV and Sir John Conroy, respectively, as did Harriet Walter as Queen Adelaide. Sarah's elder daughter, Princess Beatrice of York, made her film debut in a small cameo role, becoming the first member of the Royal Family to appear in a non-documentary film.

Filming

In consideration of the expense of a film shot in Britain, King initially sought to film in Germany and Eastern Europe. However, he came to the realisation that it was vital The Young Victoria be filmed in its native country for authenticity. Due to the Duchess of York's status and connections with the British royal family, The Young Victoria was able to film in many actual palaces and other landmarks. The film had a ten-week shoot starting in August 2007. Scenes set at Westminster Abbey were filmed at Lincoln Cathedral in September and October, and Ham House was substituted for Kensington Palace. Blenheim Palace, Lancaster House and Ditchley Park doubled for internal scenes of the monarch's main residence, Buckingham Palace. Other scenes filmed at Hampton Court Palace, Arundel Castle in West Sussex, Wilton House near Salisbury, Balls Park and Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. Week four of shooting was especially intensive, as filming was done at a different site each day, including Osterley Park, Old Royal Naval College, Ham House, Novello Theatre and Hampton Court.

Writing
Fellowes strove to make the script free of anachronisms, to the point where he became upset when actor Jim Broadbent ad-libbed and told the Duke of Wellington to "Enjoy the meal" during a dinner scene, a phrase not proper for the time period. The writer commented, "Everything I have put into it is based entirely on fact. It just happens to be a story that not many people are familiar with." Fellowes has remarked that while he would not alter the "fundamental truth," such as the characters' real relationships to each other, he strove to "use episodes to illustrate the journey you're taking your characters, and with them, your audience."

Although largely faithful to a selection of historical facts, the film has drawn criticism for embellishing events in order to increase dramatic potential. For example, Prince Albert was never shot during an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria. Fellowes told BBC Radio 4's Film Programme that in actuality the prince did put his body before the queen as protection, and that showing Prince Albert having been grazed by the bullet in the film was added to best show his bravery and devotion as he tried to stop Queen Victoria from being shot.

Another departure from history comes during Victoria's coronation scene. Contrary to what is shown in the film, Albert (who was not yet betrothed) was not present at the ceremony; the couple instead wrote letters to each other, but Fellowes felt that having them keep opening letters would be less cinematic. Furthermore, according to Fellowes, "The scene where [Conroy] is trying to make her sign the paper when she is ill and she throws it to the floor – it's completely true," and "The scene in Windsor where the King stands up and insults Victoria's mother is not only true, but about two-thirds of his speech is what he actually said!" However, the Duchess of Kent was seated next to the King when he spoke and did not leave during the speech; and, undepicted in the film, the princess burst into tears, "and the two parties, soon realising that they had gone too far, patched up an uneasy truce." According to Charles Greville's memoirs: "The Queen [Adelaide] looked in deep distress, the Princess [Victoria] burst into tears, and the whole company were aghast. The Duchess of Kent said not a word. Immediately after they rose and retired, and a terrible scene ensued; the Duchess announced her immediate departure and ordered her carriage, but a sort of reconciliation was patched up, and she was prevailed upon to stay till the next day."

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who was prime minister when Victoria came to the throne and a political mentor to the young queen, was forty years her senior, but is portrayed as a much younger man in the film. As for King Leopold, he was her favourite uncle whose advice she constantly sought; her interest in Albert was due not to the latter's success in wooing her, but simply to please Leopold.

Victoria's great-great-granddaughter Queen Elizabeth II viewed the film in a special screening; according to one source, she believed the film had a "lot of good points," but was unhappy with the change to the assassination attempt, and also thought the British officers' costumes looked too German. Apart from the assassination attempt, historian Alex von Tunzelmann noted that "historically, [the film's] not at all bad," and especially praised the depiction of contemporary politics and the characteristics Friend put into his performance as Prince Albert.

Music

Director Vallée used his background as a DJ to "create a structure for a film using music with the right rhythm and balance. I wanted to combine classical pieces with a rock spirit." During filming Vallée often played rock music, such as the Rolling Stones, to create the right "mood" before a scene. Executive producer Colin Vaines knew composer Ilan Eshkeri, and hired him for the film. Sinéad O'Connor performed "Only You," which O'Sullivan described as "very much in line with one of the overriding aims of the film, which was to be hopeful and tell people that these amazing love stories really can happen, it's not just a fairy tale." EMI Music released the film soundtrack. It received a nomination for the 2010 Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Score. The soundtrack includes the following tracks:

Release
Momentum Pictures handled distribution of The Young Victoria in the United Kingdom. The film's world premiere was held on 5 February 2009 at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival while its UK premiere was held in London's Leicester Square on 3 March, though the film was shown in the small market town of Bridport, Dorset two days before this on 1 March 2009 in the Electric Palace Theatre, of which Julian Fellowes is a patron. The film was released in British cinemas on 6 March 2009. On its opening week in the UK The Young Victoria grossed £1,016,053, and earned a total of £4,538,697 over its six-week run.

A bidding war erupted over its US release, and American distribution studio Apparition on the behalf of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group won the rights to the film. At the time, Apparition executive Bob Berney noted the film is "very audience friendly and commercial." The Young Victoria earned US$160,069 on its initial US release on 18 December 2009, where it opened in twenty theatres. It expanded nationwide on Christmas Day, and grossed US$11,001,272 by the end of its theatrical run.

Reception

Critical response
On the online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval score of 76% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Emily Blunt shines as Victoria in this romantic but plodding royal portrait." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman gave The Young Victoria a B+; he gave praise to Emily Blunt's performance and concluded, "The Young Victoria has a subtler flow than you might expect, and at times it's calmer than you may like. Director Jean-Marc Vallée's images have a creamy stateliness, but this is no gilded princess fantasy – it's the story of a budding ruler who learns to control her surroundings, and Blunt makes that journey at once authentic and relevant." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it a "frivolously entertaining film" and believed it was "directed with some snap by Jean-Marc Vallée." Dargis finished her review, "Despite the filmmakers' efforts to persuade us that The Young Victoria is a serious work, and despite some tense moments and gunfire, the film's pleasures are as light as its story. No matter. Albert may never rip Victoria's bodice, but he does eventually loosen it, to her delight and ours."

The Daily Telegraph called The Young Victoria a "production of the highest calibre with an impeccable cast." The Times Wendy Ide gave the film 3 out 5 stars wrote "It's decorative, but suffers from a stultifying lack of drama" and found similarities to the 1998 film Elizabeth. Ide found Victoria and Albert's relationship to be "persuasive and rather charming," and praised the performances of both the main and supporting cast, particularly noting Bettany's scene-stealing performance.

Less positive was Peter Bradshaw, film critic for The Guardian, who gave the film two out of five stars. While initially looking forward to Blunt's performance, he believed the "black-belt minx" actress was "never really allowed to let rip. All that coiled feline sensuality stay[ed] coiled." He thought the queen's relationship with Prince Albert "very, very unsexy," as their devotion "makes for a boring film." Bradshaw did praise the power dynamics around Victoria, but concluded "I spent an hour and three-quarters waiting for this film to start. Where was the tang and the zing and the oomph of Fellowes's cracking script for Robert Altman's Gosford Park?"

Awards

Emily Blunt received various nominations for her role. At the 63rd British Academy Film Awards, The Young Victoria won the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design and the BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair. The film also received the 2010 Academy Award for Costume Design.

Home media
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the DVD and Blu-ray on 13 July 2009 for the UK, and 20 April 2010 for the US. The DVD special features included deleted and extended scenes, and four featurettes on filming and the subject matter's history. The Blu-ray possesses a feature that allows viewers to access real-time data about the actors, music, film trivia and other information.

See also
Victoria  (similarly-themed ITV drama shown from 2016 to 2019 starring Jenna Coleman produced by Mammoth Screen)

References

External links

2009 films
British romantic drama films
British biographical drama films
British historical romance films
BAFTA winners (films)
2000s English-language films
Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria on film
Cultural depictions of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Films set in London
Films set in Berkshire
Films set in Scotland
Films set in palaces
Films set in the 1830s
Films set in the 1840s
Films set in the Victorian era
Films directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Films with screenplays by Julian Fellowes
Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award
2009 biographical drama films
2000s historical romance films
Films produced by Martin Scorsese
Films produced by Graham King
Films scored by Ilan Eshkeri
GK Films films
2009 romantic drama films
Biographical films about English royalty
2000s British films
Cultural depictions of William IV

The Young Victoria


The Pentagon military analyst program was a propaganda campaign of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that was launched in early 2002 by then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke. The goal of the operation is "to spread the administration's talking points on Iraq by briefing retired commanders for network and cable television appearances," where they have been presented as independent analysts;
a Pentagon spokesman said the Pentagon's intent is to keep the American people informed about the so-called War on Terrorism by providing prominent military analysts with factual information and frequent, direct access to key military officials. The Times article suggests that the analysts had undisclosed financial conflicts of interest and were given special access as a reward for promoting the administration's point of view. On 28 April 2008, the Pentagon ended the operation. A DoD Inspector General investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the DoD.

New York Times exposé
Details of the operation were first revealed in a lengthy New York Times exposé written by David Barstow and published in April 2008. Within the documents the analysts were referred to as message force multipliers (q.v. force multiplication).

A number of the military analysts used by US television have extensive business interests in promoting the administration's views as employees of, or investors in, various military contractors or as lobbyists for such contractors; however, viewers have not been made aware of such ties. Peace activist Colman McCarthy had warned of the potential conflicts of interest many of the same analysts had in a Washington Post op-ed in April 2003.

The analysts were given access to hundreds of private briefings with senior military leaders, including officials with significant influence over budget and contracting matters, taken on official tours to Iraq, and given access to classified intelligence. Some participants claimed that they were instructed not to quote their briefers directly or otherwise describe their contacts with the Pentagon.

The Times article states that: "Some analysts stated that in later interviews that they echoed the Pentagon's talking points, even when they suspected the information was false or inflated." Robert S. Bevelacqua, a critic of the Bush administration, retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst said, "It was them saying, 'We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you.", although Bevelacqua himself opposed the War in Iraq during the time he claims to have been briefed by Pentagon officials. Bevelacqua left Fox in April 2005 due to his dissatisfaction with Fox's coverage of the war.

According to the DoD, from 2002 to 2008, the program held 147 events for 74 military analysts, including 22 meetings at the Pentagon, 114 conference calls with generals and senior Pentagon officials and 11 DoD-sponsored trips to Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Donald Rumsfeld was personally involved with 20 of the events.  During that time, four analysts were removed from the program's invitation list for, reportedly, making public remarks critical of the DoD.  Forty-three of the analysts involved in the program were employed by or affiliated with defense contractors which were doing or seeking to obtain contracts from the DoD.

Impact and response
CBS, NBC, and Fox did not comment on the involvement of their analysts. With the exception of two mentions on PBS, there has been a de facto blackout of this story by the networks.
The Times itself published "at least" nine op-eds by the analysts. Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of the Times, said that none of the op-ed's dealt specifically with assessments of the war or any specific business entities with which the author had ties. The Pentagon also helped two of the retired commanders write an article in The Wall Street Journal, "forwarded talking points and statistics to rebut the notion" of a spreading "General's revolt" against Donald Rumsfeld in April 2006 (q.v.).

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the progressive publication The Nation, urged the U.S. Congress to investigate the program, and Free Press launched an online petition also supporting such an investigation.

On 23 April 2008, Carl Levin, chair of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, asked the Pentagon to investigate the practice.

The following day, 24 April 2008, 24 April, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) sent letters to five network executives. Only ABC and CNN have responded so far.

On 6 May 2008, DeLauro sent a letter together with John Dingell (D-Mich.) to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin "urging an investigation of the Pentagon's propaganda program" to determine if the networks or analysts violated federal law.
Furthermore, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) have written to Congress's investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

On 22 May 2008, the House passed an amendment to the annual military authorization bill that would mandate investigations of the program by both the inspector general's office at the Defense Department and the GAO.
The inspector general's office announced that it would investigate the matter, whereas the GAO announced that it had already begun doing so.

Department of Defense investigation and Pulitzer Prize
In January 2009, the US Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General (IG) released the report of its investigation.  The report rejected most of the allegations from Barstow's New York Times story.  The DoD report concluded that the evidence was, "insufficient to conclude that [Retired Military Analyst] RMA outreach activities were improper. Further, we found insufficient basis to conclude that [the office of public affairs] conceived of or undertook a disciplined effort to assemble a contingent of influential RMAs who could be depended on to comment favorably on DoD programs."  Concerning the contract controversy, the investigation found that, "extensive searches found no instance where such RMAs used information or contacts obtained as a result of the OASD(PA) outreach program to achieve a competitive advantage for their company."  The report stated that 29 percent of the RMA had some type of corporate association.

In April 2009, the Pulitzer Committee announced that it would be awarding a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting to The New York Times and David Barstow for the RMA expose'.  RMAs such as US Air Force Lieutenant General Tomas G. McInerney and Army Major General Paul E. Vallely reacted angrily to the announcement, citing the DoD IG's investigation which the RMA's stated had "discredited" the Times story.  Barstow replied that the Times public editor, Clark Hoyt, had found the DoD IG's investigation "highly flawed" and labeled it a "whitewash."

On May 6, 2009 a story by Barstow in The New York Times revealed that Donald M. Horstman, the DoD's deputy inspector general, had repudiated the DoD investigation report, stating that an internal review found that the report, "did not meet accepted quality standards" and "relied on a body of testimonial evidence that was insufficient or inconclusive."  According to Horstman, the review found that Pentagon officials who had devised and managed the analyst program had refused to speak to DoD investigators.  The review also found that the investigation's methodology was seriously flawed.  Horstman added that no additional investigative work would be done to reissue the report because the analyst program has been terminated and the senior officials who oversaw it no longer work for the DoD.

On May 7, 2009 The Washington Times reported that the DoD IG had reviewed and withdrawn the report after being pressured by Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, to do so.  Levin reportedly sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on February 2, 2009 rejecting the report and asking the DoD IG to conduct a second investigation.  The Washington Times noted that Barstow, in his May 6 story in The New York Times about the pulled report, had failed to disclose Levin's involvement.<ref>Gertz, Bill, "Inside the Ring:  IG report withdrawn, The Washington Times, May 7, 2009, p. B1.</ref>

Further investigation
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), with assistance from the Comptroller General of the United States, released a report on its investigation into the program in July 2009.  The GAO confirmed as true the allegations that retired general officers had been given special access to military briefings and facilities for the purpose of influencing public opinion when the retired officers commented in the news media.  The GAO concluded, however, that the DoD had not violated any laws with its conduct of the program, because government agencies have traditionally been given wide leeway in how they inform the public about their work.  Daniel Gordon, acting general counsel for the GAO, stated that, "While DoD understandably values its ties with retired military officers, we believe that, before undertaking anything along the lines of the now-terminated program at issue in this decision, DoD should consider whether it needs to have additional policies and procedures in place to protect the integrity of, and public confidence in, its public affairs efforts and to ensure the transparency of its public relations activities."

The Federal Communications Commission, in response to the GAO report and urging from Representative John Dingell, stated that it was investigating whether television broadcasters broke "payola" rules on proper disclosure of sponsorship when they used the military analysts.  The DoD was continuing to examine the issue under the direction of new DoD IG director Gordon Haddell.Scarborough, Rowan, "IG To Clear Retirees Who Gave Media War Briefings", The Washington Times, 26 September 2011, p. 1.

The DoD IG released its investigation report in December 2011.  The report found no wrongdoing by the DoD, concluding that it had acted in compliance with government policies and regulation in running the program.

See also
 Enemy Image'', a documentary about The Pentagon's approach to news coverage of war
Force multiplier
Information warfare
Military–industrial–media complex
Pentagon rapid response operation
Propaganda in the United States
Smith-Mundt Act

References

External links
Documents released to the New York Times

Propaganda in the United States
United States Department of Defense
War on terror
Occupation of Iraq
Causes and prelude of the Iraq War
George W. Bush administration controversies

Pentagon military analyst program


In the United States a contingent surplus note is a bond-like instrument issued by an insurance company. These securities are subordinated obligations and fall at the very bottom of the operating insurance company's capital structure. They are issued primarily by mutual insurance companies, which are not public and are owned instead by their policy holders. Surplus notes are debt-like in that they pay a coupon and have a finite maturity. However, in many cases, state insurance regulators have allowed insurance companies to classify the capital raised via surplus notes as "surplus" (which is the statutory equivalent of equity), because surplus note holders are last in line to make a claim on the company's assets in a default scenario, much like where equity holders reside in a public company. The motivation for mutual companies to issue these instruments was to raise surplus (or equity) in response to new risk-based capital guidelines developed in the early 1990s. Because mutual companies are owned by policyholders, not shareholders, there was no alternative method to raise surplus or equity. While surplus note holders have last the claim on the assets of the operating insurance company, it is important to realize that this claim is at the operating company level, which is still ahead of holding company obligations.

Further reading
Laurent Condamin, Jean-Paul Louisot, Patrick Naïm. Risk Quantification: Management, Diagnosis and Hedging John Wiley & Sons, Jan 30, 2007 pg. 229

References

Corporate finance
Interest-bearing instruments

Surplus note


Wayne Bertram Williams (born May 27, 1958) is an American convicted murderer and suspected serial killer who is serving life imprisonment for the 1981 killings of two men
in Atlanta, Georgia. Although never tried for the additional murders, he is also believed to be responsible for at least 24 of the 30 Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, also known as the Atlanta Child Murders.

Early life and education
Wayne Williams, son of Homer and Faye Williams, was born on May 27, 1958, and raised in the Dixie Hills neighborhood of southwest Atlanta, Georgia. Both of his parents were teachers. Williams graduated from Douglass High School and developed a keen interest in radio and journalism. He constructed his own carrier current radio station and began frequenting stations WIGO and WAOK, where he befriended a number of the announcing crew and began dabbling in becoming a pop music producer and manager.

Atlanta murders
Williams first became a suspect in the Atlanta murders on the morning of May 22, 1981, when a police surveillance team, watching the James Jackson Parkway Bridge spanning the Chattahoochee River (a spot where multiple bodies had been discovered previously), heard a "big loud splash", suggesting that something had been thrown from the bridge into the river below. The first automobile to exit the bridge after the splash, at roughly 2:50 a.m., belonged to Williams. When stopped and questioned, he told police that he was on his way to check on an address in a neighboring town ahead of an audition the following morning with a young singer named Cheryl Johnson. However, both the phone number he gave police and Cheryl Johnson turned out to be fictitious.

Two days later, on May 24, the nude body of 27-year-old Nathaniel Cater, who had been missing for four days and was last seen with Williams, was discovered in the river. The medical examiner ruled he had died of probable asphyxia but never specifically said he had been strangled. Police thought that Williams had killed Cater and that his body was the source of the sound they heard as his car crossed the bridge.

Williams failed three polygraph tests. Hairs and fibers retrieved from the body of another victim, Jimmy Ray Payne, were found to be consistent with those from his home, car, and dog. Co-workers told police they had seen Williams with scratches on his face and arms around the time of the murders which, investigators surmised, could have been inflicted by victims during struggles. Williams held a press conference outside his home to proclaim his innocence, volunteering that he had failed the polygraph tests, which would have been inadmissible in court.

Williams was questioned again by police for 12 hours on June 3 and 4 at FBI headquarters and released without arrest or charge, but remained under surveillance.

Arrest and trial
Williams was arrested on June 21, 1981, for the murders of Cater and Payne. His trial began on January 6, 1982, in Fulton County. During the two-month trial, prosecutors matched to a number of victims 19 sources of fibers from Williams's home and car: his bedspread, bathroom, gloves, clothes, carpets, dog, and an unusual trilobal carpet fiber. Other evidence included witness testimony that placed Williams with several victims while they were alive, and inconsistencies in his accounts of his whereabouts. Williams took the stand in his own defense but alienated the jury by becoming angry and combative. After 12 hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty on February 27 of the murders of Cater and Payne. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. After Williams became a suspect, the killings stopped.

In the late 1990s, Williams filed a habeas corpus petition and requested a retrial. Butts County Superior Court judge Hal Craig denied his appeal. Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said that "although this does not end the appeal process, I am pleased with the results in the habeas case" and that his office will "continue to do everything possible to uphold the conviction." In early 2004, Williams sought a retrial again, with his attorneys arguing that law enforcement officials covered up evidence of involvement by the Ku Klux Klan, and that carpet fibers purportedly linking him to the crimes would not stand up to scientific scrutiny. A federal judge rejected the request for retrial on October 17, 2006.

Aftermath
Williams was never tried for any of the Atlanta Child Murders. However, police attributed 22 other deaths, including those of 18 minors, to Williams.

Williams is serving his sentence at Telfair State Prison. On November 20, 2019, Williams was again denied parole. He will next be eligible for parole in November 2027.

Reopening investigations
Williams has maintained his innocence from the beginning and claimed that Atlanta officials covered up evidence of KKK involvement in the killings to avoid a race war in the city. His lawyers have said the conviction was a "profound miscarriage of justice" that has kept an innocent man incarcerated for the majority of his adult life and allowed the real killers to go free. In contrast, Joseph Drolet, who prosecuted Williams at trial, has stood by Williams's convictions. He has emphasized that, after Williams was arrested, "the murders stopped and there has been nothing since."

Other observers have criticized the thoroughness of the investigation and the validity of its conclusions. The author James Baldwin, in his essay The Evidence of Things Not Seen (1985), raised questions about Williams' guilt. Members of his community and several of the victims' parents did not believe that Williams, the son of two professional teachers, could have killed so many.

On May 6, 2005, DeKalb County Police Chief Louis Graham ordered the reopening of the murder cases of four boys killed in that county between February and May 1981, whose deaths had been attributed to Williams. The announcement was welcomed by relatives of some victims, who said they believe the wrong man was blamed for many of the murders.

Graham, who was serving as an assistant police chief in neighboring Fulton County at the time of the murders, said his decision to reopen the cases was driven solely by his belief in Williams's innocence. Former DeKalb County Sheriff and convicted murderer Sidney Dorsey, who was an Atlanta homicide detective at the time, also said he believed Williams was wrongly blamed for the murders. "If they arrested a white guy," he said, "there would have been riots across the U.S.." Dorsey is now serving a life sentence after being convicted of ordering the murder of his election opponent Derwin Brown.

Fulton County authorities have not reopened any of the cases under their jurisdiction.

According to an August 2005 report, Charles T. Sanders, a white supremacist affiliated with the KKK and an early suspect in the murders, once praised the crimes in secretly recorded conversations. Although Sanders did not publicly claim responsibility for any of the deaths, he told an informant for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in a 1981 recording that the killer had "wiped out a thousand future generations of niggers". An anonymous alleged former friend of Sanders told documentarian Payne Lindsey (Atlanta Monster) that Sanders had taken credit for the murders mentioned in a 1986 Spin article, claiming that his brothers were also involved.

Sanders did not directly implicate the KKK or lead his friend to believe that anyone else from the organization was involved. Sanders allegedly mused over how lucky he was that he and Williams had the same carpet and that they both owned a white German shepherd. The anonymous former friend went on to say that, "Once it was pinned on Wayne Williams, they were through. That was their way out." Police dropped the probe into possible Klan involvement when Sanders and two of his brothers passed lie detector tests in which they denied their involvement. The case was once again closed on July 21, 2006.

Former FBI profiler John E. Douglas wrote in his book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit that, in his opinion, "forensic and behavioral evidence points conclusively to Wayne Williams as the killer of eleven young men in Atlanta." He added, however, that he believed there was "no strong evidence linking him to all or even most of the deaths and disappearances of children in that city between 1979 and 1981".

In 2007, the FBI performed DNA tests on two human hairs found on one of the victims. The mitochondrial DNA sequence in the hairs would eliminate 99.5% of people, and 98% of African-Americans, by not matching their DNA; the sequence found matched Williams's DNA.

DNA testing was performed in 2010 on scalp hairs found on the body of 11-year-old victim Patrick Baltazar. While the results were not firmly conclusive, the DNA sequence found appears in only 29 of 1,148 African-American hair samples in the FBI's database, including that of Williams. The Baltazar case was included among 10 additional victims presented to the jury at Williams' trial, although he was never charged in any of those cases.

Dog hairs found on Baltazar's body were tested in 2007 by the genetics laboratory at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which found a DNA sequence also present in the Williams family's German Shepherd. However, the director of the laboratory, Elizabeth Wictum, said that, while the results were "fairly significant", they were not conclusive. Only mitochondrial DNA was tested; unlike nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA cannot be shown to be unique to an individual dog. The report said the hairs on the bodies contained the same DNA sequence as Williams's dog, a DNA sequence that occurs in about 1 in 100 dogs. The FBI report stated that "Wayne Williams cannot be excluded" as a suspect in the case.

A Department of Justice study, released in April 2015, concluded that numerous hair analyses conducted by FBI examiners during the 1980s and 1990s "may have failed to meet professional standards." Defense attorney Lynn Whatley immediately announced that the report would form the basis for a new appeal, but prosecutors responded that hair evidence played only a minor role in Williams's conviction.

On March 21, 2019, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields announced that officials would re-test evidence from the murders, which will be gathered by the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County District Attorney's Office, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation. In a news conference, Mayor Bottoms said, "It may be there is nothing left to be tested. But I do think history will judge us by our actions, and we will be able to say we tried."

In 2019, two Atlanta men, Derwin Davis & Isaac Rogers came out claiming that Williams had attempted to abduct them in 1979 & 1981 respectively.

Media
Williams appears as the main antagonist in several media portrayals of the case. He was first depicted in the  1985 television miniseries The Atlanta Child Murders and was played by Calvin Levels. In 2000, Showtime released a drama film titled Who Killed Atlanta's Children? with Clé Bennett playing Williams. In 2018, Williams and the Atlanta Child Murders were the subject of the true crime podcast Atlanta Monster, hosted by Payne Lindsey and co-produced by Tenderfoot TV and HowStuffWorks. In 2019, Williams  was featured in season 2 of the Netflix series Mindhunter alongside others such as Charles Manson and David Berkowitz; Williams's character was portrayed by Christopher Livingston.

See also
 Grim Sleeper, a serial killer whose victims were exclusively African-American people
 Samuel Little, a serial killer whose victims were mostly African-American women

General:
 List of serial killers in the United States
 List of serial killers by number of victims

References

Bibliography

1958 births
African-American people
American male criminals
American murderers of children
American people convicted of murder
American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Living people
People convicted of murder by Georgia (U.S. state)
People from Atlanta
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Georgia (U.S. state)
Suspected serial killers
Serial killers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Violence against men in North America

Wayne Williams


Lugalanda, also Lugal-anda () was a Sumerian king of Lagash during the 24th century BC.

Lugalanda was the son of the high priest of Lagash, who appointed him as king.  At this time the high priests of Lagash were very influential, and either occupied the throne, or decided who should. The priests, especially the high priests, remained very influential during Lugalanda's reign.

Lugalanda was married to Baranamtarra, the daughter of a great landowner who had commercial connections with the queen of Adab.

All documents mentioning the reign of Lugalanda describe him as a wealthy and corrupt king. They say his reign was a time of great corruption and injustice against the weak. Inscriptions state that the king confiscated approximately 650 Morgen (up to 650 hectares) of land.

After a reign of 6 years and 1 month, Lugalanda was overthrown by Urukagina.

References

Sources
 The original text comes from German Wikipedia. It cites Helmut Uhlig: Die Sumerer. Lübbe, Bergisch-Gladbach 1992, S. 208 ff., 211. . (German)

Kings of Lagash
24th-century BC Sumerian kings

Lugalanda


John Doherty, Q.C. (1785–1850) was an Irish politician, Solicitor-General for Ireland and senior judge, who became Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas.

Background and education
Doherty was born in Dublin, the second surviving son of John Doherty and his wife Margaret Verney. His father, an attorney, died before 1803. He was educated at Chester School and Trinity College Dublin, entered the King's Inns, and was called to the Bar 1808. He had a family connection through his father with the leading statesman George Canning, which was useful to him in his career. Doherty's father's mother (so his grandmother) was Abigail Canning, the sister of George Canning's grandfather.

Legal and judicial career
Doherty was made a King's Counsel in 1823 (becoming a Queen's Counsel with the accession of Queen Victoria to the Throne in 1837). He was Member of Parliament for New Ross, Kilkenny City and Newport (Cornwall) and served as Solicitor-General for Ireland from 1827 to 1830. He was a Bencher of the King's Inns. In 1830 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas, in which office he remained until his death from heart disease in 1850. As a judge, he was described as courteous and painstaking, but not deeply learned.

As Solicitor-General he is remembered mainly for prosecuting the 'Doneraile Conspiracy' case in 1829, and for his ferocious clashes with Daniel O'Connell, who appeared as defence counsel for several of the accused and secured their acquittals. O'Connell attacked both Doherty's tactics and his integrity, openly accusing him of conniving in the conviction of innocent men: he repeated the attacks in Parliament where Doherty successfully defended his conduct. The enmity between the two men lasted till death.

Reputation
While O'Connell had a very poor opinion of Doherty (as he did of many of the Irish judges at the time, notably Thomas Lefroy), and treated his appointment as Chief Justice as a personal insult,  most of his colleagues on the Bench admired Doherty's legal ability (though not a profound legal scholar, he had a great knowledge of Court procedures). At the same time, they probably agreed with O'Connell that his rapid advancement was due to his reputation as a safe "Government man". However, he did have certain principles: in particular, he was a convinced believer in Catholic Emancipation. As a judge he lobbied repeatedly for a peerage, but without success.

Personal life

Doherty married Elizabeth Lucy Wall, daughter of  Charles William Wall, in 1822.  They had seven children, including John, the eldest son and heir. His main residence was St. Helen's, Booterstown, which he bought in 1830, and to which he made several improvements. He also had a townhouse at Ely Place and a farm, called "Blacklion", in County Carlow. He died while on his annual summer holiday at Beaumaris in Anglesey.

In private life, he was noted as a keen coin collector and for his speculations, often unlucky, on the Stock Exchange. Due to his exceptional height, he was nicknamed "Long Jack". His courtroom manner was described as "theatrical and pompous", and his consciously "refined" accent made him an easy target for parody by opponents. On the other hand, his charm and sense of humour made him a popular figure in Dublin society.

References

External links

1785 births
1850 deaths
Solicitors-General for Ireland
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
Politicians from Dublin (city)
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
UK MPs 1830–1831
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Newport (Cornwall)
19th-century King's Counsel
Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kilkenny constituencies (1801–1922)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Wexford constituencies (1801–1922)
Lawyers from Dublin (city)

John Doherty (Irish politician)


Univega is a bicycle brand created during the bike boom of the 1970s by Ben Lawee (1926–2002), who founded Lawee Inc. to design, specify, and import bicycles initially manufactured in Italy by Italvega, and subsequently in Japan by Miyata.

Prior to creating the Univega brand, Lawee had been the importer of Motobécane bicycles in the U.S. and had created the Italvega in Italy. His Bertoni brand appeared after the creation of Univega.

Lawee marketed the Univega brand using the taglines "Discover the difference" and "Ride it your way" and began marketing their Alpina series of mountain bikes in the early 1980s. In 1985 Lawee moved Univega Headquarters to Signal Hill California in his new building designed by Randy Morris and Brian Corntassel of Phelps Morris Architects, Long Beach, CA. Univega now had a competitive look that would last another 11 years of success.

Univega competed in the U.S. with domestic and European bicycle manufacturers including Schwinn, Raleigh, Peugeot and Motobecane — as well as other Japanese manufacturers including Miyata, Fuji, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Nishiki, Lotus and Centurion. Bikes manufactured in Japan succeeded in the U.S. market until currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made them less competitive, which led companies to source bicycles from Taiwan.

In 1996, the parent company of Raleigh Bicycle Company, Derby Cycle, absorbed Univega along with the Nishiki brand of bicycles.

In 2018 Univega was purchased by Kent International. All Univega bicycles have since been assembled in the USA at the Bicycle Corporation of America factory in Manning, South Carolina.

Ben Lawee

Ben Lawee, who was born in Baghdad in 1926 and emigrated to the United States on a freighter in his teens. While attending Columbia University in New York City, he worked at the bicycle shop of George Joannou, a Greek Cypriot, and subsequently moved to California as West Coast sales representative for Joannou Cycle Co.

Lawee ventured out on his own in 1959  when he purchased the Jones Bicycle shop in Long Beach, California, growing a single store into a chain. He sold the chain in 1965, began importing Bianchi bicycles, and became the national distributor for Raleigh and Motobecane. Lawee Inc. created the Italvega brand in the early 1970s, followed by the commercially successful Univega brand and the short-lived Bertoni brand. Lawee sold the Univega brand to Raleigh in 1996 and retired from the bicycle industry.

Lawee had two children, David and Monique, with his wife Ariela. He died on November 8, 2002.

Models

Univega marketed road and touring bicycles and later, mountain bikes.

Activa cs millennium edition
Activa 200
Activa Action
Activa Country
Activa ST
Activa Sport
Activa Trail
Alpina
Alpina Country
Alpina Pro
Alpina Sport
Alpina Team
Alpina Ultima
Alpina Uno
ArrowPace
Arrow Speed
Arrow Star

Boralyn
Carbolite
Competzione
Custom Maxima
Custom Ten
Gran Premio
Gran Rally
Gran Record
Gran Sprint
Gran Sprint – S
Gran Tech
Gran Touring
Gran Turismo
Ground Force
Ital Sport
Land Rover 12
Maxima Sport

Maxima Uno
Metro Ten
Metrothree
Metrofive
Modo Volare
Modo Vincere
Modo Vivere
Nuovo Sport
NuovoTech 450
Nuovo Ten
Nuovo Touring
Pathfinder
R7.2
RAM 970
Range Rover-ES
Rover
Rover-ES
Rover Sport
Rover STI
Rover XCU

Safari
Safari Ten
Specialissima
Sportour
Superstrada
Superlight
Super Special
SupraSport
Tandem Sport
Tandem Tour
Tri-Star
Ultraleggera
Via Carisma
Via de Oro
Via Montega
Via Laser
Viva Activa 300
Viva Sport
Viva Touring
Vivatech

Bertoni

Bertoni was a brand created by Ben Lawee circa-1980. The frames were manufactured in Italy by Daccordi, sometimes mistakenly assigned to Bianchi, which had no connection to the Bertoni brand other than Ben Lawee's Bianchi imports during the 1960s. Earlier Bertonis have frame details that are similar to the Torresini-made Italvegas. The 1984 and later steel frames do not bear the typical Torresini details. These "second series" frames all utilized Columbus tubesets of Matrix, SL or SLX type tubing and featured Columbus "short point" lugs and Cinelli-type Columbus bottom brackets & semi-sloping fork crowns. Seat stay lugs were Gipiemme, brazed into the contour of the rear quarters of the seat tube lug. Other braze-ons were also Gipiemme, including the two styles of brake stay bridges used, depending on the model, and the induction-cast "box arch" chainstay bridge which was common to all steel Bertonis, with the exception of the TSX model – the frame of which was obviously the Daccordi Griffe, but with Bertoni inscriptions and decals. Dropouts were forged Columbus on the lower/mid range and Campagnolo for the upscale models. The line emphasized function over flash (except for the "flash" of the 'cromovelato' – thin paint over chrome – paint jobs) and received favorable press regarding overall functionality and quality, as well as the ride/handling of the steel-frame models. The line itself was fairly large, comprising nine bicycles in 1988. The range included a disc-wheeled TT bicycle and a Bador (Vitus) aluminum model.

Models

"Second Series"(incomplete list):
 Nuovitalia – base model with Columbus Matrix double-butted tubesets and a mix of Ofmega and Shimano components.
 Corsa Mondiale – Mid-range steel-frame (Columbus SL; Matrix used on tall frames) model equipped with Shimano 600 crankset, hubs, derailleurs and brakes.
 Specialissima – uprange steel model with Columbus SLX tubing and Shimano Dura-Ace hubs, crank, derailleurs and brakes.
 Professionale – similar SLX frame with Campagnolo SR componentry.
 TSX – Columbus TSX tubing, Daccordi Griffe type "webbed" lugs and bottom bracket shell.

Italvega

Italvega bikes were designed and hand-built within the noted Torresini workshop at the Torpado factory in Padua, Italy. They were built beginning in 1970 and continuing through the mid- to late-70s before manufacturing was moved to Japan under the name Univega. All Italvega bicycles were made in the Torpado factory, but not all were high-end bicycles. Torpado made a broad variety of bicycles for different uses (including worker, comfort, BMT, ATB, and even motorized)

Top-end models

Models manufactured under the Italvega marque include (in order of increasing quality):
 Viva Sport
 Nuovo Sport
 Nuovo Record
 Super Record
 Super Speciale
 Super Light
 Viva Touring

The top-end models were built with double-butted Columbus tubing and Campagnolo Record and Nuovo Record components. The low- to mid-tier framesets have the inverted triangle Columbus foil decal, while the better models have the rectangle Columbus foil decal. Models in the lowest tier have no Columbus decal.

See also
 List of Japanese bicycle manufacturers

References

Cycle manufacturers of the United States
Mountain bike manufacturers

Univega


Adam Daniel Kline (born October 27, 1944) is an American politician who was the State Senator for Washington's 37th district, comprising part of South Seattle, six precincts in Renton and two in Tukwila. He served the 37th District for more than 17 years.  He chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and was a member of the Government Operations and Elections Committee and the Rules Committee.

Before entering law school, Kline worked as a merchant seaman and as a newspaper reporter. He is a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement. He worked for SNCC in Greenwood, Mississippi, during the 1964 Freedom Summer and, after law school, returned to Greenwood in 1972 to work for North Mississippi Rural Legal Services.

In January 2010, Kline sponsored SB 6396 which attempted to ban assault rifles and pistols. In February 2013, Kline sponsored SB 5737 which would allow police to conduct warrantless searches in the homes of gun owners once per year, with a punishment of up to one year in jail for citizens who did not comply. Kline later stated he had not closely read the bill and had made a mistake. Media reports noted the inspection provision was present in Kline's bills SB 6396 (2010) and SB 5475 (2005) as written by the Brady Campaign and the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Kline practiced law for 32 years before retiring in 2004 to work for the Laborers Union. He was a cooperating attorney with the ACLU and is active with NARAL Pro-Choice America and Washington Conservation Voters.

In 1972, Kline married Desire Plumb, with whom he had one child, Genevieve Amanda Kline. He and Desire parted in 1979, and, in 1989, he married Laura Gene Middaugh, who serves as a judge on the King County Superior Court.

Notes

External links
State lawmakers to seek ban on sales of semi-automatic weapons
37dems.org

Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators
Living people
1944 births
People from Red Bank, New Jersey
Activists from New Jersey
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American politicians

Adam Kline


Rubens Farias Jr. (born 1954) is a Brazilian psychic surgeon, who claims to be a channel for the spirit of Dr. Fritz. His clinic is in Bom Sucesso, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro.

Rubens was trained as an engineer.

He is not the first Brazilian to make the claim. He follows Zé Arigó, who died in a car crash in 1971, and a string of other claimants. Farias began claiming reincarnation as early as 1986. On a typical weekday, as many as 800 patients will line up outside the hall he uses (on weekends, it serves as a bar), waiting for treatment sessions which might be as short as 30 seconds. While in character as Dr. Fritz, he adopts a German accent and expressions such as "Schnell!" In some cases, patients get a homemade injection, reportedly a mixture of alcohol, iodine and turpentine. Medical hygiene is minimal.

The Regional Medical Council for the state of Rio de Janeiro labels Farias a "charlatan" taking advantage of the chaotic Brazilian public health system, and has sued to halt his activities.

References

Sources
 Rio Journal;Live, in Brazil (Again): The Reincarnated Dr. Fritz

External links
  Fritz Healing - The Anomalist archive

1954 births
Living people
Supernatural healing
Channellers

Rubens Farias Jr.