Stephen Donald Black  (born July 28, 1953) is an American white supremacist. He is the founder and webmaster of the anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi, white supremacist, Holocaust denial, homophobic, Islamophobic, and racist Stormfront Internet forum. He was a Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan and a member of the American Nazi Party in the 1970s, though at the time he was a member it was known as the "National Socialist White Peoples' Party". He was convicted in 1981 of attempting an armed overthrow of the government in the island of Dominica in violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act.

Early life
Black was born in Athens, Alabama, and became a white supremacy advocate at an early age when he began handing out swastika-adorned pamphlets from the National Socialist White People's Party at his high school, Athens High School, before transferring to Madison Academy in the fall of 1970 in order to avoid attending school with black students. This led to a decision by the local school board to ban the distribution of political literature. Black countered by mailing literature to student addresses obtained from school handbooks.

In the summer of 1970, after his junior year at Athens High School, Black traveled to Savannah, Georgia, to work on the gubernatorial campaign of J. B. Stoner, a segregationist and leader of the National States' Rights Party (NSRP). It was in this election that Jimmy Carter won the Georgia governorship. Black was asked to obtain a copy of the NSRP membership list by Robert Lloyd, a leader of the National Socialist White People's Party, formerly known as the American Nazi Party. At the time, Black was a member of the Party's youth branch, the National Socialist Youth Movement.

Also working on the Stoner campaign was Jerry Ray, brother of James Earl Ray, who committed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. On July 25, 1970, Jerry Ray shot Black (who was 16 at the time) in the chest with a .38-caliber hollow-point bullet to stop him from taking files from Stoner's campaign office. Ray was acquitted of all charges, saying he shot in self-defense after Black reached for what appeared to be a weapon.

Black finished his senior year at Madison Academy, a private school in Huntsville. Then after high school, Black graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1975. In the early 1970s, Black traveled on a road trip to an American Nazi Party conference in Virginia with fellow white supremacists David Duke and Joseph Paul Franklin (the latter of who was later convicted of multiple acts of racial and antisemitic terrorism and executed for serial murder).

The Ku Klux Klan and Operation Red Dog

Black joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1975, one year after David Duke took over the organization. He moved to Birmingham to become the group's state organizer. After the resignation of Duke in 1980, Black became Grand Wizard, or national director, of the Klan. In 1979, he ran for mayor of Birmingham, receiving 2.5% of the vote. Richard Arrington Jr. won the mayoral election, becoming Birmingham's first African American mayor.

On April 27, 1981, Black and nine other would-be mercenaries – many recruited from Klan affiliated organizations – were arrested in New Orleans as they prepared to board a boat stocked with weapons and ammunition to invade the island nation Dominica in what they would call Operation Red Dog. Local media labeled the botched attempt the "Bayou of Pigs", a play on words for the unsuccessful 1961 "Bay of Pigs Invasion" of Cuba.

Black later explained the invasion as an attempt to set up an anti-communist regime, saying, "What we were doing was in the best interests of the United States and its security in the hemisphere, and we feel betrayed by our own government." The invasion was intended to restore former prime minister Patrick John to the mostly black Caribbean island. Prosecutors said the real purpose for the invasion would have been to set up tourism, gambling, offshore banking, and timber logging operations on the impoverished island.

In 1981, Black was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the attempted invasion and his violation of the Neutrality Act. Black, Federal Bureau of Prisons #16692-034, was released on November 15, 1984. During his time in federal prison Black took computer programming classes which led him to establish Stormfront on the Internet years later.

He ran for office in Alabama, this time as a Populist Party U.S. Senate candidate.

Stormfront

In 1995, Black founded Stormfront, which was the Internet's first significant website espousing racial hate. It remains among the most popular online resources for those drawn to racist ideologies. The site has featured the writings of William Luther Pierce and David Duke as well as works by the Holocaust denying Institute for Historical Review and the Culture of Critique series. At first, along with these articles, Stormfront housed a library of white pride, neo-Nazi, and white power skinhead graphics for downloading, and a number of links to other white nationalist websites.

In a 1998 interview for the alternative weekly newspaper Miami New Times, Black said: "We want to take America back. We know a multicultural Yugoslav nation can't hold up for too long. Whites won't have any choice but to take military action. It's our children whose interests we have to defend."

In 1999, Black created the website "martinlutherking.org", which is administered by Stormfront. This website was created to malign the character of Dr King. In January 2018, the site remained online and surpassed sites containing reliable content in Google search results. Today, the website is not accessible.

In December 2007, Black gained attention for donating money to Ron Paul's 2008 presidential run.

In 2008, Black said that the establishment of white pride as a special interest group within the Republican Party is crucial. Asked by an interviewer for Italian newspaper la Repubblica if Stormfront was not just the new Ku Klux Klan, Black responded affirmatively, though he noted that he would never say so to an American journalist.

On May 5, 2009, it was announced that Black was one of 22 on a British Home Office list of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom for "promoting serious criminal activity and fostering hatred that might lead to inter-community violence".

The Stormfront forum acts as one of the largest online gatherings of racism and Holocaust deniers in the world, with threads on this theme gaining hundreds of thousands of views. A number of radio shows published by Black's web site have featured Holocaust denial.

Family
In 2008, various media outlets reported that Black's wife, Chloe, worked as an executive assistant for sugar baron José Fanjul who runs the Florida Crystals company and owns a real estate business in Latin American countries. In particular, her job duties included acting as the spokesperson for a charter school "to lift underprivileged black and Hispanic children out of poverty." The story resulted in Black being criticized by some other white nationalists.

In August 2008, Black's 19-year-old son Derek Black was elected to one of 111 seats on the Palm Beach County, Florida Republican committee, with 167 of 287 votes. The committee however, refused to seat Black, citing a loyalty oath he failed to sign before registering his candidacy. The oath states candidates must refrain from activities "likely to injure the name of the Republican Party." He hosted the Derek Black Show weekdays on a local West Palm Beach, Florida AM radio station, WPBR, to which Don Black paid $600 a week to broadcast content on. The radio show ended in January 2013, with Derek Black appearing on few episodes over the last year.

By summer 2013, Derek Black had called into question his racist ideologies, and he began to renounce white supremacism and issued an apology to those harmed by his previous actions and beliefs. His renunciation reportedly shocked his father and like-minded people.
By 2016, Derek Black had fully renounced his white nationalist views and was actively speaking out against such views in the press. Washington Post staff writer Eli Saslow detailed the ideological transformation of Derek which began with the rejection of his family, moving to Michigan and assuming a new name and eventually becoming a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago, studying Medieval Islam.

References

Further reading

External links

 Don Black: White Pride World Wide – Statement by the Anti-Defamation League

1953 births
Living people
20th-century American far-right politicians
Neo-Nazi politicians in the United States
Alabama politicians convicted of crimes
American filibusters (military)
American Holocaust deniers
American computer businesspeople
American Nazi Party members
American prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
Criminals from Alabama
Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragons
People from Athens, Alabama
Populist Party (United States, 1984) politicians
United States–Caribbean relations
University of Alabama alumni
Alabama Independents
Florida Independents
Antisemitism in the United States
Discrimination against LGBT people in the United States
Alt-right politicians
American Ku Klux Klan members convicted of crimes
American neo-Nazis convicted of crimes
American shooting survivors

Don Black (white supremacist)


The Legend of Mor'du is a 2012 Pixar short attached to the Blu-ray and DVD release of Brave. It gives in-depth background about the film's villain, an evil, greedy prince as told by the eccentric witch who transformed him into the monstrous bear that he is in the film. The film combines traditional animation and computer animation.

Plot
The story begins with the witch inviting a guest into her cottage and offering them several spells. When her crow suggests the bear spell, she tells the story of the prince who became the demon bear Mor'du. The man had been the eldest of four sons of the wise and much-beloved king of an ancient kingdom, each of whom had his own gift. Of the younger three, the youngest was wise, the third was compassionate, and the second was just. The king's eldest was strong, but he mistook strength for character. When the king died one autumn, rather than giving the eldest all the inheritance, he divided the kingdom among all of his sons equally, believing their kingdom could prosper through the brothers' unity. However, feeling disgraced and filled with greed and selfishness, the eldest son refused to accept this; he soon declared his claim as sole ruler in front of his brothers and demanded their obedience, breaking their family stone. His words turned to war, forever changing the kingdom's fate as the brothers turned against each other.

Even though the prince had a powerful army under his command, he and his brothers constantly fought to a stalemate. Whilst looking for a way to change his fate, the prince came across a menhir ring within the woods. From there, the will-o'-the-wisps guided him to the edge of a dark loch, with a cottage standing far from the shore wherein the witch lived. Hoping to turn the tide of the war to his favor, the prince persuaded the witch to make a spell that would give him the strength of ten men by offering her his signet ring, and she gave him the spell in a drinking horn but, having seen his wounded soul, warns him of making a choice: either to fulfill his dark wish or heal the family bonds he had broken. When the prince brought his brothers before him by staging up a false truce, he again claimed his kingdom. When his brothers protested, the prince in response drank the spell, which gave him the strength he desired but, to his surprise, turned him into a great black bear.

However, instead of choosing to "mend the bond, torn by pride" (which would have broken the spell), out of his desire for power the prince accepted his new form and killed his brothers. He then tried to command his army, but due to his unrecognizable new appearance, they saw him as a wild beast and attacked him in fear. Perceiving this as them turning against him, the enraged prince attacked and killed many of his former men; the survivors fled the kingdom in terror, as the fracturing of the brothers' armies lead to its collapse. Doomed to his bestial form because of his actions, the prince - now known as the "Great Black", "Mor'du" - now wandered the land endlessly, killing and instilling terror wherever he roamed, his once human consciousness and intelligence now overwritten by animalistic bloodlust.

The witch ends the story here, and she offers the spell in the form of a cake to the guest, who turns out to be Wee Dingwall. He panics, says he only stopped by for water, and runs out of the cottage.

Cast
 Julie Walters as The Witch
 Steve Purcell as The Crow
 Callum O'Neill as Wee Dingwall

References

External links

2012 animated films
2012 short films
2010s American animated films
2010s animated short films
2010s war films
American animated short films
Animated films about bears
Brave (2012 film)
Films about royalty
Pixar short films
Films scored by Patrick Doyle
Films with screenplays by Steve Purcell
2010s English-language films

The Legend of Mor'du


Freetime was a children's television programme shown on ITV between 1981 and 1988. Its premiere episode debuted on 8 December 1980 and was listed as "Free Time" in the TV Times. But the series did not properly start until 17 April 1981. Produced by Thames Television, it was a magazine format show devoted to hobbies and interests, and was designed to encourage viewers to get out and about rather than staying at home and watching television. It was hosted by the former Magpie presenter Mick Robertson.

Robertson was initially joined on set by Trudi Dance, but she was soon replaced by Kim Goody, who co-presented the show with Robertson until it was axed by the network in 1985, at which time the show was being broadcast bi-weekly. The object of the show was to shed light on the manifold hobbies and interests that viewers might wish to pursue. However, not all of these were really possible. One famous show from the final season featured two teams of dogs playing football, with Robertson providing commentary, while Goody attempted to act as referee.

Following the show's finale, Robertson went on to help launch The Children's Channel, and was briefly reunited with Goody a few years later when she joined him as a presenter on his show, Roustabout. However, after a year or so, she left to pursue a career in music.

On 16 September 1988, Thames Television briefly re-launched Freetime, this time fronted by Andi Peters, but the series was cancelled after its fifteenth and final edition on 23 December 1988

External links

1981 British television series debuts
1988 British television series endings
1980s British children's television series
English-language television shows
ITV children's television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television shows produced by Thames Television

Freetime (TV series)


Anurupa Roy  is an Indian puppeteer, puppet designer and director of puppet theater. Roy views puppetry as not "manipulating dolls with strings" but an amalgam of plastic and performing arts where sculptures, masks, figures, materials, found objects and narratives come together with music, movement, physicality and theater to create the theater where humans and puppets are co actors. She started at her group Katkatha in 1998 which was registered as the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust 2006. She has directed over 15 shows for children and adults ranging from the Ramayana and Mahabharata to Shakespearean comedy to the Humayun-nama. The puppets used by the group range from three inches to forty feet in size. The shows have toured across Europe, Japan and South Asia. A major aspect of her work is using puppets for psychosocial interventions in conflict areas like Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Manipur to Juvenile Remand homes. She has worked with youth and women across the country using puppets to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and gender issues. She is a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar ine Puppetry (2006). She has been a visiting faculty at the University of California Los Angeles an Artists in Residence at Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council.

Academic qualification
 School – Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi.
 Graduation – Lady Shriram College – B.A (Hons) History – University of Delhi
 Post Graduation – M.A History – Lady Shriram college –South campus – University of Delhi

Puppet theatre qualification

 Diploma in Puppet theatre from DI Dramatiska Institutet for Film, TV, Drama and Radio, at Stockholm University, Sweden, at the Dept of Puppet Theatre guided by Prof Micheal Meschke in 2001 & Arne Hogsander, Thomas Mirstram, Thomas Lindquist
 Diploma in Guaratelle, traditional glove puppetry, from La Scoula Della
 Guaratelle (School of Traditional Glove puppetry) in Naples, Italy under Bruno Leone in 2002

Major theatre productions as director
 1998 – The Flowering Tree – Based on the Kannada folk tale Flowering Tree and commissioned by the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH Dalai Lama.
 1999 – Her Voice – A collaborative performance with Bharatnatyam dancer Geeta Chandran the show presented the Mahabharata from the eyes of Draupadi.
 2001 – Half a Kingdom – Based on an Icelandic folk tale of the same name this was a table top show for children.
 2002 – Almost 12th Night – Based on Shakespeare's comedy The Twelfth Night this adaptation looks at the bards play from a gender perspective.
 2003 – Durga – An excerpt of Bibhuti Bhushan Bannerji's famous novel 'Pather Panchali' a solo performance.
 2004 – Virus Ka Tamasha – Musical puppet performance based on the theme of stigma attached to HIV and AIDS
 2005 – Kashmir Project – Based on testimonials of Kashmiri women from the valley gathered through workshops held in Kashmir.
 2006 – About Ram – Performance based on Bhavbhuti's Ramayana.
 2007 – Magic Blue – A collaboration with dancer Shagun Bhutani the show has giant puppets of 3–10 meters and presents stories from Krishna's childhood
 2008 – The Little Blue Planet – A non-verbal children's performance about global warming.
 2009 – Bollywood Bandwagon – Multimedia show satiring the Mumbai film industry.
 2011 – Anecdotes and Allegories by Gulbadan Begum – This performance is based on the autobiography of the Mughal emperor Humayun written by his sister Gulbadan Begum.
 2012 – Life in Progress – A series of images created with 20 kilos of newspaper on stage. This performance has no dialogue or music.

Awards, recognition and fellowships

Researcher in Residence – 2011 – Deutsche Forum DFP in Bochum, Germany.
New Performance Grant – 2010 – India Foundation for the Arts for the performance'Ancedotes and Allegories by Gulbadan Begum'
Prohelvetia – Artist in residence for 2009 – To work at Rote Fabrik in Zurich as An artist-in-residence.
Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2007 – National award for contribution to puppet theatre. Bestowed by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, an autonomous body funded by the Ministry of Culture, India.

Research fellowship at Institute International de la Marionette Charleville- Mezeires, in France in the area of "Evolution of European Puppetry in the 19th and 20th century and the influences of the East"
Collaborative Performance Grant 2006 – India Foundation for the Arts – From India Foundation for the Arts for puppetry and animation to create About Ram.
Fellow of Peace – WISCOMP for 2005–  For working on a puppetry for healing project in the village of Beejbehara in Kashmir. This project entailed three trauma therapy workshops spread over seven months using puppet, mask and theatre exercises, and storytelling. The project aimed to reclaim folklore and oral tradition relating to the syncretic culture of Kashmir with the young women of Beejbehara. The stories collected from Kashmiri women from varied backgrounds and the folklore collected from the Beejbehara were then woven into a performance titled "The Kashmir Project" which brings back Lal Ded the Sufi poet from the 14th century to journey once again through Kashmir as the witness to the present day conflict and the symbol of possible healing.

UCLA APPEX – Asia Pacific Performing Artists fellowship 2004 to participate in an artists collaborative workshop in Bali, Indonesia, for 2 months and collaborate with 15 other artists from the Asia-Pacific region. This workshop was a University of California, Dept of Performing Arts initiative to enable experiments with other performing artists and to start a dialogue between the artists within Asia and with American artists. The performing artists were from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, the Philippines and the US.

Workshops conducted

Youth and community-based projects – peacebuilding

2013– Workshop with youth in conflict zone Manipur- Churachandpur-(with NGO Standing Together to Enable Peace STEP) Puppetry workshop with youth from different tribes in Churachandpur district to create inter tribe dialogue and understanding. The workshop engaged with youth from Paythei, Naga and Kuki backgrounds who have been involved in conflicts with each other in Manipur for 22 years. The workshop aimed at using the arts to open dialogue and question stereotypes about each other. The youth created a giant puppet performance at the end of the workshop which has been performed for over 2000 people in the district.
Sri Lanka – With Peace Development Institute – Sri Lanka – PDI-SL -Workshop with Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese youth leaders to explore ideas of arts and peace building. The six-day workshop also trained these youth leaders to become change makers in their own community by training to do puppeteer based interventions in their own community.

2012 – Sri Lanka – With Peace Development Institute- Sri Lanka- PDI-SL Workshop with clinical psychologists and community workers- Conducted art based interventions using masks, drama, puppets and the systems of archetypes, power and status and cycles of violence. These workshops were conducted in partnership with drama therapist Vikramjeet Sinha.
2011 – Puppet interventions in Juvenile remand homes in Delhi where puppets were used to do process work with youth and change behaviour. The project lasted four months.(with NGO Standing Together to Enable Peace STEP)
2013 – Gender, Youth and Identity – with PRAVAH a youth-based NGO-created gender- and identity-based shows especially post the Delhi gang rape and the reaction to the same. The show is now a YouTube film and teaching aid for gender workers who want to open discussion on complex gender issues.
2011 – Mujhe bhi gino – Count me in – Initiated by the NGO CREA this project was traveling performance which traveled through rural Jharkhand and UP on a truck to 40 villages and challenged the behavior of favoring the male child and the exclusion of women in the socio political lives of the country.
2000–2006 – Almost 12th Night and Her Voice – Are Katkatha's two shows that question gender stereotypes, the former does this by re-looking at Shakespeare's play Twelfth night and the latter re looks at the Indian classic Mahabharata from the woman's point of view
Consultant PLAN-India – For a HIV and AIDS Awareness Package (HAAP), a 14-month project which started in February 2006 with the intention of working with HIV-infected and -affected children and children who are in a high-risk group in 5 high prevalent states of India to create awareness and finally create an awareness and stigma-reduction package which will be by children and for children. The package uses stories created by children using puppets to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS and raise issues of Stigma and Discrimination.
2004 – Virus Ka Tamashah – Show based on Stigma in HIV/AIDS- This show has completed 200 shows and has been performed for over 50,000 people at stadia, parks, bus stops, schools, colleges, festivals etc.

As faculty
TIE Company- National School of Drama- Annual Production director −2012 directed non-verbal puppet performance for children titled 'Across the Sea' using giant puppets and music.
Guest Lecturer National School of Drama Agartala Chapter- For Theatre in Education module
Guest Lecturer National School of Drama Bangalore Chapter – TIE course and Actors training course at NSD Bangalore chapter years 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Visiting lecturer – Mass Communications Research Centre- Jamia Milia Islamia- Dept of Communication- Traditional media course- Puppet Theatre
general secretary UNIMA-India- from 2008– 13 Indian chapter of the Union Internationale de la Marionette- international union for puppeteers in existence since 1929. International Executive committee member of UNIMA (Union Del la Internationale Marionette) at 2004 -2008. The International Union of Puppeteers with a Centre in every country and an International Executive Committee with elected representatives from different countries of the world
Guest Lecturer – UCL Arts, the University of California Los Angeles School of Arts,
Department of World Arts and Cultures, as a part of the Make Art/Stop AIDS lecture series 'Puppetry in Activism' Also at Fowler Museum of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA.

Other activities based on theatre
Festival Co-ordinator for Putul Yatra Mumbai-2005 National Puppet Theatre Festival organized by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. This was a national festival organized to coincide with the World Puppet Day by the Government body of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
Jurist at the Prix Danube, Bratislava Slovak Republic– International Youth and Children's Film Festival. September 2003 – she was a jurist at the International Film Festival for Youth and Children in Bratislava the capital of the Slovak Republic. A seven-day event featuring 80 films from over 30 countries, in the categories of animation, documentary, fiction and magazine.

References

External links
 TEDxITMU - Anurupa Roy

1977 births
Living people
Indian puppeteers
Women artists from Delhi
People from New Delhi
Female puppeteers

Anurupa Roy


Dos mujeres, un camino (English title: Two women, one path) is a Mexican neo-noir telenovela produced by Emilio Larrosa for Televisa in 1993-1994. This production was exhibited in 47 countries, including Indonesia, had high viewer ratings, and has been described as one of Televisa's most successful telenovelas.

Erik Estrada, Laura León and Bibi Gaytán starred as protagonists, while Enrique Rocha, Claudio Báez, Luz María Jerez, Elizabeth Dupeyrón, Lorena Herrera, Eduardo Liceaga and Rodrigo Vidal starred as antagonists. Tejano singer Selena appeared in two episodes.

Plot
The series tells the story of Juan Daniel, known as Johnny, a U.S.-born Mexican truck driver and family man who falls in love with a woman he meets in his travels, and of the complications as a consequence of his new love. Dos Mujeres... used the then-new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as a backdrop to the story; Johnny transported merchandise from Mexico to the United States.

Johnny had enemies in Tijuana, where he was blamed for the death of Bernardo Montegarza (Eduardo Liceaga), son of the Montegarza family. Johnny is still very much in love with his wife (Laura León) when he falls for a young waitress, Tanya (Bibi Gaytán), whose mother owns a restaurant that Johnny frequents.

Tanya does not know he is married, and Raymundo, a police officer in love with Tanya, is working with fellow officer Ángel to pursue the head of the family that blames Johnny for the young man's death. It is later discovered that Johnny did not cause Bernardo's death (his own sister Alejandra, who was secretly in love with Johnny, had sabotaged a truck thinking that Johnny would use it), and while he was struggling to decide whether he wants to stay with his wife or his girlfriend, Tanya dies taking a knife thrust intended for her rival – Johnny's wife – Ana Maria.

A side story involves Tanya's friend Graciela being pursued by Bernardo's younger brother Ricardo, and egged on by her mother, but preferring Ángel, who along with Raymundo are pursuing a drug trafficker known simply as Medusa, who turns out to be Bernardo, who was taken in by a drug cartel and changed his identity. Graciela becomes pregnant with Ricardo's child, but she begins to like Ángel more as a potential husband. It is also revealed that Tanya's real father was in fact Ismael Montegarza, patriarch of the Montegarza family and father of Bernardo, Alejandra and Ricardo; Ismael refuses to have anything to do with Bernardo after realizing what he had been doing, and decides to support Ricardo, the only son who was truly loyal to him.

Johnny and Ana Maria seem to reconcile after Tanya's death. The final scene shows the couple retiring for the evening; Johnny, however, in the middle of the night, has a nightmare about Tanya's death, and calls her name in his sleep. When he awakes in the morning, Ana Maria and the children are gone, but in a letter, she promises that he will see the children, but not her.

Cast

Main
Erik Estrada as Juan Daniel "Johnny" Villegas
Laura León as Ana María Romero de Villegas
Bibi Gaytán as Tania García Pérez / Tania Montegarza Pérez

Supporting
Enrique Rocha† as Don Ismael Montegarza
Luz María Jerez as Alejandra Montegarza Almonte
Elizabeth Dupeyrón as Amalia Núñez de Toruño
Claudio Báez† as Enrique Iliades
José Flores as Emiliano
Rodrigo Vidal as Ricardo "Richi" Montegarza Almonte
Itatí Cantoral as Graciela Toruño Nuñez / Graciela Torres Nuñez
Roberto Palazuelos as Raymundo Soto #1
Sergio Sendel as Raymundo Soto #2
Juan Carlos Casasola as Leobardo
María Clara Zurita as Elena Pérez de García
Mario Sauret as Agustín García Ordoñez
Jorge Salinas as Ángel Lascuraín
Francisco Huerdo as Guillermo "Memo" Villegas Romero
Carlos Miguel as Cristóbal Platas
Gabriela Platas as Paola Iliades
Members of Grupo Bronco as Themselves
Lorena Herrera as Lorena Arau Bermúdez

Recurring

Hugo Macías Macotela as El Comanche
Roberto Tello as Odilón
Salvador Garcini as Roberto Toruño / Roberto Torres
Eduardo Liceaga as Bernardo Montegarza Almonte "Medusa"
Marina Marín as Lucrecia Almonte de Montegarza
Anadela as Anadela
Monica Dossetti as Alicia
Horacio Almada as Homero
Queta Carrasco† as "Grandmother Drugdealer"
Magdalena Cabrera as Silvia
José Antonio Iturriaga as Armando
Oyuki Manjarrez as Lupita
Jorge Becerril as "El Diablo"
Rodolfo de Alejandre as Lucas
Silvia Valdez as Dominga
Alfredo Alonso as Gerente
Rodrigo Ruiz as Freddy
Magdalena Cabrera as Shirley
Sussan Taunton as Susana
Yaxkin Santalucía as Arturo
Amparo Garrido as Bertha
Rodolfo Velez as Germán*
Selena as herself
Gustavo Aguilar "Manotas"
Alfonso Kafiti as Commander Sergio Buenrostro
Jaime Puga as Commander Camilo Martínez
Carlos Bonavides as herself
Carlos González as "El Toro"
Miguel "El Piojo" Herrera as herself
Juan Raúl Hernández
Isadora González
Guillermo Iván
Rodrigo Zurita
Rodrigo de la Colina
Carlos Osiris
Raúl Ruíz
Ángeles Yáñez
Félix Córdova

Awards

References

External links

1993 telenovelas
1993 Mexican television series debuts
1994 Mexican television series endings
Spanish-language telenovelas
Television shows set in Mexico
Televisa telenovelas

Dos mujeres, un camino


Four (stylised as FOUR; formerly TV4) was the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand, broadcast via the state-owned Kordia transmission network. The channel launched on 29 June 1997 as TV4 and was replaced by C4 on 3 October 2003. It was relaunched on 6 February 2011 as a separate channel from C4.

On 2 July 2016, Mediaworks closed Four and replaced it with Bravo as part of a deal with NBC Universal.

In general, the channel's target audience was 18- to 49-year-olds and could be broader in its appeal, with programming which attracted a wider, and more mature audience. During early mornings and late afternoons the channel screened a range of children's programming such as Sesame Street and in the evenings screened shows aimed at the mainstream audience. Overnight and late mornings – early afternoons the channel screened Infomercials and Auto TV (Car Commercials). Four broadcast mostly American programming, with the exception of Sticky TV, Four Live, and Smash, which were in-house produced Auckland-hosted youth shows, and the Pukana youth show, which was produced from a Maori language government fund. Pukana also airs on one of the two government funded Maori language channels.

History

The history of Four dates back to 1997 when TV3 decided to launch a second TV channel called TV4. TV4 was an entertainment network and screened a wide range of imported shows such as South Park, Beverly Hills 90210, Beavis and Butthead. After 2000, new programming was scarce, with the infiltration of 1980's and 1990's repeats. On October 3, 2003, TV4 was replaced by music channel C4.

On 6 February 2011, TV4 returned as Four. MediaWorks announced this in October 2010, and said the new network would focus on children's programming during the day and a range of shows aimed at the 18-to-49-year-old audience in the evening. The first programme to air on Four was The Simpsons episode "Elementary School Musical" (not coincidentally featuring New Zealand band Flight of the Conchords).

At the end of 2012, Four began screening some new episodes of shows within seven days of the show being broadcasting in the United States under the Fast Four brand. Examples of shows include The Simpsons, Family Guy, Glee and How I Met Your Mother. New Zealand TV networks typically start screening most US television series around five months after the original release, usually first screening in late January or February at the end of the New Zealand summer, catching up to the US at the end of the season as all 22 episodes are broadcast week-after-week, not spread out over nine months as in the US. The transition of shows like Glee from TV3 to Four also lost the NZ On Air funding that is given to TV3 to get EIA-608 captions converted from source masters to the preferred Teletext format by TVNZ's Access Services. As New Zealand broadcasters are completely reliant on this process for program subtitling.

Closure
The final ever show to air on FOUR was The Biggest Loser. At 10:50 pm on Saturday 2 July 2016, the channel closed with Feist singing "1234" (the same Sesame Street song that was used to relaunch the channel back in February 2011); the channel then faded to black.

Four Plus 1

Four Plus 1 was a timeshift service that MediaWorks launched on 27 June 2014. It was a standard hour-delayed timeshift channel of the Four broadcast. Four Plus 1 was initially only available on digital terrestrial with satellite launched a week later on Sky's fifth digital transport. It was replaced by Bravo Plus 1 on 3 July 2016, when Bravo replaced Four.

References

External links
Four's official website (archived)

Defunct television channels in New Zealand
Television channels and stations established in 2011
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2016
English-language television stations in New Zealand
2011 establishments in New Zealand
2016 disestablishments in New Zealand

Four (New Zealand TV channel)


Ludmila Brožová-Polednová (born Ludmila Biedermannová; 20 December 1921 – 15 January 2015) was a Czech state prosecutor (public procurator) sentenced at age 86 in September 2008 to six years' imprisonment for her participation in the show trials of Milada Horáková and others in 1950, which led to at least four executions.

Brožová-Polednová was the only person sentenced in association with the political purges and repressions conducted by the ruling Communist Party in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s.

Biography
Ludmila Biedermannová was born in Prague in 1921. From 1948-49, she studied at the Workers' Law School (Czech: Právnická škola pracujících). In summer 1950, she participated as a "workers' prosecutor" in a show trial against a group accused of conspiracy against the state, which was allegedly led by Milada Horáková, an opposition politician and former prisoner of Nazi concentration camps.

The trial resulted in four death sentences and four life sentences. Brožová-Polednová, a colleague of Josef Urválek and others, actively participated in the trial and was present during the execution itself. Záviš Kalandra, Jan Buchal and Oldřich Pecl were the other victims of the trial. The trial was later called "one of the most atrocious events in the nation's history" by Czech Television.

In 1952, she graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague and later worked in Plzeň. As the sole surviving participant of the trial, Brožová-Polednová was charged and tried in 2008 after the fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. She was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, beginning March 2009 at Plzeň-Bory. At that time, she was the oldest jailed person in the country. She was released by an amnesty granted by President Václav Klaus in December 2010, due to her age and health.

Death
Brožová-Polednová died on 15 January 2015 in Prague, aged 93. However, news of her death was announced only on 24 January.

References

Further reading

1921 births
2015 deaths
Czech prosecutors
Judges from Prague
Czech female criminals
Czechoslovak people
Charles University alumni

Ludmila Brožová-Polednová


Gobblet is a board game for two players designed by Thierry Denoual and published in 2001 by Gigamic and Blue Orange Games. Gobblet was a finalist for the 2004 Jeu de l'année.

The game is played on a 4×4 board. Each player has 12 pieces of the same colour but different sizes.  Players take turns to place a piece on the board or move their piece that already is on the board. Bigger pieces can be placed so that they cover smaller ones. A player wins by placing four pieces of the same colour in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row.

In 2003, Gigamic and Blue Orange Games released Gobblet Junior, a version of the game for younger players, which is played on a 3×3 board.

In 2009, Blue Orange Games published revisioned editions: Gobblet X4 and Gobblet Gobblers to replace Gobblet and Gobblet Jr. accordingly.

External links
Blue Orange Games: Gobblet
Gobblet ranked as one of the top 11 Geek Board Games
Gobblet Review at BellaOnline.com
Play Gobblet online at Boardspace.net, against human or robot opponents
Gobblet Gobblers review
Gobblet is proclaimed test winner in Politiken, a major Danish newspaper
rule

Board games introduced in 2001
Abstract strategy games

Gobblet


Basso continuo is a form of musical accompaniment used in the Baroque period. It means "continuous bass".

Basso continuo, sometimes just called "continuo", was played by an instrument providing chordal accompaniment such as a keyboard instrument or plucked string instrument such as the lute along with another bass instrument such as cello, violone, or bassoon. The keyboard instrument was normally a harpsichord but could also be an organ, such as a small portative instrument.

It was not usual to write out all the notes for the keyboard player.  The composer normally just wrote the bass line which would be played by the left hand and doubled on the other bass instrument.  The composer would indicate what the harmony should be (which chords should be played) by writing figures underneath the music.

Examples

References

Classical music

Basso continuo


The 1983 Beirut barracks bombings were a double terrorist attack that happened on 23 October 1983 during the Lebanese Civil War. Two suicide truck bombs hit buildings housing French and American troops. In total, 299 people were killed. A group called Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility for the attacks.

1983 in Asia
1980s building bombings

20th century in Lebanon
Attacks on military installations
1983 barracks bombings
Building bombings in Asia
Car and truck bombings in Asia
Car and truck bombings in the 1980s
Islamic terrorist incidents in Asia
Mass murder in Asia
Mass murder in the 1980s
October events
Suicide bombings in Asia

Suicide car and truck bombings
Terrorist incidents in Asia
Terrorist incidents in the 1980s

1983 Beirut barracks bombings


Judgment Night is the soundtrack to the 1993 film of the same name. It was released on September 14, 1993, through Immortal Records and Epic Soundtrax and was produced by many of the album's performers. Every song on the soundtrack was a collaboration between hip-hop artists and rock artists. The album peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles, "Fallin'" by Teenage Fanclub and De La Soul, "Another Body Murdered" by Faith No More and Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., "Just Another Victim" by Helmet and House of Pain, and "Judgment Night" by Biohazard and Onyx.

Production and release
Billboard explains that the soundtrack album "paired hip-hop artists with modern rock acts," and The A.V. Club wrote that its musical pairings were "designed to capitalize on the burgeoning popularity of rap-rock." A.V. Club further opines that although there had been "sporadic successful mergers" between individual artists in the metal and rap genres by 1993, "no one had yet thought to do an entire album based on getting established rap and rock artists in the same studio to hash something out. That revolutionary concept in doubling your market share fell to Happy Walters." According to Rolling Stone, "it is largely due to the initiative of [soundtrack producer] Happy Walters... that so many leading hip-hop and alternative artists were assembled for the soundtrack," with Walters bringing in groups such as Pearl Jam, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill, and Faith No More as collaborators on new material. The Judgment Night soundtrack album was released by Immortal Records with distribution by Epic Records.

According to DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill, Faith No More, Helmet and Sonic Youth were the first bands to show interest in the project. He recalled, "Sonic Youth, Helmet, their managers were super supportive. Helmet were super into it. Faith No More was really into it. Those three, I think, were the first ones to come onboard, which were all credible and cool at the time. Which really helped with others."  A collaboration between Tool and Rage Against the Machine on the song "Can't Kill the Revolution" was attempted for the album, but neither band was happy with the results.  The song has never been officially released, but has spread through fan bootleg networks.

Reception

Rolling Stone said of the soundtrack, "Judgment Night'''s bracing rap rock is like the wedding of hillbilly and 'race' music that started the whole thing in the first place....It's an aspiring re-birth". Entertainment Weekly said they "can't vouch for the film, but the album is a MUST". Q Magazine said the soundtrack "suggests that the future for both metal and rap as a kind of agit prop soapbox style is secure".

Score album

Intrada released a CD of Alan Silvestri's score for the film. Musician'' said of the score, "Tear down a few walls and it's amazing what tumbles out".

Track listing

Certifications

References

Further reading

Action film soundtracks
Rap rock soundtracks
1993 soundtrack albums
Epic Records soundtracks
Immortal Records albums
Albums produced by Todd Ray

Judgment Night (soundtrack)


Mario J. Blejer (born June 11, 1948) is an Argentine economist and a former president of the Central Bank of Argentina.

Life and times
Blejer was born in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1948. He enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and graduated cum laude with degrees in Economics and Jewish History in 1970, as well as with a master's degree in Economics from the same institution, in 1972. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in the latter discipline at the University of Chicago (1975), and joined the Boston University Department of Economics as an Assistant Professor, where he remained until 1980.

Advisor
He joined the International Monetary Fund as an adviser on monetary, exchange rate, and fiscal policy in 1980, and briefly taught at George Washington University and the New York University Graduate School of Business. He lectured at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies between 1986 and 1991, and was appointed the World Bank's Senior European and Central Asian Policy adviser in 1992, serving in that capacity during one of the most challenging years of the collapse of the Soviet Union. He them served as a member of the IMF Staff Papers Editorial Board until 1996, and of the European Journal of Political Economy, from 1997 to 2001.

Academics
Blejer also taught at the Central European University in Budapest, from 1996 to 2000, and contributed to an array to economic policy publications, notably the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, International Economic Review, The Economic Journal, Journal of Development Economics, Review of Economics and Statistics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change.

Central Bank
A rapidly deteriorating Argentine economic crisis in March 2001 led Blejer to accept President Fernando de la Rúa's offer of a post as vice president of the Central Bank of Argentina, whereby he left the IMF as Senior Adviser, and after a 21-year career. Following de la Rúa's resignation in December, and that of Central Bank President Roque Maccarone in January, Blejer was named as the latter's replacement by President Eduardo Duhalde, on January 21. Blejer, who took office at the depth of the worst local crisis since the Panic of 1890, was appointed not only for the good rapport he enjoyed with international figures such as United States Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and his Deputy, John B. Taylor, but also because he remained among the few prominent economists to be in good terms with a wide variety of Argentine political figures: he was recommended by Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo during the free market advocate's brief last turn at the post, and was close to diverse leaders such as center-left Congresswoman Elisa Carrió, and center-right economist Ricardo López Murphy (both these latter would be candidates in the April 2003 presidential elections).

Blejer's appointment on January 21, 2002, was partly a result of Maccarone's link to the unpopular account withdrawal limits instituted the previous December, as well as to the latter's support for a more liberal bankruptcy law, which the nation's banks opposed. A supporter of lifting the withdrawal limits (corralito), Blejer prepared a plan to achieve this though treasury bills, whereby depositors would be allowed to withdraw larger amounts only by accepting these as payment, in lieu of cash. Seeking to guarantee their future value, he also revived a plan for the dollarization of the Argentine economy (a policy first suggested by former Central Bank President Pedro Pou in 1999). These policies met with the opposition of Duhalde's new Economy Minister, Roberto Lavagna, however, and in June, Blejer resigned.

Return a its former work
He was subsequently offered a post as adviser to the Bank of England, and by September, called for the full lifting of the corralito, which ultimately took place in stages from December 2002, to the following March. In London, Blejer also served as an adviser to the International Economics Program at Chatham House, from 2004 to 2007, and was named Director of the Bank of England's Centre for Central Banking Studies.

Fallout from the international, 2008 financial crisis later forced the Argentine government of President Cristina Kirchner to seek domestic financing for growing public spending, as well as for foreign debt service obligations. The president ordered a US$6.7 billion account opened at the Central Bank for the latter purpose in December 2009, implying the use of the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves, and drawing direct opposition from the institution's President, Martín Redrado. Following an impasse, Redrado was dismissed by President Kirchner on January 7, 2010, prior to which Economy Minister Amado Boudou had announced that Mario Blejer (who had expressed support for the measure) would be appointed in his stead. Redrado, however, refused to step down, and President Kirchner's decree removing him was overruled by Judge María José Sarmiento, temporarily reinstating Redrado as president of the central bank; Redrado was ultimately replaced by Mercedes Marcó del Pont.

Blejer, who remained in Argentina, contributed a number of op-ed columns for Clarín, the leading Argentine news daily; he expressed support for the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed in the United States by President Barack Obama, while citing the need for further regulation of the world's fitful financial markets.

Also, he is on the advisory board of OMFIF where he is regularly involved in meetings regarding the financial and monetary system.

Bibliography

References

1948 births
Living people
People from Córdoba, Argentina
Argentine Jews
Argentine economists
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
University of Chicago alumni
Boston University faculty
New York University Stern School of Business faculty
International Monetary Fund people
People associated with the Bank of England
Presidents of the Central Bank of Argentina
Argentine officials of the United Nations

Mario Blejer


{{DISPLAYTITLE:L-DOPA}}
Levodopa, or L-DOPA is an amino acid. In the body of mammals, it is made from Tyrosine in a process named synthesis. It also occurs in different plants. As such it can be used as a dietary supplement. L-Dopa is the precursor to the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepiphedrine and epiphedrine, which are part of a group known as Catecholamines. L-dopa can also be used as a drug for diseases such as Parkinson's disease. The substance used in the drug is usually called Levodopa, and the naturally occurring substance is called L-Dopa.

Swedish scientist Arvid Carlsson first saw that the substance could be used as a drug, in  1957. It was first introduced as Madopar, by Hoffmann-La Roche, in 1973, as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. The WHO has put it on the list of essential medicines. Because the drug has side-effects, when taken for a longer period of time, people often try to replace it witrh other drugs, especially in younger patients.

Amino acids
Drugs

L-DOPA


Lieutenant Colonel James Henry Mountiford Beasley DSO (28 March 1876 – 14 December 1949), known as Pops, was a British Army officer and a leading contract bridge personality in the early days of the game.

Life
Beasley was born in 1876 in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, India, where his father was a minister. He was educated at Bedford School, and entered the Royal Military Academy (Woolwich) on leaving school. Beasley was gazetted to the Royal Artillery in 1896. He served in India, Burma and China, and took part in the Relief of Peking after the Boxer Rebellion. He served in the First World War on the staff of the Anzac Corps. He was thrice mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). After the war he served in Germany on the Disarmament Commission. He was an interpreter in French, German and Hindustani.

Pops had played all forms of bridge from the days of bridge–whist and auction bridge. He wrote his first book on this game in 1906, London Bridge, which "started the bridge craze in all the fashionable clubs of that day" [Beasley]. Like many of the early contract bridge players, he had been an expert auction bridge player in the 1920s. In domestic bridge he was a leading organiser. He had been a member of Almacks club since 1901, and later was a co-founder and Chairman of two leading London card clubs – Crockford's (in St James's Street) and the Hamilton Club (in Hamilton Place). He was also a leading player in the 1930s, winning the Gold Cup in 1933, and playing in several international events. He was an author and bridge columnist, and the originator of a bidding system named after him.

"Pops was a brilliant player and a great psychologist. In his time he won most of the major tournaments and he captained England on numerous occasions". –Ewart Kempson

In bidding, Beasley adopted many of Culbertson's ideas, but was displeased with the strong twos and their negative response of two no trumps. As a result, so he claimed, he was the inventor (in 1936) of the artificial strong two clubs opening bid with its negative response two diamonds. For many years all the British bidding systems used this method of dealing with strong hands: Acol (both standard and Benjaminised), CAB, Two Clubs and Baron systems all used it. However, it is fair to mention that others have also claimed authorship of this fruitful idea.

Matches vs Culbertson
Beasley's bridge team played two matches against the formidable Culbertson team, losing both, but helping to develop the game in Britain.

The first match, Crockford's v. Culbertson, took place in 1930, after the Buller–Culbertson match. The Crockford's team was Beasley, Sir Guy Domville (popular society and sporting figure), George Morris and Captain Hogg. Culbertson won the match over 200 deals by 4,905 points (total points scoring).

The second match, for the Schwab trophy in 1933, was a more significant event, preceded by the usual brilliant Culbertson publicity. Played at Selfridges, it was widely reported in the press and on newsreel, and was attended by many spectators. A large periscope was used so that spectators outside the playing-room could glimpse the players. Play could also be followed on a massive electrical scoreboard ("the forerunner to Bridgerama") in the Palm Court area. The most common partnerships were: Britain: Beasley & Sir Guy Domville; George Morris & Percy Tabbush; Lady Doris Rhodes & Graham Mathieson. America: Ely & Josephine Culbertson; Theodore Lightner & Michael Gottlieb. Both teams sometimes paired the players differently.

George Morris and Percy Tabbush were an interesting pair: according to Reese, Morris was "a famous gambler at every card game, and an athlete; he had made a Channel-swimming attempt and played marathon golf for big stakes. His health failed and he was a pitiable sight in later years. Tabbush followed a course that is not common amongst bridge players: he joined a religious sect and turned his back on the 'Devil's playthings'."

Mathieson's part in the match was curtailed when he fell through a glass roof, to be rescued swinging from a girder above a 40-foot drop! The Culbertson team won by the decisive, but not overwhelming, margin of 10,900 points (total points scoring). Hubert Phillips, writing in the News Chronicle, put the reasons as superior teamwork, avoidance of unnecessary risks when vulnerable, and greater precision in slam-bidding. The match was analysed in three books, and had a considerable effect on bidding methods in Britain and elsewhere.

Beasley died after suffering a stroke in 1949.

References

Citations
 Hasenson, Peter, ed. 2004. British Bridge Almanack. 77 Publishing, London. .

External links
  (under 'Beasley, Henry Mountifort')

1876 births
1949 deaths
British Army personnel of World War I
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
British and Irish contract bridge players
Contract bridge writers
People from Jhansi
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
Royal Artillery officers
British Army personnel of the Boxer Rebellion
People educated at Bedford School
British people in colonial India

Henry Beasley


Li Bian (7 January 889 – 30 March 943, courtesy name Zhenglun), known as Xu Gao between 937 and 939 and Xu Zhigao before 937, and possibly Li Pengnu during his childhood, also known posthumously by his temple name Liezu, was the founder and first emperor of the Southern Tang.  In traditional histories, he is also often referred to as the First Lord of Southern Tang ().  He was an adopted son and successor of the Wu regent Xu Wen who usurped power from the Wu emperor Yang Pu.

Early life
Li Bian was born in 889 at Pengcheng (彭城, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, and might have been known as Li Pengnu in his childhood.  His father was named Li Rong (), who was said to be careful and kind.  Li Rong favored spending time with Buddhist monks and often visited their residences, such that he became known as Philosopher Li ().  His mother was a Lady Liu, who was probably Li Rong's wife.

In 893, Li Rong died.  At that time, the Pengcheng region was engulfed in warfare.  Li Rong's older brother Li Qiu () took Li Bian and Lady Liu and fled to Hao Prefecture (濠州, in modern Chuzhou, Anhui).  Shortly after, Lady Liu died.  Li Qiu, apparently unable to care for Li Bian, left Li Bian in the care of the monks at Kaiyuan Temple () at Hao.

In 895, the major warlord Yang Xingmi the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) attacked Hao and captured it.  Yang's soldiers took Li Bian captive.  Yang, finding Li Bian's appearance to be unusual, wanted to take him in as an adoptive son, but Yang's oldest son Yang Wo disliked Li Bian.  Yang therefore gave Li Bian to his officer Xu Wen, and Xu took Li Bian as an adoptive son and renamed him Xu Zhigao.  As Xu Wen's wife Lady Li had the same surname and felt attached to Xu Zhigao, she cared for him well.  It was said that Xu Zhigao served his father with greater filial piety than Xu Wen's other (biological) sons.  One time, when he offended Xu Wen, Xu Wen caned him and chased him out of the house.  However, when Xu Wen came home at night, Xu Zhigao was waiting at the door for him.  Xu Wen asked, "Why are you still here?"  Xu Zhigao wept and responded, "Where can a son go but to his parents?  When father is angry, I go to mother.  This is what human nature is."  Xu Wen became even more loving of him, and often put him in charge of family matters.  (Xu Wen had six biological sons known to historyXu Zhixùn, Xu Zhixún, Xu Zhihui (), Xu Zhijian (), Xu Zhizheng (), and Xu Zhi'e (); and it appeared that at least five, if not all six, were younger than Xu Zhigao.)  When Xu Zhigao grew older, he became known for calligraphy and archery; he was also intelligent and handsome.  Yang Xingmi often told Xu Wen, "Xu Zhigao is capable.  None of the older officers' sons can be compared to him."

During Xu Wen's regency of Hongnong/Wu
In 908by which time Tang had fallen and the Huainan territory was now an independent state ruled by Yang Wo under the title of Prince of Hongnong after Yang Xingmi's deathXu Wen and another officer, Zhang Hao, assassinated Yang Wo.  Shortly after, Xu killed Zhang, and made Yang Wo's younger brother Yang Longyan the Prince of Hongnong (later with the greater title of Prince of Wu).  Xu effectively served as the regent and controlled Wu's government.  Xu Zhigao was apparently given the command of the Yuancong Corps ().  In 909, Xu Wen, believing that Jinling was a good defensible location and where the Hongnong fleet could be best stationed, took for himself the title of prefect of Sheng Prefecture (昇州, i.e., Jinling) but made Xu Zhigao the discipline officer of Sheng as well as the deputy commander of the fleet, stationing at Sheng to be in charge of it.

In 912, after a campaign in which Xu Wen destroyed one of the most ardent resisters to his regency, Li Yu () the governor of Xuan Prefecture (宣州, in modern Xuancheng, Anhui), Xu Zhigao, for his participation in the campaign as the deputy commander to the general in charge, Chai Zaiyong (), was promoted to be the prefect of Sheng.  It was said that he governed Sheng well, selecting honest administrators, and gathered learned people around him.  It was at this time that he became impressed with a strategist, Song Qiqiu, and made Song his assistant.  Song, Wang Lingmou, and Wang Hong () became his chief advisors, while officers Ma Renyu (), Zhou Zong, and Cao Cong () became close associates.

In 915, Xu Wen decided to leave the Wu capital Guangling and make Run Prefecture (潤州, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) his headquarters.  He left Xu Zhigao's brother Xu Zhixùn in charge at Guangling as the junior regent.  However, Xu Zhixùn was arrogant and ran the government impulsively, which Xu Wen was unaware.  Meanwhile, in 917, when Xu Wen went to Sheng to examine the prefecture, he was impressed by its prosperity.  Under the advice of the officer Chen Yanqian (), he decided to move his headquarters (in his role as the military governor of Zhenhai Circuit () to Sheng, while moving Xu Zhigao from Sheng to serve as the military prefect of Run.  Xu Zhigao did not want the Run post and requested the Xuan post, but Xu Wen refused to grant it.  Song, however, pointed out to him secretly that Xu Zhixùn would soon be bringing a disaster on himself, and Run, being just across the Yangtze River from Guangling, would allow Xu Zhigao to react quickly.  Xu Zhigao agreed, and took up the post thereafter.

Over the years, Xu Zhigao and Xu Zhixùn developed an adversarial relationship, as Xu Zhixùn, as well as Xu Zhixún, did not truly consider Xu Zhigao a brother.  However, Xu Zhijian had a good relationship with Xu Zhigao and helped to protect him.

In 918, after Xu Zhixùn insulted the general Zhu Jin and tried to expel Zhu from the Wu central government, Zhu assassinated him and then, when corned by Xu Wen's close associate Zhai Qian (), committed suicide.  Xu Zhigao, upon hearing of the disturbance at Guangling, took his troops, crossed the Yangtze, and pacified the city.  After Xu Wen subsequently arrived, he suspected many other generals and officials of being in a conspiracy with Zhu and considered major reprisals.  Xu Zhigao and Yan Keqiu, however, reported to him about Xu Zhixùn's acts that brought alienationincluding his arrogance and lack of respect for even Yang Longyan, as his sovereign.  Xu Wen, listening to them, did not carry out large scale reprisals.  As all of his other sons were young, he made Xu Zhigao the junior regent with the official titles of deputy commander of the Huainan army, deputy commander of the infantry and cavalry, general overseer of the headquarters, and military prefect of Jiang Prefecture (江州, in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi), with Xu Zhijian taking over his post as military prefect of Run.  It was said that Xu Zhigao governed opposite to how Xu Zhixùn didhe treated Yang Longyan with respect, was frugal, and was respectful to the other officials.  He also lowered the tax burden on the people.  He continued to employ Song as a chief strategist.  Later in the year, when Yan was repeatedly trying to persuade Xu Wen to replace Xu Zhigao with Xu Zhixún, Xu Zhigao tried to remove Yan from the scene by making him the prefect of Chu Prefecture (楚州, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu).  When Yan received the order, however, he went to see Xu Wen.  At the meeting, he pointed out that at that time, Wu's nominal ally and fellow rival to Later Liang, Jin, was winning victory after victory over Later Liang, and that Jin's prince Li Cunxu appeared to be posturing to claim the imperial title himself and claim lawful succession from the Tang emperors.  Yan argued that, with that being the case, Wu's political structure was untenable since it, like Jin, had been claiming its desire to reestablish Tang.  Yan instead suggested that Xu Wen advise Yang Longyan to claim imperial title as well and restructure the Wu political structure to cut off connections to Tang.  Xu Wen agreed, and he kept Yan at Guangling to prepare for ceremonies for such a break with Tang.  Xu Zhigao, seeing that he could not eliminate Yan, instead decided to make peace with Yan by giving a daughter in marriage to Yan's son Yan Xu.

In 919, Xu Wen advised Yang Longyan to claim imperial title.  Yang Longyan declined, but claimed the greater title of King of Wu, thus ending connections to Tang.  Xu Zhigao remained junior regent, now with the greater titles of Zuo Pushe (左僕射, one of the heads of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng)), de facto chancellor as Can Zhengshi (), acting overseers of all military matters (知內外諸軍事, Zhi Neiwai Zhu Junshi), and military prefect of Jiang.  Later in the year, when Wu forces, under Xu Wen, repelled a major attack by Wu's southeastern neighbor Wuyue, Xu Zhigao suggested a surprise attack on Wuyue's Su Prefecture (蘇州, in modern Suzhou, Jiangsu), but Xu Wen, citing the desire for peace between the two states, declined.

In 921, after Yang Longyan, at Xu Wen's advice, offered sacrifices to heaven and earth to show him more as a full sovereign, Xu Zhigao was granted the greater chancellor title of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (), and was also promoted to be the governor of Jiang.  Also, Jiang Prefecture was converted to a new Fenghua Circuit (), and Xu Zhigao was made its military governor, even as he remained at Guangling as junior regent.

In 923, after there were accusations that Zhong Taizhang () the military prefect of Shou Prefecture (壽州, in modern Lu'an, Anhui) was embezzling horses, Xu Zhigao replaced him with Wang Ren () and demoted him to the post of prefect of Rao Prefecture (饒州, in modern Shangrao, Jiangxi).  He wanted to further have Zhong interrogated, but Xu Wen, pointing out that Zhong was a close ally during the time when he killed Zhang Hao and stating that he would have died at Zhang's hands without Zhong, refused.  He further had Xu Zhigao's son Xu Jingtong marry Zhong Taizhang's daughter, to make peace between Xu Zhigao and Zhong.

In 926, Xu Zhigao's chancellor title was made the greater title of Shizhong ().  In 927, seeing that there was a plague of officers who were not paying proper attention to protocol, he intentionally intruded into the residence of Yang Longyan's younger brother and successor as King of Wu, Yang Pu.  He immediately withdrew and apologized, and had himself indicted.  When Yang Pu issued an edict declining to punish him, he nevertheless imposed a penalty of one month of salary on himself, to show that even he himself was subject to punishment and to restore discipline.

Meanwhile, over the years, Xu Zhixún, citing the fact that Xu Zhigao was not actually a biological son of Xu Wen's, repeatedly pleaded to Xu Wen to take over the junior regency.  Yan Keqiu and Xu Jie also often spoke in favor of this change.  Xu Wen, as Xu Zhigao was filially pious and careful, declined, and Xu Zhigao was also supported by Xu Wen's principal concubine Lady Chen, who stated to Xu Wen, "Xu Zhigao is someone whom you raised in our home since you were not yet prominent.  How is it that you would abandon him now that you are honored?"  However, as Yan and others repeatedly spoke of this, Xu Wen eventually changed his mind.  In late 927, he planned to go to Guangling to request that Yang Pu take imperial title and take Xu Zhixùn with him, and then, after the ceremony, leave Xu Zhixùn there to be junior regent.  However, he then fell ill, so he sent Xu Zhixùn to Guangling with his petition for Yang Pu to take imperial title and to take over for Xu Zhigao.  Hearing this, Xu Zhigao drafted a petition to Yang Pu, where he would resign his offices and requested to be made the military governor of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi).  However, while Xu Zhixùn was still on the way, Xu Wen died, and Xu Zhixùn immediately returned to Jinling, so Xu Zhigao never actually resigned and remained in his office.

During his own regency of Wu

Initial contention with Xu Zhixún
Shortly after Xu Wen's death, Yang Pu, per Xu Wen's final recommendations, took imperial title.  Meanwhile, Xu Wen's titles were split between Xu Zhigao and Xu Zhixun, with Xu Zhigao assuming Xu Wen's title as overseer of all military matters (都督中外總軍事, Dudu Zhongwai Zongjunshi), while Xu Zhixun took on the title of deputy supreme commander of all circuits (諸道副都統, Zhudao Fu Dutong, with Xu Wen having been supreme commander before, and that post now left open) and military governor of Ningguo (寧國, headquartered at Xuan Prefecture) and Zhenhai Circuits, which Xu Wen had been; he also took the greater honorary chancellor title of Shizhong ().

Even though Xu Zhigao remained in control of Wu's imperial government, Xu Zhixun, at Jinling (i.e., Sheng Prefecture), controlled the largest army of the state, and he, wielding that authority, contended for decision-making with Xu Zhigao, who tried to curb Xu Zhixun's military power.  For example, in 929, when Xu Zhixun's father-in-law, the general Li Jian () the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan, Hubei) died, Xu Zhixun took 2,000 of Li Jian's soldiers and kept them under his command, while recommending Li Jian's son Li Yanzhong () to succeed Li Jian.  Xu Zhigao, however, ignoring Xu Zhixun's recommendations, made the general Chai Zaiyong () the military governor of Wuchang, drawing Xu Zhixun's ire.

Given Xu Zhixun's military strength, Xu Zhigao feared him, but Xu Zhixun's arrogance alienated his younger brothers, particularly both Xu Zhihui and Xu Zhijian; Xu Zhihui secretly reported Xu Zhixun's actions to Xu Zhigao, while Xu Zhijian, at Guangling, participated in Xu Zhigao's machinations against Xu Zhixun.  Xu Jie, who had previously supported Xu Zhixun, also realized that Xu Zhixun lacked the proper abilities to lead, and instead turned his allegiance to Xu Zhigao.  Meanwhile, Xu Zhixun was not curbing his actions properly; for example, when Wuyue's king Qian Liu sent Xu Zhixun gifts of vessels and saddles adorn with dragons and phoenixeswhich only the sovereign could useXu Zhixun used them, making no attempts to avoid making them into a display.  His close associate Zhou Tingwang () persuaded him to let Zhou take large amounts of wealth to Guangling to try to use them to bribe other high level officials to turn from Xu Zhigao and toward him, but when Zhou arrived at Guangling, Zhou secretly pledged allegiance to Xu Zhigao through Xu Zhigao's associate Zhou Zong, and informed Xu Zhixun's actions to Xu Zhigaobut then, when he returned to Jinling, also informed Xu Zhigao's actions to Xu Zhixun, trying to play both sides.

Later in 929, Xu Zhixun tried to summon Xu Zhigao to Jinling to attend a ceremony where they would remove mourning clothes that they had put on for Xu Wen's death; Xu Zhigao refused, claiming that Yang Pu would not let him leave the capital.  Meanwhile, Zhou Zong told Zhou Tingwang to inform Xu Zhixun that he had been accused of seven major crimes and should go to the capital to defend himself.  Xu Zhixun believed Zhou Tingwang, and therefore went to Guangling.  Once he arrived there, Xu Zhigao detained him and did not allow him to return to Jinling, sending the officer Ke Hou () to lead the Jinling forces back to Guangling, thus consolidating the command under Xu Zhigao himself.  Xu Zhixun was kept at Guangling to take the office of army commander (統軍, Tongjun), still carrying the title of military governor of Zhenhai Circuit.  (The command of Ningguo Circuit went to Xu Zhigao.)  It was said that it was only after this point that Xu Zhigao had true, unchallenged authority over Wu's governance.  The brothers then had a verbal confrontation in which Xu Zhixun stated, "When the deceased Prince [(i.e., Xu Wen, who carried the title of Prince of Donghai)] left this world, you, older brother, were his son.  How could it be that you did not attend to his funereal matters?"  Xu Zhigao responded, "You had a sword drawn, intended for me.  How could I dare to go?  You are a subject, so how could you have ridden on imperial wagons and worn imperial clothes?"  When Xu Zhixun then questioned him about his actions, Xu Zhigao realized that Zhou Tingwang was playing both sides, so had Zhou Tingwang executed.

As unchallenged regent
In 930, Xu Zhigao prepared to himself have his headquarters set up at Jinling, and he had Xu Jingtong commissioned the minister of defense (兵部尚書, Bingbu Shangshu) and Can Zhengshi, preparing to have Xu Jingtong take over his responsibilities at Guangling.  He also wanted to have Song Qiqiu made a chancellor, but Song, knowing that he did not yet have the proper reputation to be a chancellor, declined and retired for some time, before returning to the government.  In 931, Xu Zhigao himself was made the military governor of Zhenhai and Ningguo, with headquarters at Jinling, while Xu Jingtong was made Situ (司徒, one of the Three Excellencies), Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, and acting overseer of all military matters.  Wang Lingmou and Song were made chancellors to assist Li Jingtong.  Once he settled in at Jinling, Xu Zhigao build a Lixian Pavilion (), where he collected books and discussed current events with learned guests, including Sun Sheng and Chen Jue.

In 933, Song Qiqiu advised Xu Zhigao to move the Wu capital from Guangling to Jinling, and Xu thus began to build a palace complex at Jinling.  He himself moved from his headquarters into a private residence, preparing to move the emperor there.  However, after Zhou Zong pointed out that moving the capital was an expensive endeavor and that if he moved the capital to Jinling, he might needed to take up headquarters in Jiangdu (i.e., Guangling, now known as Jiangdu Municipality) instead.  As a result, the project was cancelled, and he shortly after moved back into headquarters.

Also in 933, the Wu general Jiang Yanhui (), trying to take advantage of a rebellion by Wu Guang () against Wu's southeastern neighbor Min, put Min's key city of Jian Prefecture (建州, in modern Nanping, Fujian) under siege and nearly captured it.  However, upon receiving reports of Jiang's campaign, Xu was apprehensive of the fact that Jiang was a son-in-law of Yang Xingmi's and had a particularly friendly relationship with Yang Pu's brother Yang Meng the Prince of Linchuanwho was resentful of the Xu family's hold on powerand that he thus might, if he captured Jian, use it as a base to support Yang Meng against Xu.  Xu thus sent an order for Jiang to withdraw, which Jiang did, with substantial losses when his retreating army was attacked by Min forces.

During the years, Xu had considered having Yang Pu pass the throne to him and for himself to be emperor instead, but as Yang Pu was virtuous, he was concerned that the people might be displeased at a transition, and therefore, as Song advised, was to wait until Yang Pu's passing and a new emperor's enthroning.  However, one day, as he was plucking his white facial hair in front of a mirror, he commented, "The empire is safe, but I am getting old."  Zhou Zong, hearing this, volunteered to go to Jiangdu to start hinting to Yang of the need for transition, as well as to inform this to Song.  Xu agreed.  However, when Song heard of this, he became intensely jealous of Zhou, and he wrote a letter to Xu, arguing that this was not the right time, and also asking that Zhou be put to death as an apology to Yang.  As a result, Xu demoted Zhou to be the deputy military prefect of Chi Prefecture (池州, in modern Chizhou).  However, when Li Jianxun and Xu Jie subsequently also encouraged Xu Zhigao to take the throne, Xu Zhigao recalled Zhou and, from that point on, began to distance himself from Song.  As Xu Zhigao was apprehensive of Yang Meng still, he had others make accusations against Yang Meng for secretly making weapons and hiding fugitives.  Yang Meng was demoted to the title of Duke of Liang, and put under house arrest at He Prefecture (和州, in modern Hefei, Anhui).  Late in 934, Xu recalled Song to his headquarters and made Song his assistant, as well as Sikong (司空, one of the Three Excellencies) but did not give him real authority from then on.  He also recalled Xu Jingtong back from Jiangdu to serve as his deputy; a younger son, Xu Jingqian, was made the junior regent in Xu Jingtong's stead.  (Xu Jingqian would fall ill in 936 and be replaced by his younger brother Xu Jingsui, and eventually die before Xu Zhigao became emperor.)

In late 935, Yang Pu created Xu Zhigao the Prince of Qi, and gave him the additional titles of Taishi () and Generalissimo (大元帥, Da Yuanshuai).  (Yang Pu's edict also conferred additional honorific titles, but Xu declined those.)  The Principality of Qi was given 10 prefectures in which Xu had exclusive authority.  In spring 936, he began to establish a Generalissimo headquarters with six ministries, as well as a directorate of salt and iron monopolies, modeling after an imperial government.  He also made Li Jingtong deputy generalissimo, and Song and Xu Jie his assistants.  After Yang Pu issued an edict in late 936 authorizing him to establish a Qi government, he did so in early 937, including beginning to refer to his headquarters as a palace, and making Song and Xu Jie his chancellors and Zhou Zong and Zhou Tingyu () his chiefs of staff (內樞使, Neishushi, equivalent to other states' Shumishi).  He also changed his name to Xu Gao.  Under Song's advice, he sent emissaries to Khitan Empire's Emperor Taizong (Yelü Deguang) to establish friendly relations, to counter Later Jin, which then controlled central China.

As it was becoming apparent that Xu Gao was getting ready to take the throne from Yang Pu, Yang Meng decided to try to make a final attempt to prevent the transition.  In fall 937, he assassinated Wang Hong (), the commander of the soldiers that Xu Gao put in charge of guarding him.  He headed for Desheng Circuit (德勝, headquartered in modern Hefei), hoping that its military governor Zhou Ben, who was a senior general under Yang Xingmi, would support him.  However, Zhou Ben's son Zhou Hongzuo () refused to let Zhou Ben receive Yang Meng, and instead had Yang Meng arrested.  Xu Gao, claiming that it was Yang Pu's order, had Yang Meng put to death.

By this point, the Wu generals and officials were all signing petitions for Xu Gao to take the throneincluding the old and ill Wang Lingmou, who died shortly after doing so.  Song, however, continued to refuse to sign.  In winter 937, Xu Gao accepted the throne, ending Wu, and starting his new state.  (The Zizhi Tongjian referred to his state as Tang (historically known as Southern Tang at this juncture, although other sources, including the Old History of the Five Dynasties, New History of the Five Dynasties, and the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, referred to his state as Qi at this point, and only changed to Tang after Xu Gao subsequently changed back to his birth name of Li (see below).)

As emperor of Southern Tang

Before changing name back to Li
Xu Gao posthumously honored his adoptive father Xu Wen as an emperor, and his adoptive mother Lady Li as an empress, although the other Xu ancestors were only posthumously honored as princes or dukes, while their wives were honored as ladies.  Instead of the usual dynastic transitions, where the new emperor would create the old emperor a noble title, Xu Gao submitted a petition (i.e., still acting as if he were a subject) to Yang Pu, stating:

Yang Pu, finding it untenable for the Southern Tang emperor to still be claiming to be his subject, wrote a letter back declining this humility.  The Southern Tang emperor wrote another submission (i.e., still in the form of a subject) thanking him, but continued to use the formality of a subject.  Yang Pu's crown prince Yang Lian, who was Xu Gao's son-in-law, was created a duke.

Meanwhile, Xu created his wife Song Fujin empress, and Xu Jingtong the Prince of Wu, as well as a number of other honorific titlesincluding Shangshu Ling (), which in Tang times had only been held by Emperor Taizong of Tangmaking him apparently the heir.  (Xu Jingtong was soon renamed Xu Jing.)  His uneasy relationship with his longtime friend Song Qiqiu continued, as although he made Song a chancellor, he did not give Song actual authorities, causing Song to be apprehensive.  Believing that Xu Gao might be displeased that he had opposed the dynastic transition, he proposed moving Yang Pu to a more distant location and that a divorce be ordered between Yang Lian and Xu Gao's daughter (now titled Princess Yongxing).  Xu Gao rejected both proposals.

However, in spring 938, with Yang Pu insisting moving out of his old palace and one of the chancellors, Li Decheng, also advocating the same, Xu Gao converted the inner city of Run Prefecture into Danyang Palace and had Li Decheng move Yang Pu there; the entire Yang imperial clan was then moved into Danyang Palace as well and placed under heavy guard .  Meanwhile, the officials were submitting many petitions asking for names of places that had characters of "Wu" or "Yang" be changed.  At Xu Jie's suggestion that such matters should not become pressing matters, Xu Gao did not act on them.

Around new year 939, Yang Pu died.  Xu Gao declared a lengthy mourning period for him, and honored him posthumously as Emperor Rui.  (Due to the quickness of his death after yielding the throne, it was commonly believed that he was killed on the new emperor's orders, although definitive proof was lacking.)

After changing name back to Li
Meanwhile, a movement began among Xu Gao's officials to petition to have him change his surname back to Li, but he initially declined, citing that he did not want to forget Xu Wen's grace to him.  In spring 939, apparently feeling justified because his younger brothers Xu Zhizheng and Xu Zhi'e had become the lead petitioners, he approved the petition.  When the officials subsequently offered an honorific imperial title to him, he rejected it, stating, "An honorific title is false beauty, and it is not in accordance with ancient traditions."  The Song dynasty historian Sima Guang commented that subsequently, his successors (son Li Jing and grandson Li Yu) also declined such honorifics, and in this area of governance, as well as preventing relatives from wielding improper power and interference by eunuchs into governance, none of the other states of the time could be compared to Southern Tang.  Xu Gao took the name of Li Bian, and effectively claimed to be the legitimate successor to the Tang throne and that he was a descendant of Li Ke the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang.  He honored his biological father Li Rong, as well as three other ancestors, as emperors, and their wives as empresses.  Xu Wen continued to be honored posthumously as emperor, and was only subordinate to Emperors Gaozu and Taizong in the imperial temples, with all three designated as ancestors whose temples would not be destroyed.  Later in the year, he wanted to create Li Jing, now with the title of Prince of Qi, crown prince, but Li Jing declined, and he bestowed additional titles on Li Jing.

In 940, Li Jinquan, Later Jin's military governor of Anyuan Circuit (安遠, headquartered in modern Xiaogan, Hubei), rebelled against Later Jin, and sought aid from Southern Tang.  Li Bian sent the generals Li Chengyu () and Duan Chugong () to aid Li Jinquan, but with instructions not to pillage and to, with haste, escort Li Jinquan back to Southern Tang territory safely.  However, in violation of Li Bian's instructions, Li Chengyu seized Li Jinquan's wealth and tried to defend the city, and subsequently engaged and was defeated by the Later Jin general Ma Quanjie ().  Duan was killed in battle, while Li Chengyu was executed by Ma.  Some 4,000 Southern Tang soldiers were lost.  This caused Li Bian to be saddened for days and blaming himself for not giving even harsher warnings to Li Chengyu.  When Later Jin's emperor Shi Jingtang subsequently tried to return the 570 Southern Tang captives to Southern Tang, Li Bian refused to accept them, citing, in a letter to Shi, that they violated his orders.  They remained at Later Jin subsequently.

Around the same time, Min's emperor Wang Xi and his brother Wang Yanzheng, who controlled Jian Prefecture, were embroiled in a civil war.  Li Bian sent the official Shang Quangong () to Min on a diplomatic mission to try to help end the Min civil war.  Under Shang's mediation, the Wang brothers swore an oath of peace, but in reality continued to hate each other.

In 942, at Song's request, Song was allowed to exercise his authority as chancellor, and further was given the authority to oversee the executive bureau, while Li Jingsui oversaw the legislative (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng) and examination (門下省, Menxia Sheng) bureaus, with Li Jing further reviewing all three bureaus.  Soon, however, there was an incident when Song's close associate Xia Changtu () embezzled governmental funds, but Song spared him from death.  Li Bian, in anger, ordered Xia's death, and Song, in fear, claimed to be ill, and was relieved of his executive bureau responsibilities.  On a subsequent occasion when Song, at his invitation, came to dinner, they got into an argument, but Li Bian subsequently wrote a letter to Song, stating, "Our impatient nature is something you knew well, Zisong [(Song's courtesy name).  How can it be that we were dear to each other in youth and hateful to each other in old age?"  He subsequently made Song the military governor of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi).

As Li Bian himself, while serving as regent of Wu, had often revised laws to try to improve Tang laws, he ordered the judges and the executive bureau to reorganize the laws into a 30-volume work entitled, the Laws of Shengyuan (Shengyuan being his era name).  In fall 942, he ordered that those laws be officially promulgated.

Over the years, Li Bian had been tempted to make Li Jingda, whom he considered decisive and capable, his heir, and Song had also often praised Li Jingda's abilities.  However, as Li Jing was older, he eventually decided against making Li Jingda his heir.  Meanwhile, his youngest son Li Jingti () was born of his favorite concubine Consort Zhong, and once, when Li Bian was angry with Li Jing for being occupied with musical instruments, Consort Zhong tried to persuade him to divert succession from Li Jing and making Li Jingti his heir.  Finding Consort Zhong's suggestion highly inappropriate, he expelled Consort Zhong out of the palace and had her remarried.

Also over the years, Li Bian had been taking alchemists' medicines, believing that they would allow him to have long life, but the medicines were in fact making his temper flare frequently and health deteriorate.  By spring 943, he was quite ill, but pretended to be not ill and continued to be presiding over imperial gatherings.  On March 30, 943, he was so ill that the imperial physician had to summon Li Jing to his presence to attend to him.  He stated to Li Jing, "I took these medications made of gold and rocks to try to lengthen my lifespan, but instead they harmed me.  You should be cautious of this."  He died that night.  Li Jing initially did not announce his death and only had an edict issued in his name, making Li Jing regent, but soon thereafter announced his death and took the throne.

Legacy
While the kingdom Xianzhu founded did not succeed in reuniting the Chinese realm, it played an important part in the consolidation of politics with the absorption of Min and Chu.  It also became one of the leading centers of learning, along with Chengdu of the Later Shu and Hangzhou of Wuyue.

Personal information

Parents:
 Father: Li Rong () (d. 893), posthumously honored Emperor Xiaode with the temple name of Qingzong (honored 938)
 Mother: Lady Liu, posthumously honored Empress Degong (honored 938)
 Adoptive Father: Xu Wen, Prince Zhongwu of Qi during Wu, further posthumously honored Emperor Wu (honored 937), initially with the temple name of Taizu (honored 937) then Yizu (honored 938)
 Adoptive Mother: Lady Li, posthumously honored Empress Mingde (honored 937)
 Wives
Consort Shun, of the Wang clan (順妃 王氏)
Empress Yuanjing, of the Song clan (元敬皇后 宋氏, d. 945), personal name Fujin (福金)
Li Jing (李璟 or 李景; 916 – August 12, 961), Emperor Yuanzong (南唐元宗), birth name Xu Jingtong (徐景通), first son
Xu Jingqian (徐景遷, 919 – 937), changed name to Li Jingqian (李景遷) and honored the Prince of Gaoping (高平郡王) posthumously, second son
Li Jingsui (李景遂, 920 – 17 September 958), Crown Prince Wencheng (文成太弟), birth name Xu Jingsui (徐景遂), third son
Li Jingda (李景達, 924 – 957), Crown Prince Zhaoxiao (昭孝太弟), birth name Xu Jingda (徐景達), fourth son
Consort Dowager Xu, of the Zhou clan (許太妃 周氏)
Lady of Bright Countenance, of the Ji clan (昭容吉氏)
Lady Chong, of the Chong clan (种氏, 921 – 971), personal name Shiguang (時光)
 Li Jingti (李景逷, 938 – 968),  Prince Zhaoshun of Jiang (江昭順王), fifth son
 Lady Meng, of the Meng clan (孟氏)
Children:
 Princess Yongxing (永興公主), wife of the Wu crown prince Yang Lian
 Princess Fengcheng (豐城公主)
 Princess Shengtang (盛唐公主)
 Princess Taihe (太和公主), wife of Yan Xu ()
 Princess Jianchang (建昌公主)
 Princess Yushan (玉山公主)
 Princess Xingguo (興國公主), wife of Ma Renyu ()

References

 Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 15.
 Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 134.
 New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 62.
 Zizhi Tongjian, vols, 260, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283.

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10th-century Chinese monarchs
889 births
943 deaths
Southern Tang emperors
Yang Wu chancellors
Fenghua jiedushi
Ningguo jiedushi
Zhenhai jiedushi
Yang Wu regents
Politicians from Xuzhou
Generals from Jiangsu
Desheng jiedushi
Yang Wu jiedushi
10th-century Chinese adoptees
Founding monarchs

Li Bian


Oh No They Didn't, also known as ONTD, is the largest community on LiveJournal with over 100,000 members. The community focuses on celebrity gossip and pop culture with most of its posts aggregated from other gossip blogs. The site formed a partnership with pop culture blog network Buzz Media in July 2010 that was not renewed a year later.

The blog boasted over 300,000 page views daily according to a 2008 Popmatters article, although it has considerably decreased in recent years. When LiveJournal increased the comment limit on posts from 5000 to 10,000 comments, ONTD contained the first post to reach this new limit.

Origins
The community was originally created in 2004 by teenagers Erin Lang, Bri Draffen and Breniecia Reuben.

Editorial style
The community publishes an average of 100 member posts per day, with most posts getting between 100 and 500 comments on average. The community moderators post a weekly post called "Free for All Friday" (or "FFAF") which allows members to post off-topic comments. These free-for-all posts have often been expanded to include community discussion posts for important pop culture events such as the Academy Awards, the Olympics (known as "Free for All Olympics" or "FFAO" posts) and Saturday Night Live viewing posts.

In addition to members submitting the posts themselves, ONTD relies heavily on user participation in the comments section, where members can express their opinions on posts. Members often illustrate their reaction to a particular news item by posting an animated GIF image which represents their feelings. After the death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009, according to MSNBC, "users expressed their collective grief by posting a Fantasia Barrino GIF, in which the American Idol star wails and flails her arms wildly," while other users expressed concern over the continued use of a popular GIF taken from the music video "Thriller" featuring a scene of Jackson eating popcorn, an image that is frequently posted on the community in anticipation of a controversial or "flame-worthy topic."

Awards and recognition

ONTD won the Best Gossip Blog award in the 2008 Weblog Awards, beating out other popular celebrity blogs such as D-Listed, Perez Hilton and TMZ, with a whopping 44% of the vote.

ONTD has been noted in O, the Oprah Magazine, cited in Life & Style, and artist Lily Allen referenced the online community in the March 2009 issue of Playboy Magazine.

The Swedish newspaper Metro described the community as "Gossip on steroids."   The paper also noted that with a high volume of posts, the reader would "find a lot of highlights, and often before newspapers get their hands on it".  The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the "scandal-mongering community overflows with interactive snark" and encouraged the reader to "imagine a gossip clearinghouse run by teenagers with bad attitudes and sharp tongues". The A.V. Club cited ONTD as a "favorite time-wasting website" and wrote that "the comments section can sometimes be more amusing than the posts themselves". In December 2009, the users of ONTD were derisively referred to as "jackals" because the stories posted on the blog are taken from other sources. In response, the users embraced the term and repeatedly used the term in later posts, as well as manipulating their icons to include photographs of the animals.

The Village Voice called the community a "psychopathic celebrity news/gossip wire-of-sorts" and its users "a community of pathologically obsessive celebrity gossip sadomasochists."

Exclusives
ONTD was the first community to break the news of Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy, after leaking OK! Magazine'''s unpublished front page cover, and was the first to report that Kirk Acevedo had announced via his Facebook status update that he had been fired from the Fox drama, Fringe.

When the rumors of Jon from Jon and Kate Gosselin's infidelity started appearing in February 2009, a photo of Jon out on town was posted on ONTD, which showed him posing with two young women in a local bar. National gossip magazines picked up the news, and a screen grab of ONTD could be seen in Star and US Weekly.

The most scandalous and notable events are often given nicknames to distinguish them in future posts, such as the January 2008 hospitalization of Britney Spears, which was dubbed Hostage Brituation '08 by the community's members.  This nickname was later picked up and used by Rolling Stone. The abuse case between singers Rihanna and Chris Brown was dubbed Domestic Disturbia '09 by the community's members, and the community was also credited with starting a meme ("Gokey is a douche") connected to some friends of American Idol'' contestant Danny Gokey's negative comments and pictures regarding fellow contestant Adam Lambert. The forced removal of "#gokeyisadouche" from Twitter's trending topics list prompted a discussion on Twitter's censorship.

The community was also responsible for a hoax that claimed actress Betty White had died. After a post titled "Renner, Just Happy to Be Here" was approved to the community, the original poster edited the post to show a screen grab of a TMZ article claiming White had died. Users displayed shock and confusion, before slowly realizing the article was a fake when not only did the source link just go to TMZ's main website, but the article mentioned "possibilities of foul play and drug abuse, and grandchildren that Betty White does not have." Community moderators deleted the post within 40 minutes, but not before "Betty White" became a Twitter trending topic. Once the hoax was discovered, fans urged each other to tweet #BettyWhiteFacts and other positive messages about White instead of spreading further death rumours.

Another notable hoax involved a fake Twitter screenshot of Michael Lohan saying his daughter Lindsay Lohan had an affair with Tommy Mottola when she was 17, and that she had HIV. Though the post was quickly deleted, Perez Hilton reported on the screenshot as if it were true and other gossip sites followed. Michael believed that the screenshot was real and that someone had hacked his Twitter account, while Lindsay refused to believe her father was innocent, stating "He's a grown man and has done the exact same things on TV/interviews, why wouldn't he lie on Twitter, and everywhere else!" The moderators of ONTD later apologized for the scandal, while stating that they were "pretty appalled to learn that NONE of the other gossip or news sites that posted the story bothered to check for accuracy and have yet to post a retraction or apology for spreading such a vicious rumor."

LiveJournal downtime
In January 2009, ONTD became the first LiveJournal community to surpass 16,777,216 (224) comments. This exceeded LiveJournal's previously unknown limit on comments. This resulted in almost a week of downtime for the community, while LiveJournal worked to fix the issue. A second community, ontd, was created and members posted and commented there until the issue was fixed.

Oh No They Didn't was briefly suspended due to an explosion in usage following the death of Michael Jackson on June 25, 2009. The amount of traffic the community received brought all of LiveJournal's servers down, resulting in downtime for the entire domain. During this time, members migrated temporarily to ontd once again.

On January 18, 2012, Oh No They Didn't blacked out for 12 hours, in protest of SOPA. The decision was left up to the users, who voted in support of the site's blackout.

Notable members
Former members:
Franchesca Ramsey
Noël Wells
Tyler Oakley
Cara Cunningham

References

External links
 Oh No They Didn't

Internet properties established in 2004
Gossip blogs
Livejournal

Oh No They Didn't


Knuckle pads (also known as "Heloderma", meaning similar to the skin of the Gila monster lizard for which it is named) are circumscribed, keratotic, fibrous growths over the dorsa of the interphalangeal joints. They are described as well-defined, round, plaque-like, fibrous thickening that may develop at any age, and grow to be 10 to 15mm in diameter in the course of a few weeks or months, then go away over time.

Knuckle pads are sometimes associated with Dupuytren's contracture and camptodactyly, and histologically, the lesions are fibromas. Knuckle pads are generally non-responsive to treatment, including corticosteroids, and tend to recur after surgery; however, there has been some effectiveness with intralesional fluorouracil.

See also
 Skin lesion
 List of cutaneous conditions
 Garrod's pad

References

Further reading

External links

Dermal and subcutaneous growths
Soft tissue disorders

Knuckle pads