Mr.  (born 1969 in Cuba) is a Japanese contemporary artist, based in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. A former protégé of Takashi Murakami, Mr.'s work debuted in both solo and group exhibitions in 1996, and has since been seen in museum and gallery exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Seoul, Daegu, Paris, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and London.

He works in a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, and video, though his works are all closely related in aesthetics, style, and theme. A self-proclaimed otaku with a Lolita complex, which he says he does not act upon, his pieces depict young boys and girls in an anime/manga style, drawing upon the aesthetics and attitudes of otaku culture, and lolicon themes. While quite cute and innocent on the surface, many of his works are also quite sexualized, tying into the anime phenomenon of fanservice, and leaving it an open question as to how innocent his works are in the end. Critics have also questioned whether Mr.'s work reflects a commentary on otaku culture, or glimpses into a private fantasy world, though Mr. has said his art is about expressing his personal fantasies, and not about cultural commentary.

Biography
Born in Cupa, Mr. takes his pseudonym from that of former Yomiuri Giants baseball player Shigeo Nagashima, who was frequently referred to as "Mr. Giants". Mr. graduated from Sokei Art School in 1996, having been discovered by Murakami the year prior. He has since worked as an assistant to Murakami, and member of Murakami's Kaikai Kiki studio, which has also supported Mr. in his solo career. His participation in Murakami's 2000 exhibition Super Flat played a crucial role in earning him international attention and recognition.

It is said that Mr. made his first "impression in the contemporary art scene with a collection of drawings of anime-style girl characters using the backs of shopping receipts he had gathered from his day-to-day purchases." UCLA studio art professor and contemporary artist in his own right Paul McCarthy has commented that "the blending of a Lolita complex and otaku culture in his works ... [has] 'an unbearable irresistibility in its tiny, innocent world.'"

A short film entitled , directed by Mr. and premiered at Geisai 11 in Tokyo, accompanied by photos of the film's characters (i.e. the film's actresses, in costume as their characters, on the film's sets), was the artist's first forays into the media of video art and still photography. In 2010, Mr. exhibited in a group show at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, entitled Exhibition Kyoto-Tokyo: From  to  and had a solo exhibition at Leeahn Gallery in Seoul.

Mr. has exhibited in solo and group shows at major museums and galleries worldwide. In 2002, he exhibited with Rei Sato at the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain; and in 2006 with fellow Kaikai Kiki artists Chiho Aoshima and Aya Takano at Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon. In the same year Mr. was also featured in the group exhibition Red Hot: Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. In 2005, he was included in the acclaimed exhibition Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture at Japan Society, New York. In 2014 he had a solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum.

Literature
 Melissa Chu, Tamaki Saito, Mr., Galerie Perrotin, Paris, 2011
 Michele Robecchi, Xiaojin Wu, Live On: Mr.'s Japanese Neo Pop, Seattle Art Museum, 2014

References

Further reading

External links
Mr. @ Lehmann Maupin Gallery
Mr. Kaikai Kiki Co. - Selected Artworks
Mr. @ Perrotin Gallery

Living people
1969 births
Japanese contemporary artists
Japanese pop artists
People from Saitama (city)
Otaku

Mr. (artist)


Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi () (born 5 January 1932) is an Algerian politician and intellectual.

He is the son of Islamic theologian and renowned scholar Bachir Ibrahimi, and served in multiple ministerial roles in Algeria from the 1960s until the late 1980s. A staunch anti-colonialist and proponent of Arab heritage through his writings and his actions, Dr. Ibrahimi was jailed by the French authorities as a militant of the FLN Party.  He ran for president in 1999 but withdrew from the race along with all other opposition candidates hours before voting commenced, claiming electoral fraud by the army. In 2004, his proposed candidacy was disqualified because of alleged links with the proscribed Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). His platform includes moderate Islamism and adherence to free-market economics.
Dr. Ibrahimi is the father of two sons, and currently resides in the city of Algiers, Algeria with his wife Souad.

Early years
Ahmed Taleb-Ibrahimi was born on January 5, 1932, in the eastern city of Setif, 220 miles off the Algerian capital. He grew up in a family of modest means, which was yet in contrast intellectually and spiritually wealthy. His father, Sheikh Bachir Ibrahimi, a renowned scholar, was already fighting the French colonialism not with a military weapon but with his sharp pen and voice. He was Deputy President and later President of the "Association of the Oulemaa", whose main objective was to build schools in order to inform & educate the populace, raise awareness about the Arabic heritage & a moderate Islam, and free Algeria from the shackles of colonialism. Because of his militant activities, the French occupiers extradited him numerous times, and assigned him under house arrest for "spreading subversion." This in turn obliged the family to be scattered around the country.

As a child and an adolescent, Ahmed quickly acquired from his father a precious knowledge and a general culture which he will later rely and build on. In the late 1940s, he passed his Baccalaureate exam and went on studying medicine. In 1954 he moved to Paris to further his medical education, and after that he earned a degree in Hematology, interning at few Parisian hospitals.

French prison until Algerian independence
Whilst Ahmed completed his medical specialty, he was simultaneously a militant and an advocate for Algerian independence. With some other militants, he launched in 1952 "Le Jeune Musulman", a newspaper addressing the needs of the young generation in retrieving its identity after years of colonization. He was elected as the 1st president of l'UGEMA (Union Générale des étudiants Musulmans Algériens). Later he was appointed member of "Fédération de France", the FLN representation in France. No wonder that in February 1957 he was arrested and imprisoned in Paris. During almost 5 years in French prisons, he developed friendship in so far as brotherhood with other inmates who will later become the elite of a free Algeria. In September 1961 he was liberated and spent few months overseas, among other places, in Switzerland, Tunisia, and Morocco to physically heal from illness caused by years of incarceration.

Algerian doctor
In 1962 he pursued his career as a doctor in the main hospital of Algiers. After the independence, in July 1962, Ahmed continued his work of reforming, renovating the hospital, teaching the next generation of Algerian doctors, and learning from foreign professors who chose to remain in independent Algeria. Moreover, during the next 3 years, he received many enticing offers to be Ambassador, and had other senior government positions offered to him which he refused because he wanted to stay with his family which he missed from all those years of war and separation. Even the-then first President of Algeria, Ahmed Ben Bella, made several overtures to Ahmed so he works with him. Ahmed politely declined the offer and made it clear that he wished to continue practicing medicine rather than engage in Politics. In addition, Ahmed had the financial responsibility to find housing for his parents and ailing sister, and share his meager salary with them.

Though inconceivable and oddly paradoxical for someone of the stature of Sheikh Bachir Ibrahimi – a prominent scholar who spent all his life fighting and suffering along with his family to render Algeria a free and prosperous nation – the family was hard-pressed to find a place to live in an independent Algeria. This was indeed not a coincidence at all in as much as the-then President Benbella was hostile to Sheikh Bachir and his son Ahmed because the latter did not agree with his policies in general, and the extreme socialism that the President adopted in particular.

Torture under Benbella
Following the orders of President Benbella, Ahmed was arrested and jailed in Algerian prisons in July 1964. These horrible 8 months were considerably worse than the 5 years spent in French prisons. Indeed, during this time he was repeatedly tortured in an egregious way by some of his countrymen. It is worthwhile to remind the reader that during the Algerian revolution (1954–1962), the International Community strongly condemned France for torturing Algerians. Alas, even after Algeria became independent, some Algerians themselves, with President Benbella at the helm perpetuated this barbaric practice against his jail companions. In fact, it is alarmingly sickening that although Benbella and Ahmed were amongst many inmates within the same French prison in the late 1950s, becoming by default "brothers in arms", Benbella later became President, executed some of his companions, and wished to do the same with Ahmed. The latter was lucky enough that the-then Defense Minister Houari Boumediene intervened to spare him. What was then the "crime" of Ahmed Taleb-Ibrahimi? He simply did not agree with the policies and direction of Benbella, and refused to work with him.

In February 1965, Ahmed was released weakened by the excruciating episode he endured. He traveled to Switzerland to heal emotionally and physically with some of the other inmates who were lucky to make it alive under Benbella's heinous torture. Upon his return, he resumed work in the hospital and strenuously endeavored to enjoy and make up the missed moments with his family. Unfortunately, 3 months later Cheikh Bachir died on 20 May 1965. And a month later, on June 19, 1965 Benbella was overthrown via a bloodless coup by Defense Minister Houari Boumediene who will become President of Algeria.

Minister under Boumediene
In 1965 President Boumediene offered Ahmed the position of Minister of Education. The latter went on a campaign of reforming the Algerian school and its educational system. In 1970, Boumediene reshuffled his cabinet, and appointed Ahmed Minister of Information and Culture until April 1977. By this date, the President chose to have Ahmed even closer to him, and created the position of "Minister Advisor to the President." Throughout the years, it was clear that Ahmed earned the trust and confidence of the President.

Later years and the election of 1999

However, such allegations have been contradicted by the trust placed by the Algerian people in Abdelaziz Bouteflika three times again through the elections of 2004, 2009 and 2014. Although Most Serious Opposition Parties confirm that Bouteflika was repeatedly elected with massive fraud and the Algerian People finally overthrown him in 2019 , When he tried to run for a fifth term.

References

Taleb-Ibrahimi, Ahmed.  Letters From Prison.  English Translation (c) 1988, 1st edition (c)1966, Allied Publishers Private Limited, Ahmedabad
Taleb-Ibrahimi, Ahmed.  Memoires d'un Algerien Tome 1, Reves et Epreuves (1932–1965)." 2006
Taleb-Ibrahimi, Ahmed.  Memoires d'un Algerien Tome 2, La passion de Batir (1965-1978)." 2008.

1932 births
Algerian hematologists
Culture ministers of Algeria
Living people
National Liberation Front (Algeria) politicians
People from Sétif
Foreign ministers of Algeria
Education ministers of Algeria
21st-century Algerian people

Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi


Le Chat et la Souris (US title: Cat and Mouse,  also known as Seven Suspects for Murder) is a 1975 French mystery film directed and written by Claude Lelouch. The film stars Michèle Morgan, Serge Reggiani and Jean-Pierre Aumont.

It tells the story of a rich widow, whose philandering husband is killed, and an inspector tries to solve the murder mystery.

Cast
Michèle Morgan as  Madame Richard
Serge Reggiani as  Lechat
Philippe Léotard as  Pierre Chemin
Jean-Pierre Aumont as  Monsieur Richard
Valérie Lagrange as  Manuelle
Michel Peyrelon as  Germain
Christine Laurent as  Christine
Philippe Labro as  Philippe Lacombe
Jacques François as  Le préfet de police
Arlette Emmery as  Rose
Jean Mermet
Anne Libert as  Anne
Judith Magre as  The lady with the dog
Yves Afonso as William Daube - le gauchiste

External links

1975 films
1970s comedy mystery films
French comedy mystery films
1970s French-language films
Films set in Paris
Films directed by Claude Lelouch
1975 comedy films
1970s French films

Le Chat et la souris


Glioblastoma multiforme is a malignant brain tumor that carries an extremely poor prognosis.

Signs and symptoms
Symptoms of increased Intracranial pressure including headache, pappiledema, nausea or vomiting, and diplopia.

Treatment
Currently, most patients with Glioblastoma multiforme are initially treated with maximal surgical removal of the tumor, which is then followed by radiotherapy and Chemotherapy, most often with Temozolomide, a chemotheraputic agent that has been shown to have activity against glioblastoma multiforme. Radiosurgery is being investigated in the treatmet glioblastoma multiforme.

Brain tumors

Glioblastoma multiforme


The Yale Review is the oldest literary journal in the United States.  It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press.

It was founded in 1819 as The Christian Spectator to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on history and economics and was renamed The New Englander in 1843. In 1885 it was renamed The New Englander and Yale Review until 1892, when it took its current name The Yale Review. At the same time, editor Henry Wolcott Farnam gave the periodical a focus on American and international politics, economics, and history.

The modern history of the journal starts in 1911 under the  editorship of Wilbur Cross. Cross remained the editor for thirty years, throughout the magazine's heyday. Contributors during this period, according to the Review's website, included Thomas Mann, Henry Adams, Virginia Woolf, George Santayana, Robert Frost, José Ortega y Gasset, Eugene O'Neill, Leon Trotsky, H. G. Wells, Thomas Wolfe, John Maynard Keynes, H. L. Mencken, A. E. Housman, Ford Madox Ford, and Wallace Stevens.

The current editor is Meghan O'Rourke, nonfiction writer, poet, and critic.

See also
List of literary magazines

References

External links
Official website
New Englander and Yale Review Full-text access through Cornell University Library
The Christian Spectator archive at HathiTrust
The New Englander archive at HathiTrust
The Yale review archive at HathiTrust
New Englander and Yale review archive at HathiTrust
Yale Review Records: 1911–1949.  Yale Collection of American Literature. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

News magazines published in the United States
History magazines published in the United States
Literary magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1819
Magazines published in Connecticut
Mass media in New Haven, Connecticut
Yale University publications
Wiley-Blackwell academic journals
Johns Hopkins University Press academic journals

The Yale Review


Florentine Histories () is a historical account by Italian Renaissance political philosopher and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, first published posthumously in 1532.

Background
After the crisis of 1513, with arrests for conspiracy, torture and after being sentenced to house arrest, Machiavelli's relationship with the Medici family passively began to mend itself. If the dedication of Il Principe (1513) to Lorenzo II de' Medici had not any effect, part of the then dominant faction of Florence was not against him, and instead granted him an appointment.

In his letter he deplores his idle state, offering his precious political experience to the new lord. To sustain that timid request Machiavelli, with a considerably courtier-like spirit, set his Mandragola for the wedding of Lorenzino de' Medici (1518). In 1520, he was invited to Lucca for a mission of a semiprivate character, indicating that the ostracism was to be lifted. At the end of that year, Giulio Cardinal de Medici commissioned him to write a history of Florence. Although this was not exactly the charge he desired, Machiavelli accepted it as the only possible way to come back into the grace of the Medicis. The intent of the work, although semi-officially, was to recover the city's charge of historic officiality. The wage for the appointment was not large (57 florins per year, later increased to 100).

The finished work was presented officially to Giulio de' Medici, now Pope Clement VII, in May 1526. The Pope liked the work and rewarded him, albeit moderately, and asked him support in the creation of a national army, in the wake of his theoretical work The Art of War, in the preparations for the War of the League of Cognac. However, after the Sack of Rome (1527) and the fall of the Medici government in Florence, Machiavelli's hopes were dashed. Machiavelli would die soon afterwards.

The work
The composition of the work presented a problem, for it was clear that the commission was not meant to give him the opportunity to eulogize the Republic of Florence, of which Machiavelli had been titled "il segretario" (the secretary) par excellence. What was expected of him, if not a glorification of the Medici family, was a treatise without polemics and tending to show the present state of things as a natural evolution. The perplexities of the author leaked through from some letters of his rich collection (to Francesco Guicciardini on August 30, 1524).

The structure of the work, quite contorted, illustrates the difficulty of the author. The first of the eight books is a general picture of the history of Europe from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the 15th century; the second book actually begins to discuss the history of Florence, with the narration of the feud between Buondelmenti/Donati and Uberti/Amidei, that according to tradition corroborated by Dante would unchain the conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines in the city. The books II, III, and IV narrate the history before the Medici rise, while the last four speak of the fight for power that ended with the Medicean lordship. The eighth book closes with the death of Lorenzo il Magnifico, on 1492, with the end of the fragile peace that Lorenzo's politics of balance had carried. The author made an effort to show under an altogether favorable light personalities like Cosimo il Vecchio and Lorenzo il Magnifico.

Scipione Ammirato, was highly critical of Machiavelli's Florentine Histories; he said that Machiavelli «altered names, twisted facts, confounded cases, increased, added, subtracted, diminished and did anything that suited his fancy without checking, without lawful restraint and what is more, he seems to have done so occasionally on purpose!»

The first edition was printed in the year 1532.

References

External links

 English translation at Project Gutenberg.
 History of Florence Free Librivox Audio

1532 books
16th-century history books
Books published posthumously
History books about Florence
Works by Niccolò Machiavelli

Florentine Histories


The Government Museum, Manjakuppam, Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India, was established in the year 1989. This museum collection represents history, culture, flora and fauna of the district. Natural History specimens include South Indian Timbers, Fibres, Swan, Bear, Lizard and Snakes. Wood fossils and Ammonite fossils are also on display.

Imparting knowledge to researchers, students and public through popular lectures, exhibitions and training programmes form part of educational activities

A Sculpture Garden in the museum welcomes the visitors. In this sculpture garden Sivalinga, Nandhi, Vishnu, monkey sculptures, Narashima, Surya and Chandikeswara are displayed. The development of Tamil script, dinosaur model and a model of Kali sculpture made of Fibre glass are kept in the entrance of the building.

The stone sculptures like Subramanya, Surya, Navanitha Krishna, Dakshinamurthi, Bhairava, Virabhadra, and Saptamatrika sculptures are best examples to the sculptural wealth of our ancestors. Bronze images of Ganesa, Vishnu, Nataraja, Somaskanda, Krishna are displayed in the Bronze Gallery.

In the first floor Kattunaickkan tribal materials, Stone Age tools, musical instruments, agricultural implements of Kalvarayan hill tribes are displayed.

Address
Government Museum
19 Hospital Road
Cuddalore – 607 001

External links

Museums in Tamil Nadu
Museums established in 1989
Local museums in India
State museums in India
1989 establishments in Tamil Nadu
Cuddalore

Cuddalore Government Museum


The Florist's daisy or the Hardy Garden Mum, (Chrysanthemum morifolium) or in (China Juhua) is a species of perennial plant from family Asteraceae. In Japan, Pink chrysanthemums are especially loved because they symbolize the emperor and the Imperial family. Pink chrysanthemums also represent longevity. Pink flowers, in general, carry feelings of gentle affection, attraction, and romance, making them a great choice for a first date or a new love.

Plants of Asia
Japan
Flowers
Asteraceae

Florist's daisy


According to the early Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Chaabou or Kaabu (Nabataean Aramaic: ; ) was a goddess in the Nabataean pantheon—a virgin who gave birth to the god Dusares. However, a few modern scholars claim without proof that Epiphanius may have mistaken the word kaʿbu ("cube", etymologically identical to the name of the Kaaba), referring to the stone blocks used by the Nabateans to represent Dusares and possibly other deities, for the proper name of a goddess. His report that Chaabou was a virgin was likely influenced by his desire to find a parallel to the Christian belief in the virgin birth of Jesus, and by the similarity of the words ka'bah and ka'ibah ("virgin") in Arabic, the native tongue of the Nabataeans.

See also
al-Lat
Kaaba

References

Nabataea
Arabian goddesses

Chaabou


A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering). In Australia and New Zealand, both pickups and coupé utilities are called utes, short for utility vehicle. In South Africa, people of all language groups use the term bakkie; a diminutive of , meaning bowl or container.

Once a work or farming tool with few creature comforts, in the 1950s U.S. consumers began purchasing pickups for lifestyle reasons, and by the 1990s, less than 15 percent of owners reported use in work as the pickup truck's primary purpose. In North America, the pickup is mostly used as a passenger car and accounts for about 18% of total vehicles sold in the United States. Full-sized pickups and SUVs are an important source of revenue for major car manufacturers such as Ford, GM and Stellantis's Ram Trucks Division, accounting for more than two-thirds of their global pretax earnings, though they make up just 16% of North American vehicle production. These vehicles have a high profit margin and a high price tag; in 2018, Kelley Blue Book cited an average cost (including optional features) of US$47,174 for a new Ford F-150.

The term pickup is of unknown origin. It was used by Studebaker in 1913. By the 1930s, "pick-up" (hyphenated) had become the standard term.

History

In the early days of automobile manufacturing, vehicles were sold as a chassis only, and third parties added bodies on top. In 1902, the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company was founded by Max Grabowsky and Morris Grabowsky who built one-ton carrying capacity trucks in Pontiac, Michigan. In 1913, the Galion Allsteel Body Company, an early developer of the pickup and dump truck, built and installed hauling boxes on slightly modified Ford Model T chassis, and from 1917 on the Model TT. Seeking part of this market share, Dodge introduced a 3/4-ton pickup with cab and body constructed entirely of wood in 1924. In 1925, Ford followed up with a Model T-based, steel-bodied, half-ton with an adjustable tailgate and heavy-duty rear springs. Billed as the "Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body", it sold for ; 34,000 were built. In 1928, it was replaced by the Model A, which had a closed-cab, safety-glass windshield, roll-up side windows, and three-speed transmission.

In 1931, GM introduced light-duty pickups for both GMC and Chevrolet targeted at private ownership. These pickup trucks were based on the Chevrolet Master. In 1940, GM introduced the dedicated light-truck platform, separate from passenger cars, which GM named the AK series. Ford North America continued to offer a pickup body style on the Ford Model 51, and the Ford Australian division produced the first Australian "ute" in 1932. In 1940, Ford offered a dedicated light-duty truck platform called the Ford F100, then upgraded the platform after World War II to the Ford F-Series in 1948.

Dodge at first assumed heavier truck production from Graham-Paige, while the company produced their own light (pickup) trucks, initially on their sufficiently sturdy passenger car frames. But after switching to distinct, dedicated truck frames in 1936, Dodge/Fargo launched an extensive own truck range for 1939, marketed as the 'Job-Rated' trucks. These Art-Deco styled trucks were again continued after WW II.

International Harvester offered the International K and KB series, which were marketed towards construction and farming and did not have a strong retail consumer presence, and Studebaker also manufactured the M-series truck. At the beginning of World War II, the United States government halted the production of privately owned pickup trucks, and all American manufacturers built heavy duty trucks for the war effort.

In the 1950s, consumers began purchasing pickups for lifestyle rather than utilitarian reasons. Car-like, smooth-sided, fenderless trucks were introduced, such as the Chevrolet Fleetside, the Chevrolet El Camino, the Dodge Sweptline, and in 1957, Ford's purpose-built Styleside. Pickups began to feature comfort items such as power options and air conditioning. During this time, pickups with four doors, known as a crew cab, started to become popular. These pickup trucks were released in 1954 in Japan with the Toyota Stout, in 1957 in Japan with the Datsun 220, and in 1957 in America with the International Travelette. Other manufactures soon followed, including the Hino Briska in 1962, Dodge in 1963, Ford in 1965, and General Motors in 1973.

In 1963, the U.S. chicken tax directly curtailed the import of the Volkswagen Type 2, distorting the market in favor of U.S. manufacturers. The tariff directly affected any country seeking to bring light trucks into the United States and effectively "squeezed smaller Asian truck companies out of the American pickup market." Over the intervening years, Detroit lobbied to protect the light-truck tariff, thereby reducing pressure on Detroit to introduce vehicles that polluted less and that offered increased fuel economy.

The U.S. government's 1973 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) policy set higher fuel-economy requirements for cars than pickups. CAFE led to the replacement of the station wagon by the minivan, the latter of which belonged in the truck category, which allowed it compliance with less strict emissions standards. Eventually, CAFE led to the promotion of sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Pickups, unhindered by the emissions controls regulations on cars, began to replace muscle cars as the performance vehicle of choice. The Dodge Warlock appeared in Dodge's "adult toys" line, along with the Macho Power Wagon and Street Van. The 1978 gas guzzler tax, which taxed fuel-inefficient cars while exempting pickup trucks, further distorted the market in favor of pickups. Furthermore, until 1999, light trucks were not required to meet the same safety standards as cars and 20 years later most still lagged behind cars in the adoption of safety features.

In the 1980s, the compact Mazda B-series, Isuzu Faster, and Mitsubishi Forte appeared. Subsequently, U.S. manufacturers built their own compact pickups for the domestic market, including the Ford Ranger, and the Chevrolet S-10. Minivans make inroads into the pickups' market share. In the 1990s, pickups' market share was further eroded by the popularity of SUVs.

Mid-sized electric trucks had been tried early in the 20th century but soon lost out to gasoline and diesel vehicles. In 1997 the Chevrolet S-10 EV was released, but few were sold, and those were mostly to fleet operators.

By 2023, pickup trucks had become strictly more lifestyle than utilitarian vehicles. Annual surveys of Ford F-150 owners from 2012 to 2021 revealed that 87% of the owners used their trucks frequently for shopping and running errands and 70% for pleasure driving, whereas 28% used their trucks often for personal hauling (41% occasionally and 32% rarely/never) and only 7% used them for towing while 29% only did so occasionally and 63% rarely/never did. A 1960s-1970s Ford F-100 was typically regular cab and consisted of mostly 64% bed and 36% cab, while by mid-2000s, crew cabs were largely becoming the norm and the bed was shrunk to accommodate the larger cab, and a 2023 F-150 consisted of 63% cab and 37% bed.

International markets
While the Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States since 1982, the Ford F-150, or indeed any full-sized pickup truck, is a rare sight in Europe, where higher fuel prices and narrower city roads make it difficult to use daily. In the United States, pickups are favored by a cultural attachment to the style, lower fuel prices, and taxes and regulations that distort the market in favor of domestically built trucks. As of 2016, the IRS offers tax breaks for business use of "any vehicle equipped with a cargo area ... of at least six feet in interior length that is not readily accessible from the passenger compartment".

In Europe, pickups represent less than 1% of light vehicles sold, the most popular being the Ford Ranger with 27,300 units sold in 2015. Other models include the Renault Alaskan (a rebadged Nissan Navara), and the Toyota Hilux.

The NOx law and other differing regulations prevent pickups from being imported to Japan, but the Japanese Domestic Market Mitsubishi Triton was available for a limited time. The most recent pickup truck on sale in Japan is the Toyota Hilux.

In China (where it is known by the English loanword as 皮卡车 pí kǎ chē), the Great Wall Wingle is manufactured domestically and exported to Australia. In Thailand, pickups manufactured for local sale and export include the Isuzu D-Max and the Mitsubishi Triton. In Latin and South America, the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, VW Amarok, Dodge Ram, Chevrolet S-10, Chevrolet D-20, and Chevrolet Montana are sold.

In South Africa, pickups account for about 17% of the passenger and light commercial vehicle sales, mostly the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and Isuzu KB (Isuzu D-Max). The Volkswagen Amarok and Nissan Navara are also sold.

Design and features

In the United States and Canada, nearly all new pickups are sold with automatic transmissions. Only the Jeep Gladiator and the Toyota Tacoma are available with manual transmissions.

A regular cab has a single row of seats and a single set of doors, one on each side.

Extended or super cab pickups add an extra space behind the main seat, sometimes including smaller jump seats which can fold out of the way to create more storage space. The first extended cab truck in the United States was called the Club Cab and was introduced by Chrysler in 1973 on Dodge pickup trucks. Extended cab trucks either have just a single set of doors with no direct access to the extended portion of the cab, very small (half-sized) rear doors that are rear-hinged which can only be opened after the front doors are open, or small (three-quarter-sized) front-hinged doors.

A crew cab, or double cab, seats five or six and has four full-sized, front-hinged doors. The first crew cab truck in the United States was made by International Harvester in 1957, and was later followed by Dodge in 1963, Ford in 1965, and Chevrolet in 1973.

Cab-over or cab forward designs have the cab sitting above the front axle. This arrangement allows a longer cargo area for the same overall length. An early cab-forward, drop-sided pickup was the Volkswagen Transporter, introduced in 1952. This configuration is more common among European and Japanese manufacturers than in North America. The design was more popular in North America in the 1950s and '60s, with examples including the Chevrolet Corvair Rampside and Loadside, Dodge A-100 and A-108, Ford Econoline, and Jeep FC-150 and FC-170.

The cargo bed can vary in size according to whether the vehicle is optimized for cargo utility or passenger comfort. Most have fixed side walls and a hinged tailgate. Cargo beds are normally found in two styles: step side or fleet side. A step-side bed has fenders that extend on the outside of the cargo area. A fleet-side bed has wheel wells inside the bed. The first fleet-sided truck was the 1955 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier. Early trucks had wood-plank beds, which were largely replaced by steel by the 1960s. Some European-style trucks use a drop-sided bed with a flat tray with hinged panels rising up on the sides and the rear.

A "dually" is a North American colloquial term for a pickup with four rear wheels instead of two, able to carry more weight over the rear axle. Vehicles similar to the pickup include the coupé utility, a car-based pickup, and the larger sport utility truck (SUT), based on a sport utility vehicle (SUV).

The terms half-ton, three-quarter-ton and one-ton are remnants from a time when the number referred to the maximum cargo capacity by weight.

The last time Chevrolet and GMC used the Stepside style was on the 2007 Silverado and Sierra Classic models. Ford last used the Flareside style in the 2009 F-150.

Safety

Consumer pickup trucks sold in the US have increased in weight by 32% since 1990. Also, cabins have grown and risen further off of the ground and grill and hood sizes have increased over time. These changes mean that a modern standard pickup truck has a  longer blind spot in front of its grill than most other vehicles as well as increased blind spots behind and to the side. The Ford F-250 has a hood almost  off of the ground.  It may be impossible to see a small object such as a child as far as  in front of the vehicle.  575 children in the US died in frontover deaths between 2009 and 2019, most by their own parents.  This is an 89% increase in mortality from the previous 10 years.  Additionally, US car related fatalities went up 8% and pedestrian casualties increased 46% between 2011 and 2021.  While the reasons for this increase are complex, Consumer Reports partially attributes this number to increased truck size and prevalence. Chuck Farmer from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found large pickup trucks to be as deadly or deadlier than muscle cars and ".. are work trucks, and people should not be using them primarily for commuting, because they kill so many other drivers."

Uses

In the United States and Canada, pickups are used primarily for passenger transport. Pickup trucks are often marketed and used for their hauling (utilizing cargo bed) and towing (utilizing body on frame design and long wheelbase) capabilities.

Pickup trucks are also used by many journeymen, tradesmen, and outdoor enthusiasts. They are also used to move or transport large goods. For example, in the U.S., a homeowner can rent a pickup truck to transport a large appliance from a home supply store.

Equipping pickup trucks with camper shells provides a small living space for camping. Slide-in truck campers, though, give a pickup truck the amenities of a small motorhome, but still allow the operator the option of removal and independent use of the vehicle.

Modified pickups can be used as improvised, unarmoured combat vehicles called technicals.

Pickup trucks are used to carry passengers in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. In Thailand, most songthaews are converted pickup trucks and flatbed trucks. In Haiti, tap taps are also converted pickup trucks.

Sizes

Kei/Mini truck

Compact pickup truck
Typically an unibody pickup truck built on compact suv platform. Examples include Hyundai Santa Cruz or Ford Maverick.

Mid-size pickup truck
Typically a body-on-frame pickup truck of a similar size to a mid-size SUV. Examples include Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux or Isuzu D-Max. This is usually the largest size pickup sold or manufactured in countries outside North America.

Full-size pickup truck
A body-on-frame pickup truck with exterior width more than two metres (excluding mirrors and/or widebody/flares for dually wheels).

Gallery

See also
 Coupe utility
 Flatbed truck
 Kei truck
 List of pickup trucks
 Panel van
 Pickup truck racing, a form of auto racing using modified versions of pickups mostly on oval tracks
 Roadster utility
 Rolling coal: some pickups are modified to produce more diesel exhaust. Modifications may cost from $2,000 to $5,000.
 Self-driving truck
 Technical (vehicle)
 Truck classification
 Ute

References

Further reading

External links

Car classifications

Light trucks

Pickup truck


Jeff Evans (born 1960) is a British writer and journalist. He is the author the Good Bottled Beer Guide, and was the editor of the Good Beer Guide from 1991 to 1998. He has also written extensively about television.

Biography
Jeff Evans was born 1960 in South Wales and studied languages at the University of Reading. He has been writing professionally about beer since the 1980s. He became editor of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)'s Good Beer Guide in 1990 and was responsible for eight editions of the Guide (1991–1998).

Evans has written several books on beer, including eight editions of the Good Bottled Beer Guide, three editions of The Book of Beer Knowledge, The CAMRA Beer and Pubs Quiz Book, A Beer a Day, which won the Coors Brewers National Journalism Award in 2008, So You Want to be a Beer Expert? and the e-book Beer Lover's Britain. His work has been published in journals in the UK and US, including All About Beer magazine; he is Chairman of the Judges for the International Beer Challenge, and has hosted beer talks and tastings at public events such as the Great British Beer Festival and the BBC's Good Food Show. He ran the online beer magazine Inside Beer for ten years.

Evans has received various awards for his writing including Beer Writer of the Year in 2001 and Wells and Young's Business to Business Journalism Award in 2009.

Evans has also written several books about television including The Guinness Television Encyclopedia, four editions of The Penguin TV Companion,  Evans' TV Trivia, Midsomer Murders: The Making of an English Crime Classic and Rock & Pop on British TV. He has also set questions for TV quiz programmes, including 100% and Fifteen to One (having previously reached one of the series' grand finals), and appeared, alongside fellow beer writers, in the programmes Battle of the Brains and Eggheads in 2009. In 2016, with Brian Chesney, he was British Quizzing Pairs champion.

Bibliography
Good Bottled Beer Guide
The Book of Beer Knowledge
A Beer a Day
The Penguin TV Companion
So You Want to be a Beer Expert?
Rock & Pop on British TV

References

External links

https://jeffevans.co.uk/

1960 births
Alumni of the University of Reading
British male journalists
Living people
Beer writers
British television people

Jeff Evans


Overview

A blouson is a coat that is drawn tight at the waist, causing it to hang over the waist. Some of them have a hood. Its modern form is taken from the American flight jacket and police blouson. It is similar to the American Eisenhower jacket. It is now thought of as both sportswear and casual clothing.

In the 1970s it was a skinhead and popular pink jacket style. In 1993, blousons was worn as the clothing of choice at the APEC meeting held in Seattle, Washington in the United States. In the early 2000s, the jacket was popular casual wear in hip hop fashion.

The blouson jacket is worn by several police forces due to its sturdy design and heavy insulation. The United States' NYPD, Austria, New Zealand, Germany and the United Kingdom all use them.

Pictures

Multi media
A French person saying "Blouson".

Related pages
 Anorak
 Blazer
 Bomber jacket
 Harrington jacket
 Flight jacket
 Ski jacket
 Sport coat

References

Tops (clothing)

Blouson


Roger Alford (died 1580) was an English landowner and politician who was secretary to Sir William Cecil and sat in the House of Commons in 1557 and 1559.

Alford was the eldest son of Robert Alford and Anne Brydges. In about 1549, he  entered into political life as secretary to Sir William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burleigh, who was made Secretary of State by Queen Elizabeth immediately after her accession in 1558. He was employed as a Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer in 1553.

In 1557, Alford was elected Member of Parliament for Bletchingley. He was elected MP for Preston in 1559.

Alford retired to Hitcham, Buckinghamshire, which had come to him through his marriage. He died there in 1580 and was buried in Hitcham Church. His monumental inscription reads as follows.

Arms:—Gules, six pears, three and three.
"Here lieth buried
Roger Alford of London,
and late of Hitcham, Esquire,
who married Elizabeth Clark, widow,
and daughter of Thomas Ramsay, Esquire.
He died the 16th of July, 1580."

The following Latin Verses in memory of Roger Alford were written by William Cager, Student of Christ Church, Oxford.

:"In obitu Rogeri Alfordi
"Rogerus tumulo Alfordus sepelitur in isto:
Quid? tantam cohibet tantula terra virum!
Non jacet hic totus, passim bona fama vagatur
Libers, nec modica contineatur humo.
Altera para meliorque sui jam vivit in astris,
Sic tantum corpus jam brevis urna capit."

In English, this translates to:

:"In the death of Roger Alfordi
"Roger is buried in this tomb Alfordus:
What? Such a small country!
It is not the latter, completely lies, a good report that is spread in all directions
Free will, and not even a little is contained to the ground.
One of her, better prepare for life in the stars,
Only in this way the body in the urn is short now."

Alford married Elizabeth Clarke, widow of John Clarke, of Hitcham, Buckinghamshire and daughter of Thomas Ramsey. He had two surviving children Edward and Anne, who married Sir Edmund Fettiplace, the head of a prominent Berkshire family.

References

External links

1580 deaths
Year of birth unknown
English MPs 1558
English MPs 1559
16th-century English landowners
Burials in Buckinghamshire

Roger Alford


Mary Elizabeth Kane, better known as Bette Kane, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in the 1960s as "Betty Kane", the Bat-Girl. Her name was later modified to "Bette Kane", and she assumed the role of Flamebird.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

The original Bat-Girl first appeared in Batman #139 (April 1961) as Betty Kane, the niece of Kathy Kane, also known as Batwoman. After discovering her aunt's dual identity, Betty convinced Batwoman to train her as her sidekick.

Batwoman and Bat-Girl were created to be romantic interests for Batman and Robin, respectively, as well as crime-fighting associates. Bat-Girl appeared seven times between 1961 and 1964, but then disappeared in 1964 (along with Batwoman, Ace the Bat-Hound, Bat-Mite, Vicki Vale and (temporarily) Alfred) when the new Batman editor, Julius Schwartz, decided she and other characters did not fit the new direction he intended to take the series. It has been suggested by scholars that the characters of Batwoman (in 1956) and Bat-Girl (in 1961) were introduced in part to refute allegations of homosexuality in Batman comics; specifically, the enduring claim that Batman and Robin were homosexuals.

Later in 1977 Batwoman and Bat-Girl were revived and were regarded to have been inactive for several years. Bat-Girl became a member of the Teen Titans West in Teen Titans #50 (October 1977). However, the original Teen Titans series was cancelled with issue #53 (February 1978) and the Teen Titans, including Teen Titans West, were disbanded. After this, Bat-Girl only appeared two more times during this era; a guest appearance in Batman Family #16 (March 1978), and as one of the attendees at Donna Troy and Terry Long's wedding in Tales of the Teen Titans #50 (February 1985).

Post-Crisis
In the post-Crisis DC Universe, the character known as Batwoman was erased from existence (although her alter ego, Kathy Kane, was revealed to have existed and was murdered by the League of Assassins). Batwoman's niece, Betty Kane, disappeared as well. Unlike her aunt, Betty's removal from history would not last long.

For a brief time in the 1970s, Betty had joined the west coast version of the Teen Titans under her Bat-Girl moniker. Though "Bat-Girl" does not exist in the post-Crisis universe, her team did; therefore, a new version of the character was necessary. In Secret Origins Annual #3 (1989), the official post-Crisis history of Titans West was revealed. Instead of Betty Kane's Bat-Girl, fans were introduced to a similar character called Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane, also known as Flamebird. This was an in-joke, as the team of "Nightwing and Flamebird" had a history in the Silver Age continuity as a pair of supporting characters in the Superman books.

Bette was now a very driven and somewhat spoiled Los Angeles debutante and tennis prodigy. After seeing Robin on the news, Bette vowed that she would gain his attention and favor by becoming a masked adventurer herself. Training to Olympic-levels in gymnastics and martial arts, she created the identity of Flamebird (and a costume that resembled her pre-Crisis Bat-Girl identity) and joined Titans West in hopes of catching Robin's eye. While flattered, the driven young hero was not sure how to deal with her obsession and avoided her, much to her dismay. After briefly giving up her heroic persona, Bette found that neither winning tennis tournaments nor achieving perfect grades in school matched the rooftop thrills of the hero biz. She attempted several times to reunite the Titans West team, most notably after a journey into the afterlife with Hawk and Dove, but was unsuccessful. Dove noted that Bette was essentially a very lonely person, basically desperate for company and contact with others. Bette again gave up her obsession with the Titans until malfunctioning former Titan Victor Stone collected her, along with all former Titans everywhere, in an attempt to protect his soul from the Justice League. Hoping this would lead to a formal invitation to rejoin the team, Bette was crushed to learn they did not need (or want) her assistance.

A short time later, Gar "Beast Boy" Logan found himself alone in Los Angeles after the team neglected to ask him back. Landing himself in a bit of trouble by an impostor framing him for various crimes, Gar asked former teammate Bette for help. Having been recently chastised for her dedication (or lack thereof) to crime-fighting by Robin (now in his adult Nightwing identity), Flamebird seized the opportunity to better herself and her reputation, becoming more level-headed and boosting her crime-fighting arsenal. However, the design of her outfit as an adult has similarities to that of Dick Grayson's Nightwing outfit, with a red tunic and gold V running across the chest. After Bette helped Gar clear his name, his cousin Matt attempted one last recruitment drive for Titans West (dubbing the ill-fated team Titans L.A.). None of the recruits took the event seriously except for insane and uninvited former Titan Duela Dent, who crashed the party and was subdued by Bette. Around the same time, she and Beast Boy both served on an ad hoc Young Justice team, which she hoped would raise their public profiles; however, the team only lasted for one mission. Content to remain a hero on her own, Bette was unheard from until she was captured by a Brainiac-worshipping cult leader in Oregon and eventually rescued by Oracle's covert team of female operatives in Birds of Prey. She fought Doctor Light alongside the majority of heroes who had once been members of the Teen Titans.

Infinite Crisis

Flamebird appeared in Infinite Crisis #4 to fight Superboy-Prime. In this storyline, it was indicated that Flamebird had originally been the Earth-Two counterpart to Bat-Girl, and that after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Flamebird had replaced Bat-Girl on the sole remaining Earth. Flamebird, along with most of the Justice Society, disappeared when Earth-Two was reborn. In the Villains United special, Flamebird (and the other heroes who vanished to Earth-Two) had made it back to "New Earth" at some point after Infinite Crisis #6. She was among the many heroes gathered to fight off the invasion of Metropolis by the Society.Teen Titans vol. 3 #38 reveals that Flamebird briefly served on the Titans during the year-long gap.

Relationship to Batwoman

Following the events of Infinite Crisis, it is revealed that Bette is the cousin of current Batwoman, Kate Kane. In Detective Comics #856, Bette moves to Gotham City to enroll in Gotham University. She encounters her cousin at a party thrown for the Gotham City Police Department, and attempts to chat her up, only to be blown off. According to Kate's father, Bette looks up to her and likes spending time with her. In Detective Comics #862, Bette is seen hunched over on her bed, staring at her Flamebird costume and asking Kate how to "let go of the past". Bette is kidnapped by a crazed serial killer known as the Cutter, and awakens bound and gagged in his workshop. The Cutter plans on removing Bette's ears as part of a plan to create a perfect woman through the use of stolen body parts. Batwoman rescues Bette from the killer and accidentally reveals her identity. At the end of the story, Bette is seen in her Flamebird outfit, telling Kate that she wants to become her new partner. Kate eventually agrees to train Bette, and gives her a capeless grey military outfit and the codename Plebe. Later still, Bette acquires pyrotechnic technology and adopts the codename Hawkfire. As Hawkfire, she tries to rescue cousin Beth Kane from the clutches of the Department of Extranormal Operations, but is herself captured.

A Bat-Girl looking similar to Betty Kane is revealed to have existed in the past in Batman #682, and later reappears in Batman, Inc. #4 (April 2011). As in pre-Crisis continuity, she is the younger protege of the first Batwoman, Kathy Kane (who reappears in post-Infinite Crisis continuity as the original Batwoman, but with a revamped origin). Despite her initial Post-Crisis origin retcon, Bette Kane has regained her prior history using the Bat-Girl identity in her younger years prior to becoming Flamebird.

DC Rebirth
In the DC Rebirth relaunch, Bette has enrolled at the United States Military Academy, seeming to be a yearling, or sophomore, cadet. She keeps in contact with Kate Kane and Julia Pennyworth, and even briefly visits Kate in Gotham.

Powers and abilities
Flamebird is an exceptional athlete, trained for strength and endurance, and has worked as a professional tennis player. She has also trained in several forms of martial arts, with kickboxing as her specialty. As such, while she is a formidable martial arts opponent and combatant, she is not among the top tier or elite of DC's martial artists.

Like Robin, Flamebird has a utility belt containing a grappling hook with line, gas grenades, gas mask, flares, flashlight, radio/transmitter, handcuffs, bird-shaped throwing blades (Bird-A-Rangs), and an emergency medical kit. She increased her arsenal by equipping her mask with lenses capable of emitting powerful bursts of blinding light, and created bird-like bolas that can electrocute anyone tangled in them.

As Plebe, Batwoman's sidekick, Bette is stripped of her outfit and gadgetry, wearing a nondescript grey military outfit. Her martial arts prowess however is being improved by Batwoman's tutelage. Later, as Hawkfire, her costume features gold plated elements and she carries a wrist-mounted flamethrowing device.

Since enrolling at West Point, she would have received the same sort of military training conducted there, which among other things would require instruction in firearms, boxing, Modern Army Combatives, and battlefield tactics.

Other versions

In Teen Titans Go! #24, the Titans get their powers swapped. When Starfire is given Robin's abilities, she finds herself wearing Bette's original Bat-Girl costume. In issue #50, Flamebird is officially introduced via a small screen on the Titans Tower computer, and she appears again in issue #55 as a member of Titans North, wearing a red T-shirt with a burning bird emblem, cargo pants, and yellow goggles.
In The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #13, after the Robins manage to save Batman from death, Madame Xanadu shows Phantom Stranger a similar team of Batgirls, including Bette, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain.
In part two of Neil Gaiman's Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, Bette is seen in her Silver Age Bat-Girl costume describing a death of Batman. He was holding a bomb that would destroy Gotham if he released its switch or if the timer ran down. Batman then throws himself into the Gotham River with the bomb to prevent the explosion from causing any damage.
 In the alternate future storyline "Titans Tomorrow", it was revealed that after her death at the hands of Duela Dent, Batman (Tim Drake) used the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Flamebird, who assumed the alias of Batwoman and became his partner (and lover). But when he and the other Teen Titans began to take over the Western United States, Batwoman formed a Titans East team with the Titans who opposed their rule (Cyborg, Terra, Bumblebee, and Captain Marvel Jr.) and helped the Titans' past incarnations defeat the dark adult counterparts. After Infinite Crisis, the "Titans Tomorrow" timeline was altered by the deaths of Superboy and Bart Allen, with Duela Dent also being killed during Countdown. As such, in the "Titans Tomorrow... Today!" storyline, Bette remains Flamebird in the future, with Cassandra Cain being Batwoman. With the altered timeline, all the future heroes, even those who opposed the West Coast Titans, were unified in their fascistic endeavors to "save the world".
 She appears in the 20th issue of the Young Justice tie-in comic series, it is shown that Bette has spent the night with Dick Grayson/Nightwing.
 She appears in DC Bombshells.

In other media
 Bette Kane appears in the Young Justice episode "Homefront", voiced by Alyson Stoner. This version is a Gotham Academy student and liaison to Artemis Crock.
 A version of Bette Kane, named Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, appears in Batwoman, portrayed by Nicole Kang. This version is Kate Kane's step-sister.

References

External links
 Batgirls of Gotham Profile
 Canarynoir Profile
 Flamebird Bio
 Flamebird Bio II
 The Unofficial Bat-Girl Biography
 The Unofficial Flamebird Biography

Batgirl
Batman characters
Characters created by Bill Finger
Characters created by Bob Kane
Characters created by George Pérez
Characters created by Sheldon Moldoff
DC Comics sidekicks
Comics characters introduced in 1961
Comics characters introduced in 1989
DC Comics martial artists
DC Comics female superheroes
Female soldier and warrior characters in comics
Fictional American Jews
Fictional cadets
Fictional characters from Los Angeles
Fictional gymnasts
Fictional Jewish women
Fictional tennis players
Flamebird

Bette Kane