Li Congke () (11 February 885 – 11 January 937), also known in historiography as the Last Emperor of Later Tang (), Deposed Emperor of Later Tang (), Wang Congke () (particularly during the succeeding Later Jin dynasty, which did not recognize him as a legitimate Later Tang emperor), or Prince of Lu (, a title Li Congke carried prior to his reign), childhood name Ershisan (, "23") or, in short, Asan (), was the last emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China. He was an adoptive son of Li Siyuan (Emperor Mingzong) and took the throne after overthrowing Emperor Mingzong's biological son Li Conghou (Emperor Min). He was later himself overthrown by his brother-in-law Shi Jingtang, who was supported by Liao troops (and whose Later Jin succeeded his).  When the combined Later Jin and Khitan forces defeated Later Tang forces, Li Congke and his family members, as well as the guards most loyal to him, ascended a tower and set it on fire, dying in the fire.

Background
Li Congke was born in 885, during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang, in Pingshan (平山, in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei).  His biological father was a man with the surname of Wang.  His mother was a Lady Wei; it seems likely, although not completely clearly stated in historical records, that Lady Wei was Wang's wife.

During the subsequent Jingfu era (892-893) of Emperor Xizong's brother and successor Emperor Zhaozong, there was a time when Li Siyuan, then an officer under his adoptive father, the major warlord Li Keyong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Hebei), was pillaging the Pingshan region under Li Keyong's command.  He happened to encounter Lady Wei and Li Congke, and he captured them.  He made Lady Wei either a co-wife (with Lady Cao, the mother of a daughter who later married Shi Jingtang and would later be empress during Later Jin, and possibly with Lady Xia, the mother of his biological sons Li Congrong and Li Conghou) or a concubine subordinated to Lady Cao. He took Li Congke as an adoptive son and named him Congke. (Li Congke was older than all of his biological sons, and it is not known whether any of them were born at this point, as the age of his two oldest biological sons, Li Congshen () and Li Congrong, were not recorded in history, although Li Conghou and another biological son, Li Congyi, were born long later.) As he was born on the 23rd day of the first lunar month of 885, he received the nickname of "Ershisan" (23), or "Asan" in short.

In his childhood, Li Congke was said to be cautious and silent.  According to an account that Li Siyuan gave later, Li Siyuan's household was not wealthy at that time, and there was often not enough money for household expenses.  Li Congke took on part of the household financial burdens by collecting lime and horse manure, for family use and/or for sale. Lady Wei died a few years after she was captured and was buried at Hedong's capital Taiyuan.

During Jin
After Tang fell in 906, Li Keyong's domain became the state of Jin and was ruled by Li Keyong, and then, after Li Keyong's death, by Li Keyong's biological son Li Cunxu, as its princes. Li Siyuan was one of Li Cunxu's major generals, and Li Congke served under him.  It was said that Li Congke was tall and strong, and had an impressive appearance; it was also said that Li Siyuan loved him greatly.  He became well known for his battle prowess, leading Li Cunxu (who was the same age as Li Congke and who was himself a ferocious warrior) to state, "Not only is Asan the same as I am in age, but he is like I am in daring to battle." Li Congke participated in a major Jin victory over the Khitan Empire in 917, serving under his father.

In late 918, Li Cunxu wanted to carry out a major campaign to destroy Jin's southern archrival Later Liang, and personally took an army south toward Later Liang's capital Daliang.  He encountered the main Later Liang army, under the command of the general He Gui, at Huliu Slope (胡柳陂, in modern Heze, Shandong), south of the Yellow River (which then served as the de facto boundary between Jin and Later Liang).  The Jin army was initially victorious, but a subsequent confusion in communications led the Jin army to believe that it was being defeated, and the army collapsed.  In the confusion, the major general Zhou Dewei was killed, and Li Siyuan lost communications with Li Cunxu, while Li Congke was in the small group of soldiers accompanying Li Cunxu himself.  Li Siyuan, believing that Li Cunxu had already crossed the Yellow River north back into Jin territory, headed north across the river, while Li Cunxu, in actuality, was still trying to battle out of the confused rout.  Li Congke, serving under Li Cunxu, subsequently assisted Li Cunxu in capturing an earthen mound, allowing Li Cunxu to have superior positioning to launch a counterattack.  The Jin counterattack was successful, allowing the Jin army to kill a large number of Later Liang soldiers and leading to the overall battle being effectively a draw, with both armies having lost two-thirds of their soldiers and unable to attack each other again for some time.  At the end of the battle, Li Cunxu was able to capture Puyang (濮陽, in modern Puyang, Henan) as a waypoint to his eventual withdrawal back to his own territory.  Li Congke also contributed to the successful counterattack.  When Li Siyuan subsequently heard that Li Cunxu was at Puyang, he turned back south and rendezvoused with Li Cunxu there.  Li Cunxu, displeased, stated, "Lord, you believed that I was dead?  Why did you cross the river?"  Li Siyuan had to bow and apologize.  It was said that Li Cunxu acted like he forgave Li Siyuan due to Li Congke's contributions, but did not completely do so in his heart, distancing himself from Li Siyuan for several years.

During Li Cunxu's reign as emperor of Later Tang
In 922, Li Cunxu claimed the title of emperor of a new state of Later Tang.  However, at that time, Later Tang was facing military pressure both from Later Liang and Khitan, and the military food supply and morale were low.  At that time, the main Later Liang army was commanded by Dai Siyuan, who also served as the military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong).  He left his officers Lu Shunmi (), Liu Suiyan (), and Yan Yong () at Tianping's capital Yun Prefecture () to defend it.  Shortly after Li Cunxu's declaration of imperial title, however, Lu defected to Later Tang and revealed that Yun was defended by less than 1,000 soldiers and that Liu and Yan lacked support from the soldiers.  He advocated that Later Tang attack it by surprise.  As Yun was deep in Later Liang territory south of the Yellow River, however, most of Li Cunxu's generals, including his chief of staff (Shumishi) Guo Chongtao, opposed Lu's proposal, believing that it would be dangerous and futile.  Li Siyuan, however, wanting to repair his relationship with Li Cunxu, offered to command this mission by himself.  Li Cunxu agreed, and allowed him to take 5,000 soldiers to, under cover of darkness, rapidly descend on Yun to attack it.  Li Siyuan's army managed to evade Later Liang detection, and when they reached Yun, Li Congke led the soldiers in scaling the walls.  The city fell to Li Siyuan, who was commissioned the military governor of Tianping and held it for Later Tang over the next several months as the Later Liang army (by then under the command of Wang Yanzhang) futilely tried to cut off the supply route from Later Tang proper to Yun.

Later Liang's emperor Zhu Zhen then decided to replace Wang with Duan Ning.  Duan crossed the Yellow River and headed for Chan Prefecture (澶州, in modern Anyang, Henan) and prepared an ambitious four-prong attack against Later Tang:

 Dong Zhang would head toward Taiyuan.
 Huo Yanwei would head toward Zhen Prefecture (鎮州, in modern Baoding, Hebei).
 Wang Yanzhang and Zhang Hanjie () would head toward Yun.
 Duan himself, along with Du Yanqiu, would confront Li Cunxu.

When Wang made an exploratory attack on Yun, however, Li Congke led a small contingent of cavalry soldiers and repelled his attack, causing him to withdraw to Zhongdu (中都, in modern Jining, Shandong).  Li Cunxu, with his resolve strengthened by Li Congke's victory, then outflanked Duan and headed to Yun to rendezvous with Li Siyuan.  Together, they then engaged Wang and Zhang at Zhongdu and defeated and captured them.  With Wang's army the only Later Liang army that stood between him and Daliang, Li Cunxu then headed directly for the defenseless Later Liang capital.  Believing defeat to be inevitable, Zhu Zhen committed suicide, ending Later Liang.  Li Cunxu, upon entering Daliang, stated to Li Siyuan, "How I came to have this realm is due to the accomplishment of you and your son.  I will share it with you and your son."  Upon his entry into Daliang, the Later Liang officials surrendered to him.  He sent Li Congke to take up position at Fengqiu (封丘, in modern Xinxiang, Henan), apparently concerned that Duan and Du may still resist, but Du and Duan subsequently each arrived at Fengqiu and surrendered as well.  By this point, Li Cunxu was in control of the Later Liang territory.

By 924, at which time there was a Khitan incursion, Li Congke carried the title of the commander of the left cavalry at the northern capital (Taiyuan), and was dispatched to the frontier, along with Li Shaobin the military governor of Henghai Circuit (橫海, headquartered in modern Cangzhou, Hebei), to defend against the Khitan.  By 925, he was serving as the prefect of Wei Prefecture (衛州, in modern Puyang).  However, when Li Siyuan made the request that Li Congke be sent back to Taiyuan, Li Cunxu was angered by what he saw as an overly daring request, and not only denied it but demoted Li Congke to be the commander of raiding troops, stationing him at Shimen Base (石門鎮, in modern Tangshan, Hebei).  This caused Li Siyuan to be fearful, and only time's passage appeared to alleviate Li Cunxu's anger. (Apparently it was around this time that, on an occasion when Li Congke was at Zhen Prefecture – which served as the capital of Chengde Circuit (), which his father Li Siyuan was the military governor of – LI Congke and Li Siyuan's close associate An Chonghui got into a dispute at dinner.  Li Congke punched A hard in the head, and An only avoided further injury by fleeing.  Li Congke later regretted and apologized, but while An accepted the apology, he bore a grudge against Li Congke from that point on.)

In 926, Li Cunxu and his wife Empress Liu, suspecting Guo and another major general, Zhu Youqian, of treason, killed them.  This caused the army morale to collapse, and many mutinies rose against him throughout the Later Tang realm.  He sent Li Siyuan to combat one of the major ones, at Yedu (鄴都, in modern Handan, Hebei), but Li Siyuan's own soldiers also mutinied and forced him to join forces with the Yedu mutineers.  Fearing that he would not be able to explain himself, Li Siyuan decided to actually rebel against Li Cunxu, and he headed south toward Daliang and then-capital Luoyang.  Li Congke took his soldiers and rendezvoused with Chengde's disciplinary officer Wang Jianli at Zhen, and they headed south together to reinforce Li Siyuan's troops.  Li Siyuan was able to enter Daliang quickly and then head toward Luoyang. Before he could reach there, though, Li Cunxu was killed in a mutiny at Luoyang itself.  Li Siyuan entered Luoyang and took the title of regent, as he was apparently undecided at that time whether to support Li Cunxu's son Li Jiji the Prince of Wei, who was returning from an expedition that destroyed Later Tang's southwestern neighbor Former Shu.

During Li Siyuan's reign
However, Li Siyuan subsequently became resolved to resist Li Jiji, and he sent Li Congke to Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) and Shi Jingtang to Baoyi Circuit (保義, headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), to serve as their acting military governors and to defend against potential attacks by Li Jiji.  Li Jiji's own army abandoned him, however, and he committed suicide, ending the possibility of a confrontation.  Li Siyuan then took imperial title. Apparently shortly after, Li Congke was made the full military governor of Huguo.  In 927, he received the honorary titles of acting Taibao () and chancellor (同中書門下平章事, Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi).  He subsequently received the honorary titles of acting Taifu () and then acting Taiwei ().

Early in Li Siyuan's reign, An Chonghui became chief of staff and was the most powerful official at court, such that even Li Congke's adoptive brothers Li Congrong and Li Conghou had to honor him.  An, still begrudging Li Congke over their long-ago confrontation, began to speak poorly of Li Congke to Li Siyuan, but Li Siyuan initially did nothing.  In 930, An issued an order in Li Siyuan's name to Li Congke's guard commander Yang Yanwen (), ordering him to expel Li Congke.  Yang found an opportunity when Li Congke went outside the city walls of Huguo's capital Hezhong Municipality () to examine cavalry troops, and locked the city gates, refusing Li Congke reentry.  When Li Congke questioned him why he did so, Yang responded, "It is not that I, Yang Yanwen, wishes to turn away from the grace you showed me.  It is that the Office of the Chancellor issued an order to ask you, Lord, to pay homage to the emperor."  Li Congke decided to head toward Luoyang but stop at Yuxiang (虞鄉, in modern Yuncheng) and report this to Li Siyuan.  Li Siyuan became suspicious, but An disavowed any connection to Yang and stated that Yang must just be a mutineer.  Li Siyuan sent the generals Suo Zitong () and Yao Yanchou () to attack Yang, with the orders that Yang should be captured alive so that the emperor could question Yang himself.  Apparently under An's orders, however, when Suo and Yao captured the city, they executed Yang.  Li Siyuan was very angry, but did not punish them.

An then induced the chancellors Zhao Feng and Feng Dao to suggest that, due to the loss of the control of the circuit, Li Congke should be punished.  Li Siyuan, however, refused, and he did as well when An himself spoke on the issue, but ordered Li Congke to return to his mansion at the capital.  After Suo was subsequently made the military governor of Huguo, An encouraged him to make false reports that Li Congke was making weapons without permission.  It was said that it was only due to efforts of Li Siyuan's favorite concubine Consort Wang that Li Congke escaped further punishment.  The officials did not dare to associate with Li Congke, except for Li Qi, who lived close to Li Congke, and during this period of home living, Li Congke often consulted Li Qi before submitting monthly reports to Li Siyuan. During this period, Li Congke was said to often recite Buddhist sutras and pray.

In 931, An lost power, as he was removed as chief of staff (and was eventually executed).  After An's removal, Li Siyuan summoned Li Congke and tearfully stated to him, "If I followed An Chonghui's wishes, how could I have seen you again?"  He made Li Congke a general of the imperial guards, and shortly after restored his honorary chancellor title and made him the defender of the western capital Chang'an. In 932, Li Congke was moved to be the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi).  In 933, Li Siyuan created him the Prince of Lu (at the same time that Li Congyi and Li Siyuan's nephews Li Congwen (), Li Congzhang (), and Li Congmin () were also created imperial princes).

In late 933, Li Siyuan fell deathly ill.  Li Congrong, fearing that he would not be able to inherit the throne, tried to seize power, but was defeated and killed by the imperial guards.  Li Siyuan died shortly after, and Li Conghou inherited the throne.

During Li Conghou's reign
Li Conghou's administration was dominated by his chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, who were apprehensive of both Li Congke and Shi Jingtang, who was then the military governor of Hedong, as both had served Li Siyuan far longer and had greater popularity among the imperial troops.  Their suspicions were stoked by the failure of Li Congke to come to Luoyang to attend to Li Siyuan's funeral.  They decided to place greater control on Li Congke's family by sending Li Congke's son Li Chongji (), who had been an imperial guard officer, to Bo Prefecture (亳州, in modern Bozhou, Anhui) to serve as its prefect, and by summoning Li Congke's daughter Li Huiming (), who had become a Buddhist nun at Luoyang, into the palace to keep her under guard.  These moves caused Li Congke to be fearful of their intentions.

In spring 934, Zhu and Feng, not wanting Shi and Li Congke to become entrenched at their circuits, issued orders as chiefs of staff – without an imperial edict – transferring Li Congke to Hedong, Shi to Chengde, and Chengde's military governor Fan Yanguang to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered at Yedu).  Fearful of the implications – particularly because Li Congzhang was to serve as acting military governor of Fengxiang, and Li Congzhang was known for violence, including personally killing An Chonghui with his hands – Li Congke consulted his staff members, most of whom advised him to rebel.  He therefore did so, issuing a declaration that targeted Zhu and Feng for improper administration, killing Li Congrong, and supporting Li Conghou.

Li Congke's declaration initially drew little support from other regional governors, most of whom arrested his messengers while some were acting ambiguously.  Li Conghou subsequently commissioned Chang'an's defender Wang Sitong to head the imperial army against Li Congke.  The imperial army quickly arrived at Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality and put it under siege.  As the city's walls were low and difficult to defend, the city came close to falling.  Li Congke, hoping to sway the imperial army's morale, went up city walls and tearfully stated to them:

Many of the imperial soldiers had already been inclined to support Li Congke, and the speech touched them.  When the imperial general Zhang Qianzhao () subsequently forced soldiers to scale Fengxiang's walls by threatening them with swords, the soldiers mutinied.  The officer Yang Siquan () took the opportunity to defect to Li Congke with his troops, leading to a general panic among the imperial troops.  Most surrendered to Li Congke, while Wang and Yao fled but were eventually captured.

Li Congke advanced toward Luoyang.  Li Conghou had Li Chongji and Li Huiming executed, and put his remaining troops under the command of Kang Yicheng (), who was to head west to resist Li Congke.  However, when Kang's army encountered Li Congke's, Kang, as he had previously planned, surrendered to Li Congke as well.  Hearing of this and believing that he had no further means to resist, Li Conghou fled the capital.

When the officials remaining at Luoyang then offered the throne to Li Congke, Li Congke initially declined.  However, Empress Dowager Cao then issued an edict deposing Li Conghou and declaring Li Congke emperor, and Li Congke accepted.  Li Conghou initially tried to resist by enlisting aid from Shi, who had headed south, initially with the intent of supporting Li Conghou, but Shi, judging the situation to be untenable, had Li Conghou's guards killed, leaving him defenseless.  Li Congke subsequently sent messengers to Wei Prefecture, where Li Conghou had fled, to have Li Conghou killed.  Li Conghou's wife Empress Kong and their four sons were also killed.

Reign
One immediate issue for Li Congke to confront was the fact that the imperial treasury lacked the resources for him to give out rewards of what he promised both his initial own Fengxiang soldiers and the imperial soldiers who submitted to him.  Listening to the imperial scholar Li Zhuanmei (), he gave out a reduced amount of rewards within the means of the imperial treasury, which drew resentment.

Another issue he had to confront was what to do with Shi Jingtang, whom, while a brother-in-law, he had long had a rivalry with.  Empress Dowager Cao and Shi's wife the Princess of Wei both requested that Shi be allowed to return to Hedong, but Li Congke's own close associates mostly advocated keeping Shi at Luoyang.  Li Congke's chief of staff Han Zhaoyin and Li Zhuanmei, however, believed that keeping Shi at Luoyang would cause both another brother-in-law, Zhao Yanshou the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Daliang) and Zhao's father Zhao Dejun the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), to become apprehensive.  As Shi appeared physically feeble at the time (after a lengthy illness), Li Congke considered him unlikely to be a future threat, and therefore sent him back to Hedong.

Throughout 935, there were repeated Khitan raids into Later Tang territory.  Further, there were various floods and droughts in the realm, such that, as a combination, there were famines and refugee flights.  With Shi and Zhao Dejun repeatedly asking for reinforcements and supplies, the people were becoming overburdened.  Further, during a time when an imperial emissaries were delivering military uniforms to Shi's soldiers, Shi's soldiers were repeatedly chanting at Shi, "May you live 10,000 years!"  (That was a statement that was only supposed to be stated to emperors.) While Shi executed 36 soldiers who led the chant, Li Congke nevertheless became more suspicious of Shi, and therefore commissioned Zhang Jingda the military governor of Wuning Circuit (武寧, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu) to be Shi's deputy as the commander of the armies in the north, to divide Shi's authority.

Defeat and death
By spring 936, the tension between Li Congke and Shi had become very strong – as Shi was gathering up his wealth and consolidating them at Hedong, and it was commonly believed that Shi would rebel.  Li Congke aggravated the situation when Shi's wife – whose title had by that point had become the greater title of Grand Princess of Jin – came to Luoyang to celebrate Li Congke's birthday.  After she offered Li Congke wine to wish him long life, she asked to take leave of him and return to Hedong.  Li Congke was already drunk, and he made the comment, "Why do you not stay longer?  You wanted to return so quickly.  Is it that you are about to rebel with Master Shi?"  When she returned to Taiyuan and informed Shi, Shi became even more apprehensive.

The imperial scholars Li Song and Lü Qi () believed that the solution was to ally with the Khitan Empire.  They suggested that certain previously captured Khitan officers be released back to the Khitan; and that a certain amount of money be given to the Khitan each year.  The chancellor Zhang Yanlang supported their proposal.  However, another imperial scholar, Xue Wenyu () opposed, believing that it was likely to lead to the Khitan's asking for Li Congke's daughter in marriage, which Xue considered humiliating.  Li Congke therefore put a stop to the proposal and demoted Lü.

In summer 936, at Xue's suggestion, Li Congke issued an edict moving Shi from Hedong to Tianping.  Shi, in fear he would be killed en route, rebelled.  Li Congke commissioned Zhang Jingda to lead the imperial troops against Shi, and Zhang quickly put Taiyuan under siege, but was unable to capture it quickly.  Shi sought aid from Khitan's Emperor Taizong, promising that if Emperor Taizong agreed to support him as emperor, he would cede 16 prefectures to the north (the entire Lulong Circuit and the northern prefectures of Hedong Circuit) to Khitan.  Emperor Taizong agreed, arriving in Hedong territory in fall 936.  He quickly engaged Zhang's Later Tang imperial army, defeating Zhang. The remnants of Zhang's army was subsequently surrounded by the Khitan/Hedong troops at Jin'an Base (晉安寨, near Taiyuan).

While Jin'an was still under siege, Emperor Taizong declared Shi the emperor of a new state of Later Jin.  Most officials advocated that Li Congke himself lead an army against Shi.  Li Congke felt compelled to do so, but as he feared engaging Shi himself – as he was apparently both apprehensive of Shi's abilities and suffering from an illness at the time, and often resorted to drinking as a coping mechanism – stopped after reaching Heyang (河陽, slightly north of Luoyang).  Instead, he ordered Zhao Dejun and Fan Yanguang (then the military governor of Tianxiong) to launch their troops to try to lift the siege on Jin'an.  However, Zhao was intending to garner Khitan support for him to be made emperor instead, and therefore, as he approached Jin'an, stopped his army while engaging in secret negotiations with Emperor Taizong.  Emperor Taizong was initially enticed (as he viewed Zhao's army to be still a strong one and difficult to deal with), but at the earnest beseeching of Shi's staff member Sang Weihan, decided to continue to support Shi.  The siege of Jin'an continued, and eventually, Zhang's deputy Yang Guangyuan killed Zhang and surrendered.

With Zhang's army now under Khitan/Later Jin control, the joint Khitan/Later Jin army moved to engage Zhao's army, which effectively collapsed without a battle.  Zhao Dejun and Zhao Yanshou (who had joined his father) surrendered to Emperor Taizong, leaving essentially no army to stop the Khitan/Later Jin advance toward Luoyang.  Li Congke returned to Luoyang, and ascended a tower with his family (including Empress Dowager Cao, his wife Empress Liu, and his children), as well as some loyal officers.  He set fire to it for them to commit suicide together.  Shi subsequently entered Luoyang and took over the Later Tang realm. Shi subsequently gathered his bones and buried them near Li Siyuan's tomb.

In fiction
Li Congke's background was the basis of a 14th-century zaju by the Yuan Dynasty playwright Guan Hanqing titled "Madame Liu Hosts the Celebration Feast for the Five Marquesses" ().

Personal information
 Father
 Wang (), personal name unknown
 Mother
 Lady Wei, posthumously honored the Lady of Lu, later further honored Empress Xuanxian (honored 935)
 Adoptive Father
 Li Siyuan
 Wife
 Empress Liu, initially the Lady of Pei, later empress (created 934, committed suicide 937)
 Children
 Li Chongji (), born by Empress Liu (killed by Li Conghou 934)
 Li Chongmei (), the Prince of Yong (created 936, committed suicide 937)
 Li Huiming (), Buddhist nun with the dharma name Youcheng () (killed by Li Conghou 934)
 A daughter, still young when Li Congke died

References

Citations

Sources

 Old History of the Five Dynasties, vols. 46, 47, 48.
 New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 7.
 Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 268, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 277, 278, 279, 280.

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885 births
937 deaths
Later Tang emperors
10th-century Chinese monarchs
Heads of state who committed suicide
Suicides in Later Tang
Suicides by self-immolation
Political office-holders in Henan
Hezhong jiedushi
Mayors of Xi'an
Fengxiang jiedushi
Later Tang jiedushi
Politicians from Shijiazhuang
Generals from Hebei
Later Tang Buddhists
Jin (Later Tang precursor) people
Hedong jiedushi
10th-century Chinese adoptees
9th-century Chinese adoptees
Chinese Buddhist monarchs
10th-century Buddhists


Beeville Bee-Picayune is a newspaper based in Beeville, Texas. The paper was sold by Beeville Publishing Co., Inc. to Coastal Bend Publishing, an affiliate of McElvy Media Group, effective Feb. 1, 2020. Other papers included in the deal were the Advance-Guard Press, the News of San Patricio, the Progress and Karnes Countywide.

References

Newspapers published in Texas
Bee County, Texas

1886 establishments in Texas
Newspapers established in 1886


Alexander Domínguez Carabalí (born 5 June 1987) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper  for Liga PRO Ecuador club  LDU Quito and the Ecuador national team.

Club career

LDU Quito
Domínguez played for L.D.U. Quito from 2006 to 2016, taking over the starting spot from José Francisco Cevallos. He won two Ecuadorian Serie A titles, the 2009 Copa Sudamericana, the 2009 Recopa Sudamericana and the 2010 Recopa Sudamericana.

Domínguez is one of the top 300 goalkeepers in the world, the third highest ranked Ecuadorian, and the highest ranked active Ecuadorian in terms of time spent without conceding a goal. From 2 September 2007 to 28 October 2007, he went 719 minutes without conceding a goal. He is nicknamed "Dida", after the Brazilian keeper of the same name.

Monterrey
On 22 June 2016, it was confirmed that Domínguez would be joining Monterrey.

Cerro Largo
Dominguez joined Uruguayan club Cerro Largo as a free agent on 20 August 2021. He played his first league match on 13 September 2021.

International career
Domínguez is a former Ecuadorian youth international, who represented the country at the 2007 South American U-20 Championship.

Domínguez received his first call-ups for the senior Ecuador national football team in May 2010 for friendlies against Mexico and South Korea. However, he remained an unused substitute. Because of club-related commitments, he would not receive another call-up until February 2011 for a friendly against Honduras. Again, he was an unused substitute. Manager Reinaldo Rueda finally gave Domínguez his first cap on 26 March 2011 in a 2–0 friendly defeat to Colombia. At the 2011 Copa América, he served as back-up to Marcelo Elizaga.

He established himself as Ecuador's first choice goalkeeper during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, making 12 appearances for La Tri.

In June 2014, Domínguez was named in Ecuador's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 15 June, he made his FIFA World Cup debut in a 2–1 defeat to Switzerland at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasília.

On 25 June 2014, Domínguez was named Man of the Match vs. France in Ecuador's final match at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Domínguez kept a clean sheet and stopped shots from the likes of Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba, and Olivier Giroud.

Honors
L.D.U. Quito
Serie A (2): 2007, 2010
Recopa Sudamericana (2): 2009, 2010
Copa Sudamericana (2): 2009, 2023

Deportes Tolima
Superliga Colombiana (1) :2022

References

External links

 Domínguez's FEF player card

1987 births
Living people
Copa Sudamericana-winning players
Ecuadorian men's footballers
Ecuador men's international footballers
L.D.U. Quito footballers
C.F. Monterrey players
Club Atlético Colón footballers
Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers
Ecuadorian Serie A players
Liga MX players
Argentine Primera División players
Men's association football goalkeepers
2011 Copa América players
2014 FIFA World Cup players
2015 Copa América players
Copa América Centenario players
2019 Copa América players
2021 Copa América players
Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina
Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina
People from Esmeraldas Province
2022 FIFA World Cup players


Li Conghou () (914–934), posthumous name Emperor Min of Later Tang (), childhood name Pusanu (菩薩奴, "slave of a Bodhisattva"), was an emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, ruling between 933 and 934. He was overthrown by his adopted brother Li Congke.

Background
Li Conghou was born in 914, when his father Li Siyuan was a general of Jin (predecessor state to Later Tang), under his adoptive brother (Li Conghou's adoptive uncle) Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin.  His mother was Lady Xia, who was either a concubine of Li Siyuan's or a co-wife with Lady Cao, and who was also the mother of his older brother Li Congrong.  He was either Li Siyuan's third son (per the Old History of the Five Dynasties) or his fifth son (per the New History of the Five Dynasties).  He was born at Li Siyuan's mansion in then-Jin capital Taiyuan.  It was said that even in his childhood, he liked reading the Spring and Autumn Annals and was able to understand some of it.  As his appearance was like his father Li Siyuan's, his father loved him.

During Li Siyuan's reign
In 926, Li Cunxu, then the emperor of Later Tang, was killed in a mutiny at then-capital Luoyang.  Li Siyuan subsequently claimed imperial title.  In 927, he made Li Conghou the mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the Luoyang region) as well as the honorary chancellor designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (), as well as the command of the imperial guards.  This displeased Li Conghou's older brother Li Congrong, who was then the military governor (Jiedushi) of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), as this allowed Li Conghou to remain at the capital and control the imperial guards.  (Li Conghou's and Li Congrong's mother Lady Xia was deceased by this point.)

In 928, Li Siyuan, under the suggestion of his favorite concubine Consort Wang, arranged to have Li Conghou betrothed to the daughter of the chancellor-chief of staff Kong Xun.  This drew the anger of Kong's fellow chief of staff, the more powerful An Chonghui, whom Kong had earlier dissuaded from giving a daughter to a son of Li Siyuan's (unclear whether it was Li Conghou) in marriage, and An had Kong ejected from the imperial government (which was then at Kaifeng) to be the defender of Luoyang.  Shortly thereafter, Li Conghou was made the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered at Kaifeng) and continued to command the imperial guards.  Later in the year, he married Lady Kong as his wife; Kong Xun was allowed to attend the ceremony, but due to An's opposition, was not allowed to remain at Kaifeng, and shortly after had to return to Luoyang.  Meanwhile, it was said that Li Conghou developed a reputation for being respectful, humble, and willing to listen to others — characteristics that Li Siyuan hoped that his older brother Li Congrong, who was then the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered at Taiyuan) would emulate (as Li Congrong was said to be arrogant and violent), to no avail.

In 929, Li Siyuan made Li Conghou the military governor of Hedong and the defender of Taiyuan, while making Li Congrong the mayor of Henan and the commander of the imperial guards.  (By that point, the imperial government had returned to Luoyang.)

In 930, Li Siyuan created Li Congrong the Prince of Qin and Li Conghou the Prince of Song.

In 931, Li Siyuan moved Li Conghou to Tianxiong.

In 932, Li Siyuan gave Li Conghou the greater honorary chancellor title of Zhongshu Ling ().  By that point, Li Congrong was the dominant figure at court, and was disrespectful of all high-level officials.  He also was jealous for the fact that Li Conghou had better reputation than he had.  Li Conghou, however, was humble toward his brother, such that the relationship between them was not completely damaged, at least in public.

By late 933, Li Siyuan was extremely ill.  Li Congrong, concerned about whether the high-level officials would try to divert the succession away from him, tried to seize control of the imperial government by force, but was defeated by forces under the command of then-chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun and killed.  Li Siyuan subsequently decided to summon Li Conghou, but before Li Conghou could arrive at Luoyang, Li Siyuan died.  Li Conghou subsequently arrived and took the throne.

Reign
Upon Li Conghou's taking of the throne, Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, believing that they were responsible for his becoming emperor, dominated the court scene.  They also excluded a number of Li Conghou's close associates from court, despite his displeasure.  Meanwhile, Li Conghou honored Li Siyuan's wife Empress Cao as empress dowager and Consort Wang as consort dowager (despite his nagging suspicions that she was in league with Li Congrong).  (Historical accounts were inconsistent as to whether he also created his wife Princess Kong to be empress, although it appeared that she was created an empress but that he never got a chance to carry out a formal creation ceremony.)

Zhu and Feng were suspicious of Li Conghou's older adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu, who then served as the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), and brother-in-law Shi Jingtang, who then served as the military governor of Hedong.  They removed Li Congke's son Li Chongji () from his position as an officer of the imperial guards, while placing his daughter Li Huiming (), who was a Buddhist nun at Luoyang, inside the palace, causing Li Congke to become apprehensive.  In spring 934, they further decided to dislodge Shi by moving Li Congke from Fengxiang to Hedong, Shi from Hedong to Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Chengde's military governor Fan Yanguang to Tianxiong.  They did so without having Li Conghou issue a formal edict; rather, they issued these orders from the Office of the Chiefs of Staff.

This, however, drew a violent reaction from Li Congke, as he believed these movements to be targeting him.  He thus rebelled, claiming that Zhu and Feng were falsely controlling the government.  Li Conghou commissioned the general Wang Sitong to command an army against Li Congke.  Wang's army was initially successful, and it appeared that Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality would fall.  However, a mutiny by a group of soldiers under the officer Yang Siquan (), who surrendered to Li Congke, led to a chain reaction where the imperial army collapsed, with most of the soldiers surrendering to Li Congke.  Li Congke then marched toward Luoyang.

Hearing of this military disaster, Li Conghou initially considered personally going to meet Li Congke and yielding the throne to him.  However, his original inclination was opposed by the imperial general Kang Yicheng () — who, instead, was planning on surrendering to Li Congke himself with the imperial army, but who claimed to be loyal and willing to fight Li Congke on the battlefield.  Li Conghou put him in charge of the remainder of the imperial army and had him engage Li Congke.  (Around this time, Li Chongji and Li Huiming were executed.)  Instead, Kang surrendered to Li Congke.

Kang's surrender caused Li Conghou to panic.  He considered fleeing to Tianxiong, and he summoned Zhu to plan the journey.  Instead, Zhu committed suicide, and the imperial guard general An Congjin then killed Feng, offering Zhu's and Feng's heads to Li Congke.  Li Conghou fled Luoyang with just 50 cavalry soldiers, toward Tianxiong's capital Wei Prefecture ().

When Li Conghou reached Wei Prefecture (衛州, in modern Anyang, Henan, a different prefecture than the capital of Tianxiong), he encountered Shi, who had himself gone from Hedong south, initially intending to support Li Conghou.  Shi consulted the prefect of Wei, Wang Hongzhi (), who advised Shi that Li Conghou's cause was hopeless.  When Li Conghou's guards Sha Shourong () and Ben Hongjin () heard of this, they cursed Shi for being faithless, and Sha tried to assassinate Shi, but he and Shi's guard Chen Hui () ended up killing each other in mutual combat.  Ben committed suicide.  Shi's officer Liu Zhiyuan then slaughtered all of Li Conghou's guards, leaving Li Conghou alone at the imperial messenger station at Wei, while Shi himself and his followers continued on to Luoyang (to offer their allegiance to Li Congke).

Shortly after, Empress Dowager Cao issued an edict deposing Li Conghou and demoting him to the title of Prince of E, and declaring Li Congke emperor.  Li Congke then took the throne at Luoyang.  Meanwhile, Wang Hongzhi moved Li Conghou to a residence within the Wei Prefecture government.  Li Congke then sent Wang's son Wang Luan () with poisoned wine to Wei.  When Wang Luan met with Li Conghou, he did not mention what he was there for, but offered wine to Li Conghou.  Li Conghou, knowing that the wine was poisoned, refused to drink, so Wang Luan strangled him to death.  Li Congke also had Empress Kong and Li Conghou's four sons put to death.  Li Conghou was buried with only ceremony due a prince, south of Li Siyuan's tomb.  It was not until Shi subsequently overthrew Li Congke and declared himself emperor of a new Later Jin that he posthumously rehonored Li Conghou as an emperor.

Personal information
 Father
 Li Siyuan (Emperor Mingzong)
 Mother
 Lady Xia, initially posthumously honored the Lady of Jin, later Empress Zhaoyi
 Wife
 Empress Kong (executed by Li Congke 934) mother of all 4 princes
 Children
 Li Chongzhe () (executed by Li Congke 934)
 Three sons, names unknown (executed by Li Congke 934)

References

 Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 45.
 New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 7.
 Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 275, 276, 277, 278, 279.

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10th-century Chinese monarchs
914 births
934 deaths
Later Tang emperors
People executed by strangulation
People executed by Later Tang
Executed Later Tang people
Politicians from Taiyuan
Executed people from Shanxi
Mayors of Luoyang
Xuanwu jiedushi
Hedong jiedushi
Chengde jiedushi
Later Tang jiedushi
Weibo jiedushi
Generals from Shanxi
Murdered Chinese emperors


USS Half Moon (AVP-26) was a seaplane tender that in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Half Moon (WAVP-378), later WHEC-378, from 1948 to 1969, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career.

Construction and commissioning
Half Moon was laid down as a small seaplane tender (AVP-26) on 10 March 1942 by Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Washington, and was launched as such on 12 July 1942, sponsored by Mrs. T. A. Gray.  In March 1943 she was selected for conversion into a motor torpedo boat tender and redesignated AGP-6, but she was so close to completion as a seaplane tender that it soon was decided to convert the seaplane tender USS Oyster Bay (AVP-28) into a motor torpedo boat tender instead; Oyster Bay was designated AGP-6 and became . Half Moon, meanwhile, was again classified as a seaplane tender, again designated AVP-26 on 1 May 1943, and commissioned as such on 15 June 1943.

United States Navy service

World War II
Half Moon spent her first months in shakedown training off California, and was then assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet. Departing San Diego, California, on 25 August 1943, she embarked a United States Marine Corps air group at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and steamed into Vila Harbor, New Hebrides, on 14 September 1943. She then sailed to Brisbane, Australia.

The New Guinea campaign
From Brisbane, Half Moon moved to Namoai Bay, on Sariba Island, New Guinea, arriving on 6 October 1943. At Namoai Bay Half Moon began her tending duties. Her embarked squadron, flying PBY Catalina flying boats, conducted night antishipping strikes in the New Guinea area. With the support of seaplane tenders like Half Moon these missions, called '"Black Cat" strikes, achieved important results in the destruction of Japanese transports.

Half Moon departed for Brisbane on 21 December 1943, remained there until 10 February 1944, and then steamed into a succession of New Guinea ports on the way to her new operating base, Finschafen, New Guinea. There she resumed her support of seaplane operations in the New Guinea theater.

After tending seaplanes on air-sea rescue missions from Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, in May 1944, Half Moon spent several months substituting for transports in the Pacific area, stopping at Brisbane, Manus Island, Milne Bay, and other ports. She took up "Black Cat" operations again on 25 August 1944 from Middelburg and later Morotai.

The Philippines campaign
Steaming out of Morotai on 6 October 1944, Half Moon joined a small convoy en route to Leyte Gulf to assist in the developing operations for the recapture of the Philippine Islands. The convoy arrived at Leyte Gulf on 21 October 1944, and Half Moon immediately steamed down the eastern coast of Leyte in search of a proper anchorage for her seaplane operations.

Anchoring in Hinamangan Bay, Half Moon came under air attack on 23 October 1944, and soon realized that her anchorage was a rendezvous point for Japanese planes attacking Leyte. Late on 24 October 1944 the radar aboard Half Moon began to pick up two large surface units converging and it was soon clear that she was to be a witness to the last engagement between battlelines of surface ships, the Battle of Surigao Strait, one of several actions making up the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf of 23 October 1944 – 26 October 1944. Half Moon cautiously slipped out from behind Oabugan Grande Island and was given permission to proceed up the coast of Leyte between, but well to the west of, the two fleets. She watched the spectacle of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's battleships, cruisers, and destroyers pounding the Japanese ships, and after the battle returned to Hinamangan Bay. Another fierce air attack, however, soon convinced the commanding officer of Half Moon that San Pedro Bay, further north, offered a more hospitable base for operation.

Half Moon weathered two severe storms, on 29 October 1944 and 8 November 1944, and operated with her seaplanes in Leyte Gulf until 27 December 1944. She was then designated as part of the support convoy for the Mindoro landing, and departed for Mangarin Bay on 27 December 1944. The convoy, known as "Uncle plus 15", encountered some of the most prolonged and determined air attacks of World War II as the Japanese strove mightily to prevent American reinforcements from reaching Mindoro. Air cover provided by land-based aircraft stopped only some of the Japanese attackers. Suicide planes (kamikazes), bombs, and strafing hit many ships. The Liberty Ship SS John Burke, loaded with ammunition, exploded, leaving virtually no trace after a kamikaze hit, the tanker  and the motor torpedo boat tender  were severely damaged, and other ships also suffered hits.

Nevertheless, the convoy drove through, giving the Japanese planes a hot time with concentrated antiaircraft fire. During the convoy's three-day voyage, gunners on Half Moon and the other ships were at their stations around the clock, Half Moon accounting for at least two and possibly four of the attacking aircraft.

The convoy arrived at Mindoro on 30 December 1944. Air attacks continued. On 4 January 1945 during one of these a large bomb skipped over Half Moon's fantail, falling to explode. Half Moon remained in Mangarin Bay tending seaplanes until returning to Leyte Gulf on 17 February 1945.

Following the victorious Philippine invasion, Half Moon moved to Manus and Humboldt Bay. While in dry dock at Manus a sole Japanese aircraft launched a torpedo at Half Moon, striking the dry dock and destroying its mess hall.  There was no damage to Half Moon and only one injury, a crew member who fell off the top of the dock while fishing.  The following day Tokyo Rose reported that Half Moon had been sunk.

On 30 May 1945, Half Moon got underway for the Philippines again, arriving at Tawi Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago on 11 June 1945. She supported seaplane antisubmarine searches from Tawi Tawi Bay until early August 1945, and then carried out the same mission from Mangarin Bay on Mindoro.

Honors and awards
Half Moon received two battle stars for her World War II service.

Post-World War II

Following Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945, Half Moon proceeded to Subic Bay on Luzon in the Philippines, and from there got underway for Okinawa on 30 August 1945. On the afternoon of 31 August 1945 signs of a storm were evident and by 1 September 1945 Half Moon was engulfed in a raging typhoon, with winds up to  (222 kilometers per hour) and barometer readings of 27.32 inches (925 millibars). Smart seamanship allowed her to weather the storm, and she arrived safely at Okinawa on 4 September 1945.

Half Moon departed Okinawa for Manila on 1 October 1945, operated in that area for about a month, and departed Manila on 7 November 1945 for deactivation. She arrived at Seattle, Washington, on 1 December 1945, steamed to San Diego on 12 April 1946, decommissioned there on 4 September 1946, and was placed in reserve.

United States Coast Guard service
Barnegat-class ships were very reliable and seaworthy and had good habitability, and the Coast Guard viewed them as ideal for ocean station duty, in which they would perform weather reporting and search and rescue tasks, once they were modified by having a balloon shelter added aft and having oceanographic equipment, an oceanographic winch, and a hydrographic winch installed. After World War II, the U.S. Navy transferred 18 of the ships to the Coast Guard, in which they were known as the Casco-class cutters.

The U.S. Navy loaned Half Moon to the United States Coast Guard on 30 July 1948. After undergoing conversion for Coast Guard use, she was commissioned into the Coast Guard on 14 September 1948 as USCGC Half Moon (WAVP-378).

Atlantic operations 1948-1967

Half Moon was stationed at Staten Island and Governors Island in New York City throughout her Coast Guard career. Her primary duty was to serve on ocean stations in the Atlantic Ocean to gather meteorological data. While on duty in one of these stations, she was required to patrol a 210-square-mile (544-square-kilometer) area for three weeks at a time, leaving the area only when physically relieved by another Coast Guard cutter or in the case of a dire emergency. While on station, she acted as an aircraft check point at the point of no return, a relay point for messages from ships and aircraft, as a source of the latest weather information for passing aircraft, as a floating oceanographic laboratory, and as a search-and-rescue ship for downed aircraft and vessels in distress, and she engaged in law enforcement operations.

On 24 and 25 August 1951, Half Moon assisted the merchant ship Castello Guadalest in the North Atlantic at .

While in Bermuda on a United States Coast Guard Reserve training cruise, Half Moon helped civil authorities in fight a fire aboard the merchant ship Coastal Service at Ordnance Wharf in St. George's, on 14 August 1963.

Half Moon was reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-378 on 1 May 1966. Her loan period from the U.S. Navy came to an end on 26 September 1966, when she was transferred permanently from the Navy to the Coast Guard.

On 11 January 1967, Half Moon seized four American fishing vessels seven nautical miles (13 kilometers) northwest of Dog Rocks following a shooting incident in which one person was killed and another wounded.

Vietnam War service 1967

Half Moon sailed from New York Harbor on 1 April 1967 under the command of Commander Emmett G. McCarthy, bound for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and an assignment to Coast Guard Squadron Three. The squadron, which was designated Task Unit 70.8.6, was activated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 24 April 1967 when its commander, Captain John E. Day, hoisted his flag aboard his flagship, the Coast Guard cutter .

Coast Guard Squadron Three was tasked to operate in the South China Sea in conjunction with U.S. Navy forces in Operation Market Time, the interdiction of North Vietnamese arms and munitions traffic along the coastline of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The squadrons other Vietnam War duties included fire support for ground forces, resupplying Coast Guard and Navy patrol boats, and search-and-rescue operations. Serving in the squadron with Gresham and Half Moon were the cutters ,  and ; like Half Moon and Gresham, they all were former Navy Barnegat-class ships. They departed Pearl Harbor on 26 April 1967 and reported to Commander, United States Seventh Fleet, for Market Time duty on 4 May 1967. They were joined by Navy radar picket destroyer escorts (DERs) of Escort Squadrons 5 and 7.

The ten Market Time ships arrived at Subic Bay in the Philippines on 10 May 1967. The five Coast Guard cutters and five Navy destroyer escorts continuously manned four Market Time stations off Vietnam, while only Navy warships served on two Taiwan patrol stations. One ship rotated duty as the station ship in Hong Kong.

During her tour, Half Moon conducted nine naval gunfire missions along the coast of South Vietnam in support of forces ashore. On 12 September 1967 she was ordered to fire on a Viet Cong (VC) build-up in An Xugen Province; her gunfire killed at least one VC soldier and destroyed three fortifications on that occasion. During her tour, she was credited with killing at least 13 VC soldiers, destroying 64 military emplacements and structures, and sinking four sampans. Half Moon also served as a home base for 50-foot (15.25 m) U.S. Navy Patrol Craft Fast and participated in search and rescue operations.

Half Moon concluded her Vietnam War tour on 29 December 1967.

Honors and awards
See note.

Atlantic operations 1968-1969

Half Moon returned from Vietnam to her home port at New York City on 22 January 1968 and resumed her routine Coast Guard operations in the Atlantic. On 11 July 1968 she helped to evacuate an injured crewman from the West German merchant ship Brunsdeich.

Decommissioning and disposal

The Coast Guard decommissioned Half Moon on 15 July 1969. She was sold for scrapping on 29 April 1970 to Cantieri Navali, Genoa, Italy, for a bid price of $66,000 (USD).

Notes

References

 Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Half Moon (AVP-26), 1943-1948
 NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive AVP-26 Half Moon WAVP-378 / WHEC-378 Half Moon
 United States Coast Guard Historians Office: Half Moon, 1948 WHEC-378 Radio call sign: NBQR
United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Mackinac, 1949 WHEC-371
United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Gresham, 1947 AGP-9; AVP-57; WAVP / WHEC / WAGW-387 ex-USS Willoughby Radio call sign: NODB
 Chesneau, Roger. Conways All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. .
Gardiner, Robert. Conway's All the Worlds Fighting Ships 1947-1982, Part I: The Western Powers. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983. .

World War II auxiliary ships of the United States
Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the United States Coast Guard
Barnegat-class seaplane tenders
1942 ships
Ships built at Lake Washington Shipyard
Ships of the United States Coast Guard
Casco-class cutters
Vietnam War patrol vessels of the United States
Weather ships


C. Douglas Cairns Recreation Arena, more commonly known as Cairns Arena, is a 600-seat hockey arena in South Burlington, Vermont. It is home to the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights men's and women's ice hockey teams, the University of Vermont club ice hockey team, and a number of high school hockey teams. It was the former home to the Green Mountain Glades Junior A ice hockey team of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, who have since moved operations to Portland, Maine.

The Arena comprises two NHL-sized ice rinks, each with a seating capacity of 600, a café, and a pro shop. It also served as a venue for the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship, along with Gutterson Fieldhouse.

References
Cairns Arena Official site
Purple Knights Ice Hockey

College ice hockey venues in the United States
Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States
Sports venues in Vermont
Buildings and structures in South Burlington, Vermont
Indoor arenas in Vermont


Randall Stuart Johnson (born August 15, 1958 in Miami, Florida), is a former Major League Baseball designated hitter. He batted and threw left-handed and was roughly 6 foot 2 and 195 pounds during his playing career. Randy was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 3rd round of the 1979 draft. In 1980 for the Chicago White Sox he had 4 hits in 20 at bats (a .200 batting average). In 1982 with the Minnesota Twins, Johnson had 58 hits and 10 home runs. In his career, he had 62 hits, 10 home runs, 36 RBIs, and a .244 batting average.

External links

Major League Baseball designated hitters
Chicago White Sox players
Minnesota Twins players
Baseball players from Florida
1958 births
Living people
San Jose State Spartans baseball players
Appleton Foxes players
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
Glens Falls White Sox players
Iowa Oaks players
Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players
Toledo Mud Hens players
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico


Ernest Douglas Baulch (24 May 1917 – 23 February 1996) was an Australian artist.

Early life

Baulch was born at Malvern, Victoria, Australia, being the only son and youngest of three children of Ernest Stanley Baulch.  He is commonly known as Douglas Baulch, the same name used on all his works. Before Douglas' first birthday his father was sent to fight in France during World War 1, only to return hospitalised for the rest of his life being completely incapacitated til his death 8 years later. This had a traumatic and emotional effect on Douglas as a young child watching and only knowing his father from his death bed. His father eventually died in 1926 when Douglas was only 9 years old.

Education

He commenced training at the Prahran Technical College (now Swinburne University) in 1931. He was strongly influenced by his tutor Tom Carter who recognised his natural talent as an exceptional impressionist with strong artistic ability . Tom introduced him to William Dargie with whom he had a long-standing friendship . Douglas took a strong interest in the true representation, depth and contrast of the Australian landscape capturing the light, hues and tones unique to Australia's environment. He further expanded the representation of the Australian society and its movement to an urbanised nation, as represented in a number of his cityscapes.

He kept to his desires and natural talent and felt he was not swayed to the then in-vogue abstraction stream. He graduated in 1934 (as a qualified teacher) but continued with post graduate studies from 1934 part-time. He became an ongoing member of the Victorian Artists Society exhibiting numerous times with them.

Career
He had 20 pieces of works on public display for over 20 years at Prahran Technical College from 1940 as a representative of excellence for the college.

To supplement his income and to support his mother and sisters he worked as a commercial artist at "Troedel and Cooper Pty Ltd" during 1936 to 1938, then til 1940 as an artist with Athol Shmith (fashion/society photographer). He then completed his post graduate studies in Fine Arts and Commercial Arts in 1940.

However he became disillusioned soon after graduating when he supplied two of his favourite pieces to a private gallery in Melbourne, which then claimed the pieces were stolen. The gallery closed and his painting were never seen again. From this day on he became more reclusive and guarded on supplying his art work to various galleries and thus exhibited significantly less than other friends such as Sidney Nolan.

With the outbreak of World War II he signed on to the Royal Australian Air Force working predominantly in northern Australia and the Pacific as a commercial artist, between 1943 and 1945 being commissioned to produce various posters and signage related to the war effort. Subsequently, doing a portrait of Sir Richard Williams

He married in 1944 to Lyla Foster, they lived at Glen Iris then Armadale. Upon returning home from the Air Force he commenced a large family with his first child Jeff born in 1946.

In 1952 he moved to East Doncaster as he enjoyed the Australian landscape and needed to find a balance between his family/financial commitments and his love for landscapes. Commonly using the Lower Templestowe and Warrandyte areas as inspiration to portray the geography and rugged bush of the area at the time. His landscape of this period displayed a natural beauty and positive view of the natural eco-environment, they were non-superficial with a multiple of views enticing the viewer to be drawn into the scene. He was good friends with Ernest Buckmaster who lived in Warrandyte at the time as they both had mutually respect for one another's work and similar views of true impressionist art versus the then open flare buoyant abstract fashion trend, this put them at odds with the then current establishment.

By 1961 he had eight children to support (Jeff, Graeme, Madeleine, Michael, Francesca, Paul, Kevin and Lisa) and was forced to continue working as a commercial artist with various companies, while pursuing his true interest in his own time. These times were typically represented in his numerous portraits, which would capture the changing views and characteristics of the time, showing the harmonist relaxation of society. This was further enhanced by the incorporation of children representing the commencement of the baby boom and society's increased importance of children and the development of families. Thus, many of his works including landscapes will include small children in the background representing this era. He continued to exhibit with the Victoria Artists Society at this time.

In 1965 he took a sabbatical to Western Australia around the Coral Coast and Dampier, north Wickham, Roebourne, south Karratha and Barrow Island. Some of the works from this time were exhibited at the National Gallery of Western Australia.

He exhibited at Victoria Government House (for the Queens visits) in 1964. As well as multiple exhibits are locations around Melbourne, at various state Libraries, Universities, various prize shows, (e.g. Archibald) and financial institutions. His works are currently held in a number of private collections around the world in the UK, US, Belgium, Paris and Hong Kong.

Later life and death
Later in life he spend more time pursuing his own works while working as a teacher from his home (East Doncaster), on television, at various TAFEs and Monash University. As well as illustrating the book the poetry book "Beside My Hearth".

His style did change later in life with the movement to a more vivid colour expression of the natural landscape environment which was reflective of his views of life having more freedom and the heavy responsibilities of supporting a family of eight children was now lifted, as his children had matured and were pursuing their own lives.

Due to Baulch's demanding life and circumstances his total number of art works in existence is limited to several hundred individual pieces. Regretfully, having experienced his father's slow demise, Douglas too fell ill, with cancer and found himself hospitalised for a year until he died at the age of 78.

References

1917 births
1996 deaths
Artists from Melbourne
20th-century Australian painters
20th-century Australian male artists
Australian male painters
Australian commercial artists
People from Malvern, Victoria
Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II
Military personnel from Melbourne


Nollywood Babylon is a 2008 feature documentary film directed by Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, it is about the explosive popularity of Nigerian movies. The United Kingdom distributor is Dogwoof Pictures.

See also
Welcome to Nollywood
This Is Nollywood

References

External links

Nollywood Babylon at NFB.ca

2008 films
English-language Canadian films
National Film Board of Canada documentaries
Canadian documentary films
Documentary films about African cinema
Films directed by Ben Addelman
Films directed by Samir Mallal
2008 documentary films
Documentary films about Nigeria
2000s Canadian films


Carlson is a locality situated north of Tabor Lake, British Columbia. It is considered a part of greater Prince George.

References

Localities in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George


Academy of Hope (AOH) is a non-profit organization, involved in providing "educational empowerment" to Washington, DC adults. The organization was founded in 1985 by Church of the Saviour volunteers.

Services

Academy of Hope provides adult basic education leading to improved literacy, the GED certificate, other high school diploma programs (External Diploma Program), and computer training. Students are typically adults with limited or no income who are under-educated or lack the educational skills for employment. About 350 students have received high school credentials through the academy, taking an average of two years but as long as 10 years in a few cases.

Funding

Academy of Hope receives funding from private donors and foundations as well as $170,000 a year in federal and D.C. funds earmarked to fight adult illiteracy. A 2007 renovation and move was paid for in part by a $200,000 grant from Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network.

References

External links
Main Website

Adult education in the United States


The Return of Koerner, Ray and Glover is an album by Koerner, Ray & Glover, released in 1965. It was their last recording for Elektra and it would be seven years before the trio's next release.

Koerner appeared at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival accompanied by Glover, one of the few times the two performed without Dave Ray.

The Return of Koerner, Ray and Glover was reissued by Red House Records in 1999.

Reception

AllMusic critic Jeff Burger wrote that "...this beautifully remasters  1965 collection is filled with the humor, rhythm, soulful vocals and top-notch material that made the outfit such a standout... If you like this kind of music, it's a safe bet that you'll love this album." In his JazzTimes review, music critic Bill Milkowski called the album "a quintessential white boy blues album that helped fuel the '60s blues boom." Reviewed in Mother Jones, the reissue was called "... driving, foot-stomping, aggressively acoustic blues that seamlessly meshes original composition with material from the great bluesmen... an album of remarkable breadth, much more than the sum of its parts."

Track listing
 "I Want to See My Baby" (John Koerner) – 3:05
 "Titanic" (Lead Belly) – 4:05
 "You've Got to Be Careful" (Koerner) – 2:50
 "Looky Looky Yonder" (Lead Belly, Alan Lomax, John Lomax) – 1:10
 "Statesboro Blues" (Blind Willie McTell) – 3:05
 "Eugene C." (Koerner) – 2:25
 "Goin' to the Country" (Koerner) – 2:40
 "The Boys Was Shootin' It Out Last Night" (Koerner) – 2:45
 "Poor Howard" (Lead Belly, Lomax, Lomax) – 2:25
 "I Don't Want to Be Terrified" (Koerner) – 3:50
 "Don't Let Your Right Hand Know What Your Left Hand Do" (Tony Glover) – 3:05
 "Lonesome Road" (traditional) – 2:35
 "England Blues" (Koerner) – 2:35
 "Packin' Truck" (Lead Belly, Lomax, Lomax) – 3:55
 "John Hardy" (traditional) – 2:25

Personnel
Tony "Little Sun" Glover – harmonica, vocals, liner notes
"Spider" John Koerner – guitar, vocals
Dave "Snaker" Ray – guitar, vocals
Production notes
Paul Rothchild – producer
Chris Frymire – remixing, mastering
Eric Peltoniemi – reissue producer, design, layout design

References

External links
Koerner, Ray and Glover discography

1965 albums
Koerner, Ray & Glover albums
Albums produced by Paul A. Rothchild
Elektra Records albums
Red House Records albums


A reverse dictionary is a dictionary alphabetized by the reversal of each entry:
kcots (stock)
kcotseid (diestock)
kcotser (restock)
kcotsevil (livestock)

Before computers, reverse dictionaries were tedious to produce. The first computer-produced was Stahl and Scavnicky's A Reverse Dictionary of the Spanish Language, in 1974. The first computer-produced reverse dictionary for a single text was Wisbey, R., Vollständige Verskonkordanz zur Wiener Genesis. Mit einem rückläufigen Wörterbuch zum Formenbestand, Berlin, E. Schmidt, 1967.

Definition
In a reverse word dictionary, the entries are alphabetized by the last letter first, then next to last, and so on. In them, words with the same suffix appear together. This can be useful for linguists and poets looking for words ending with a particular suffix, or by an epigrapher or forensics specialist examining a damaged text (e.g. a stone inscription, or a burned document) that had only the final portion of a word. Reverse dictionaries of this type have been published for most major alphabetical languages.

Applications
Applications of reverse word dictionaries include:
 Simple rhyming dictionaries, to the extent that spelling predicts pronunciation.
 Finding words with a given suffix (i.e., meaningful ending), like -ment.
 Finding words with the same ending as a given word, even if the sequence is not meaningful.
 Setting or solving word puzzles, such as -gry or the earlier -dous puzzle (find words ending in some way), or crossword puzzles.

Construction
Reverse word dictionaries are straightforward to construct, by simply sorting based on reversed words. This was labor-intensive and tedious before computers, but is now straightforward. By the same token, reverse dictionaries have become less important since online word lists can be searched dynamically.

Examples

English

Online
 closedtags.com

Physical
 Normal and Reverse Word List. Compiled under the direction of A. F. Brown at the University of Pennsylvania, under a contract with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AF 49 [638]-1042) Department of Linguistics, Philadelphia, 1963.
 Lehnert, Martin, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der englischen Gegenwartssprache, VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig, 1971.
 McGovern, Una, Chambers back-words for crosswords: a reverse-sorted list, Chambers, Edinburgh, 2002
 Muthmann, Gustav, Reverse English dictionary: based on phonological and morphological principles, Mouton de Gruyter, New York, 1999.
 Walker, John, The rhyming dictionary of the English language: in which the whole language is arranged according to its terminations, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1983.

Other Languages

Akkadian
 Hecker, Karl, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Akkadischen, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1990.

Albanian
 Snoj, Marko, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der albanischen Sprache, Buske Verlag, Hamburg, 1994.

Czech
 Těšitelová, Marie; Petr, Jan; Králík, Jan. Retrográdní slovník současné češtiny, Praha, Academia, 1986.

Dutch
 Nieuwborg, E.R., Retrograde woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal, Kluwer Technische Boeken, Deventer, 1978.

Estonian
 Hinderling, Robert, Rückläufiges estnisches Wörterbuch = Eesti keele pöördsõnaraamat (Sõnalõpuline leksikon) = Reverse dictionary of the Estonian language, Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, 1979.

Finnish
 Tuomi, Tuomo (ed.), Suomen kielen käänteissanakirja – Reverse Dictionary of Modern Standard Finnish, Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, 1980. .

French
 Juilland, A., Dictionnaire inverse de la langue française, Mouton, The Hague, 1965.

German
 Bruckner, T., Rückläufige Wortliste zum heutigen Deutsch, Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim, 1986.
 Mater, Erich, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der deutschen Gegenwartssprache CD-ROM, Straelener Ms.-Verlag, Straelen, 2001
 Muthmann, Gustav, Rückläufiges deutsches Wörterbuch: Handbuch der Wortausgänge im Deutschen, mit Beachtung der Wort- und Lautstruktur, Niemeyer, Tübingen, 2001.

Cypriot-Greek
 Συμεωνίδης, Χ. Π., Αντίστροφο λεξικό της κυπριακής διαλέκτου. Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της κυπριακής διαλέκτου. Πρώτο μέρος. Τα δυσπρόσιτα της κυπριακής διαλέκτου, 2017

Greek, modern
 Αναστασιάδη-Συμεωνίδη, Α. Αντίστροφο Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής. Θεσσαλονίκη: Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, 2002.
 Κουρμούλης Γ. Αντίστροφον λεξικόν της Νέας Ελληνικής. Δεύτερη Έκδοση. Αθήνα: Παπαδήμας, 2002.
 Τσιλογιάννης, Παύλος,  Αντίστροφο λεξικό της νέας - αρχαίας Ελληνικής γλώσσας : με διάγραμμα ιστορίας της Ελληνικής γλώσσας και χρήσιμους πίνακες, 2000 (modern and ancient Greek)
 Μπαλαφούτης, Ευάγγελος, Αντίστροφο λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής γλώσσας, 1996
 Reverse dictionary in modern Greek, Βικιλεξικό (Greek Wiktionary)

Greek, ancient
 P. Kretchmer, E. Locker. Rückläufiges Wörterbuch  der griechischen Sprache. Göttingen, 1944. 2nd ed. 1963
 C.D. Buck, W. Petersen. A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Ajectives. Chicago 1948 (?). Reprinted 1975
 F. Dornseiff, B. Hansen. Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen / Reverse-Lexicon of Greek Proper-Names. Berlin, 1957; Chicago 1978
 Τσιλογιάννης, Παύλος, Αντίστροφο λεξικό της νέας - αρχαίας Ελληνικής γλώσσας : με διάγραμμα ιστορίας της Ελληνικής γλώσσας και χρήσιμους πίνακες, 2000 (ancient and modern Greek)
 ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ: Dictionaries for ancient Greek and Latin, University of Chicago. (in every page / for every lemma, there is an index which can be either forward or reverse)
 Reverse dictionary in ancient Greek, Βικιλεξικό (Greek Wiktionary)

Hebrew
 Kuhn, Karl Georg, Rückläufiges hebräisches Wörterbuch, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1958

Hebrew and Aramaic
 Sander, Ruth and Kerstin Mayerhofer, Retrograde Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2010.

Hungarian
 Papp, Ferenc, A magyar nyelv szóvégmutató szótára [Reverse-alphabetized dictionary of the Hungarian language]. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1969, 2nd ed.: 1994.

Indian, old
 Schwarz, Wolfgang, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Altindischen = Reverse index of old Indian, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1974-1978.

Italian
 Alinei, M.L., Dizionario inverso italiano, con indici e liste di frequenza delle terminazioni, Mouton & Co., The Hague 1965.

Latin
 Gradenwitz, Otto, [https://archive.org/details/laterculivocuml00gradgoog Laterculi vocum latinarum], Leipzig : S. Hirzel, 1904.
 ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ: Dictionaries for ancient Greek and Latin, University of Chicago. (in every page / for every lemma, there is an index which can be either forward or reverse)

Macedonian
 Mitrevski, George, Macedonian Reverse Dictionary = Македонски обратен речник. https://www.pelister.org/linguistics/revdict/index.html

Manchu
 Rozycki, William, A reverse index of Manchu, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1981.

Mongolian
 Krueger, John Richard, Mongolian epigraphical dictionary in reverse listing, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1967.
 Vietze, Hans Peter, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der mongolischen Sprache, Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig, 1976.

Russian
 Reverse Russian Wiktionary
 Bielfeldt, H.H., Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der Russischen Sprache der Gegenwart, Akademie Verlag, Berlin, 1958.

Serbo-Croatian
 Matešić, Josip, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Serbokroatischen, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1965–1967.

Slovak
 Garabík, Radovan et al., Retrográdny slovník súčasnej slovenčiny – slovné tvary na báze Slovenského národného korpusu, VEDA, vydavateľstvo SAV, Bratislava, 2018. .
 Mistrík, Jozef, Retrográdny slovník slovenčiny, Univerzita Komenského, Bratislava, 1976. 735 pp.

Slovene
 Hajnšek-Holz, Milena and Primož Jakopin, Odzadnji slovar slovenskega jezika po Slovarju slovenskega knjižnega jezika, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana, 1996.

Spanish
 Bosque, I., Pérez, M., Diccionario inverso de la lengua española, Gredos, Madrid, 1987.
 Stahl, Fred A., Scavnicky, Gary E. A., A Reverse Dictionary of the Spanish Language, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL, 1974.

Turkish
 Kubiyak, Yel, Rückläufiges Wörterbuch des Türkischen, Landeck, Frankfurt, 2004.

Welsh
 Zimmer, Stefan, A reverse dictionary of modern Welsh = Geiriadur gwrthdroadol Cymraeg diweddar, Buske, Hamburg, 1987.

See also
 Reverse index

References

Dictionaries by type


Salmon Valley is a community on the British Columbia Railway north of Prince George, British Columbia.

References

Populated places in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George


This is a list of the largest companies of Nazi Germany by employees in 1938.

Companies by employees

The list is based on Fiedler (1999a, 1999b), who compiled data from a variety of sources. Given the shortage of historical employment data some employment numbers are only estimates and some companies might be missing from this list. Employment numbers are including all subsidiaries as long as the parent company is the majority shareholder, that is, holds more than 50 percent of the stock. An exception is Telefunken, which is included in the list as it was a joint venture of Siemens and Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft which each company holding 50 percent of the shares of Telefunken. Employee numbers are not including those employed in foreign subsidiaries. The only three companies in 1938 with large foreign subsidiaries were Siemens with 11.2 percent of the workforce employed abroad, Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft with less than 20 percent and Mannesmann with 10 percent. In 1938 seven of the 100 largest German companies were subsidiaries of foreign companies, all of them included in the list. The seven foreign-controlled companies were the subsidiaries of Luxembourgish Arbed (Felten & Guilleaume, Eschweiler Bergwerksverein and Burbacher Hütte), American General Motors (Adam Opel), American International Telephone & Telegraph (Deutsche I.T.& T.-Gruppe), American Singer Corporation (Singer Nähmaschinen), French de Wendel group (de Wendelsche Berg-und Hüttenwerke), Belgian Solvay (Deutsche Solvay) and Dutch-British Royal Dutch Shell (Rhenania Ossag Mineralölwerke).

See also
 Economic history of Germany
 Economy of Nazi Germany
 List of companies by employees
 List of German companies by employees in 1907

Notes

References

External links
 Big Business webpage by Peter Wardley

!
Employees 1938
Companies, Employees
Companies, Employees 1938


In the King of Prussia is a 1983 film directed and written by Emile de Antonio.  The film reconstructs the events of the 1980s "Plowshares Eight." The group of anti-war activists were charged with the September 1980 destruction of nose cones designed for nuclear warheads at the Re-Entry Division of the General Electric Space Technology Center in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.  The members of the Plowshares Eight, including Daniel Berrigan and Philip Berrigan, played themselves while actors played the roles of jurors, lawyers and police; Martin Sheen played the role of the judge in this shot-on-video feature.

Production
De Antonio had previously worked with Daniel Berrigan on his film In the Year of the Pig. The Berrigans asked de Antonio to film the trial for their actions in King of Prussia, which de Antonio initially refused because he did not share their religious beliefs. However, he changed his mind and agreed shortly before the trial. Martin Sheen had been a friend of de Antonio's since the controversy surrounding de Antonio's previous film, Underground. Sheen offered to help with de Antonio's new project and accepted the role of Judge Samuel Salus II.

For this film, de Antonio shot and edited the footage on video, then converted to 35mm film.

Exhibition
In the King of Prussia premiered in New York City on February 13, 1983. The film played at the Berlin International Film Festival that year.

The film was released on VHS in 1983 by MPI Home Video.

References

External links
In the King of Prussia in the Internet Movie Database

1983 drama films
1983 films
Films directed by Emile de Antonio
American drama films
Anti–nuclear weapons movement
Films about activists
1980s English-language films
1980s American films


Central Fraser Valley Transit System (formerly known as ValleyMAX) is a public transit system which provides bus services in the Central Fraser Valley area of British Columbia, Canada. Funding for the system is provided by the City of Abbotsford, the District of Mission, the University of the Fraser Valley and BC Transit, the agency responsible for planning and management of municipal transit systems throughout the province. Other than planning and managing bus routes, The Central Fraser Valley Transit System contracts out most of its bus services to FirstCanada ULC.

Services
Most bus routes run entirely within the urban areas of either Abbotsford or Mission, with the GoLines providing the backbone of the system with transfer-free crosstown service in Abbotsford. The Valley Connector routes link the two communities via the Abbotsford-Mission Highway across the Fraser River. To provide a balanced service, routes are intensified through central Abbotsford, while smaller buses operate on some routes as a flexible "community bus" during off peak hours. Regular service on busy routes is between 6 am and 10:30/11 pm.

In March 2022 BC Transit extended their Fraser Valley Express (FVX) route 66 between Chilliwack and Langley via Abbotsford to terminate at Lougheed Town Centre station in Burnaby giving travellers from the Fraser Valley region a much easier connection to Metro Vancouver via a direct transfer to the Skytrain.

handyDART is a transportation service for people with disabilities that do not allow them to use the conventional transit service. Clients must be pre-approved to make use of this service.

Regular routes

West Coast Express
Central Fraser Valley Transit provides connecting services to the West Coast Express, which terminates at Mission City Station. This commuter rail service runs to Vancouver in the morning, with return trips in the afternoon and early evening.

References

External links

Mission, British Columbia
Transit agencies in British Columbia
Transport in Abbotsford, British Columbia


"Doing It All for My Baby" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released as a single from the album Fore! in 1987. The single peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1987, becoming the fifth top-ten hit from the album and making the band the first group to have five top-ten Hot 100 singles from one album.

History
The song was written by Mike Duke and Phil Cody. Duke wrote the song and then recorded vocals himself (with Huey Lewis and the News playing backing parts and instruments) with the intention of getting a record contract for his own solo career. When that plan fell through, Lewis decided to record a version with his own vocals for the album. Duke had previously written the song, "Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do", the News' second top 40 hit from the 1982 album, Picture This, and went on to write, "Let Her Go and Start Over," a minor adult contemporary hit for the band, from the album, Plan B, in 2001.

Cash Box called it a "lively gospel-inflected organ howl spices up the romantic lyric, punctuated by brassy horn charts and a medium-grooving tempo."

Music video
The music video for "Doing It All for My Baby" was a parody of monster movies and was over 7 minutes long. Lewis appears as himself, the Dr. Frankenstein character, and the singing monster. Dracula is portrayed by bass player Mario Cippolina, who is shown placing his own disembodied head in a jar on a table (the camera then pans along the table to show the jarred heads of the rest of the News). Cippolina also appears as half of the two-headed creature with drummer Bill Gibson. Igor is played by keyboarder Sean Hopper. Saxophonist Johnny Colla plays the guy who loses his teeth on the guitar while trying to mimic Jimi Hendrix. The Tower of Power horn section (Greg Adams, Lee Thornburg, Richard Elliot, Emilio Castillo and Stephen Kupka) is shown chained to the back wall playing their horns while Lewis as Frankenstein sings into a steaming test tube. Band manager Bob Brown appears as the dead man in the electric chair. The video ends with Igor foolishly throwing a large switch, turning the singing monster back into Huey Lewis and the bride of Frankenstein's monster screaming in horror.

The video was filmed in Los Angeles and the bride of Frankenstein's monster was played by model Tara Shannon. The video took three days to produce and Lewis considered it his least favorite video to take part in because of the amount of time spent getting makeup applied on him and the band.

Chart performance

References

External links

1986 songs
1987 singles
Huey Lewis and the News songs
Songs with lyrics by Phil Cody
Songs written by Mike Duke
Chrysalis Records singles


Rookies (stylized as ROOKIES) is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Masanori Morita. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from February 1998 to August 2003, with the chapters collected in 24 tankōbon volumes. The manga has been adapted into a television series which was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System between April 19, 2008 and July 26, 2008. The series was later released on DVD by TC Entertainment, and the soundtrack released on June 28, 2008. The finale of the TV series was in the form of a film, called  which premiered on Japanese cinemas on May 31, 2009. Rookies is one of the best-selling manga series, with over 21 million copies in circulation.

Rookies is the story of an amateur teacher, Koichi Kawato, who is faced with the challenge of guiding a high school baseball club composed of delinquents. The students are wary of him and often threaten Kawato, but he refuses to abandon them and continuously speaks highly of recognizing their dreams. Eventually, the team is assembled and they dedicate their time to achieve their dream of going to the Koshien Spring baseball tournament.

Plot
Koichi Kawato is the new Japanese teacher at the ill-famed Futakotamagawa High School, whose baseball club is composed of thugs and bullies who have been suspended for a year from all school competitions, for causing a brawl during an official match. The newly appointed teacher finds that the club members left are only interested in women, smoking and doing nothing good until, under Kawato's guidance, they recognize that baseball is what they truly love doing. Kawato also teaches them that they should follow their dreams, and for them, being able to reach the national high school tournament finals in Koshien (Hyogo prefecture) is what they have always wished for. However, reaching Koshien is far from easy as many obstacles await them.

Characters

Teachers
Koichi Kawato
Koichi Kawato is a young, optimistic, and highly honorable teacher who strongly believes in following dreams. He also tries to build more personal relationships with his students, even memorizing all their names from the class list. After he promises a student that he would protect the school's baseball team, he becomes the team's advisor. It is later found out he resigned from his last school after getting in a fight with a student, and he vowed never to hit anyone again. Despite this, he was near universally loved at his last school and they try (unsuccessfully) to get him to come back.

Vice Principal Ikebe
Vice Principal Ikebe is a former member of the baseball team who had once made it to Koshien. Though he seemed uptight and strict at first, often lecturing Kawato over the smallest details, he later warms up to Kawato. When the team starts playing again, Ikebe becomes their coach, lending his expertise.

Principal Murayama
Principal Murayama is the former captain of the baseball team from 43 years ago, when the team went to Koshien. He harbors a resentment for the current baseball team as he views them as tarnishing the legacy he left behind, and is willing to do anything to get them all expelled. However, after witnessing their first game against Yoga Daiichi, he starts to regard the baseball team more positively. When Yoga Daiichi's coach threatens to press charges of assault against Kawato for hitting him during their game, Murayama takes the blame for Kawato and resigns.

Baseball team
Toru Mikoshiba
Toru Mikoshiba is the team's captain. Though non-violent and intelligent, he is often affected by nervousness and insecurity. He does, however, know when to take a stand and lead the team. He was originally the gofer when they were still a team of thugs.

Keiichi Aniya
Keiichi Aniya is the team's primary pitcher. He was well known in middle school, but lost his motivation after a pitcher who had struck him out was unable to strike anyone out at Koshien Stadium. Despite fooling with other girls, he is in love with his childhood friend, Toko Yagi. He once stated that the reason he played around so much was because she wouldn't go out with him. However, after seriously beginning to train for baseball, he has stopped dating so frequently.

Shuta Sekikawa
Shuta Sekikawa is the team's fastest member and sports a mohawk that is "rock hard" due to the amount of styling products he uses. When he lets his hair down (washes the styling products out), his speed increases greatly. He was the second one to be convinced by Kawato to officially join the team, after Mikoshiba.

Kei Shinjo
Kei Shinjo was originally angry at the other members for starting to leave gang-life behind, and proceeded to heavily injure them. He is later revealed to care deeply about his friendship with the team, but was reluctant to rejoin due to his actions. He later rejoins and works twice as hard to make up for his actions. He has great batting abilities, being able to hit a 123 meter line drive. His swing is described as being able to cut through the wind.

Yuya Okada
Yuya Okada is a rational member who keeps his hair in long dreadlocks. He is by far the calmest and wisest among the group, though perhaps not the most mature. It has been mentioned that he gets good grades, along with Mikoshiba and Shinjo.

Tetsuro Yufune
Tetsuro Yufune is a nervous player who uses his batting technique "Cat Swing", in which he screams "Meow" before he hits the ball, to achieve better accuracy. He also has a crush on the English teacher, Rie Mayumi, but he is unable to confess his feelings to her, choosing to jump off a balcony (yelling "MEOW" like he does when he's nervous) rather than do so.

Kiyooki Hiyama
Kiyooki Hiyama is one of the team's worst batters, often mocked by other teams as "the bearded strikeout king". Although he is short-tempered, he refused to fight against a few boys from Megurogawa attacking him to avoid team disqualification. However, after constant practice, he managed to improve his hitting.

Tomochika Wakana
Tomochika Wakana is the only player able to consistently catch Aniya's pitches, though he originally was unable to keep his eyes open as the ball came to him. With help from Hiyama, Wakana was able to overcome this obstacle. He is considered to be the mood maker of the team.

Taira Hiratsuka
Taira Hiratsuka is a strong member who has almost no skill in baseball. However, he is able to achieve incredible hits by using survival instinct, particularly when a ball is thrown at his head. He is often ignored by his teammates and even Kawato, not out of spite but because they simply don't notice him. He has a huge crush on Toko Yagi after she slapped him for making fun of Shinjo.

Shinobu Imaoka
Shinobu Imaoka is the team's ambidextrous player and considered strange among several of his teammates. He has surprising talent for the sport, having great baseball sense and being able to bat and pitch well. He is close friends with Hiratsuka and refers to him by the nickname "Hiracchi."

Shouji Akaboshi
Shouji Akaboshi is one of two new first years who join after the main group of ten. He a skilled player who was also well known in middle school, and dreamed of being able to compete in Major League Baseball. At first he seems arrogant, claiming he only needs high school to learn English and refuses to join the baseball team as he views them beneath him. However, he practices with a university team in secret, something Yagi and Aniya accidentally find out. When he is convinced to join the team, he discovers they were all more talented than he thought, leading him to work much harder for his spot on the team.

Hamanaka Taiyou
Hamanaka Taiyou is one of two new first years who join after the main group of ten, being a full year younger than the rest. At first, he is a bully who beats up old men for money. After an encounter with Hiratsuka, he begins to model himself after Hiratsuka, who he believes to be a brilliant player. After realizing the truth, Hamanaka still joins the baseball team, though he is deemed useless.

Toko Yagi
Toko Yagi is the baseball team manager and childhood friend of Aniya, for whom she has romantic feelings. She has great baseball sense and managing capabilities.

Media

Manga
Rookies is written and illustrated by Masanori Morita. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from its 10th issue, published on February 16, 1998 to the 30th issue, published on August 25, 2003. Shueisha released the manga in 24 tankōbon volumes between June 4, 1998 and November 4, 2003. It was licensed in France by Editions Tonkam, and in Taiwan by Da Ran Culture before it went bankrupt. The Taiwan license was transferred to Tong Li Publishing. In Italy, Rookies was licensed by Star Comics and serialized in the magazine Express.

TV drama
The manga was adapted into a live-action Japanese television drama. The series' script was written by Yoshihiro Izumi and was directed by Yuichiro Hirakawa. It was produced by Tsuru Masaaki. Its 11 episodes were broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System between April 19, 2008 and July 26, 2008. The series' theme song was "Kiseki" by Greeeen. The first three episodes of the drama were released as a Rookies Omote Box by TC Entertainment on July 18, 2008. Episodes four to eleven were released in a Rookies Ura Box on October 8, 2008. The soundtrack to the drama was released on a CD on June 28, 2008.

Cast
 Ryuta Sato as Koichi Kawato
 Keisuke Koide as Toru Mikoshiba
 Hayato Ichihara as Keiichi Aniya
 Akiyoshi Nakao as Shuta Sekikawa
 Yu Shirota as Kei Shinjo
 Takeru Satoh as Yuya Okada
 Shunji Igarashi as Tetsuro Yufune
 Sōsuke Takaoka as Tomochika Wakana
 Hiroyuki Onoue as Shinobu Imaoka
 Eri Murakawa as Toko Yagi

Film
A live-action film, Rookies: Graduation (Rookies－卒業－, Rookies -Sotsugyō-), was adapted from the manga. Created by Toho and directed by Yūichirō Hirakawa, the film premiered on May 31, 2009.

Reception
Rookies was ranked the ninth top-selling manga in Japan in 2008 with 2,765,163 copies sold.

The last episode of Rookies live-action television adaptation, broadcast on July 26, 2008, was rated 19.5 in the average household ratings. The television special episode of Rookies garnered a 10.0 rating. The Rookies Ura Box set sold 5,595 copies during the October 15–21, 2008 weekend. Rookies TV drama DVDs were ranked the top having the most copies sold in 2008. The first episode of Rookies was rated a 9.5 when it re-ran on December 31, 2008. The Rookies Omote Box was ranked 30th on the Oricon charts with 1,891 copies sold between June 8–14, 2009, and the Rookies Ura Box set was ranked 24th on the Oricon charts with 1,997 copies sold between June 1–7, 2009.

The Rookies drama series was awarded five of the possible nine awards at the 58th Television Drama Academy Awards in 2008. Rookies was awarded best drama; Ryuta Sato was awarded best actor; Hayato Ichihara was awarded best supporting actor; "Kiseki" by Greeeen was awarded best theme song and Nikogaku Nine was awarded the special award. Rookies was highly commended as one of the best drama series at the 2008 Asian Television Awards.

Document of Rookies ~Sotsugyō debut at 15th on the Oricon charts between April 21–28, 2009 with 9,141 copies sold. It sold 3,092 copies during June 1–7, 2009 to be ranked tenth. It sold 2,648 copies the following week and dropped to rank 20.

Rookies: Graduation topped the Japanese box office chart when it premiered on May 30, 2009, earning the equivalent of US$12,703,775 over the May 30–31 weekend. It continued to top the Japanese box office chart the following weekend, earning US$12,703,775 that weekend. It was ranked second on the box office chart to Terminator Salvation, earning US$8,278,440 that weekend. It rose back to top the box office charts on the June 20–21 weekend, earning US$6,404,066 that weekend. On the fifth weekend, the movie dropped to second place behind Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, earning US$4,290,266 that weekend. On its sixth weekend on the box office charts, it stayed at second place, earning US$2,933,634 that weekend. In its seventh weekend, Rookies: Graduation fell to fourth place and earned US$1,894,007, and has grossed US$82 million as of July 15. In its eighth weekend, Rookies: Graduation, fell to 8th place and earned US$1,129,349. In its ninth weekend, Rookies: Graduation rose to sixth place and earned US$748,804.

References

External links

 Official TBS Rookies TV drama website

2008 Japanese television series debuts
2008 Japanese television series endings
Baseball in anime and manga
Manga adapted into films
1998 manga
Teaching anime and manga
Shōnen manga
Shueisha manga
Shueisha franchises
Japanese drama television series
Japanese baseball films


The Glen Bridge is a two lane bridge that carries NY 28 across the Hudson River connecting Johnsburg, New York with Chester, built in 1959.

See also
List of fixed crossings of the Hudson River

References

Bridges over the Hudson River
Bridges completed in 1959
Road bridges in New York (state)
Girder bridges in the United States
Transportation buildings and structures in Warren County, New York
Bridges in Orange County, New York


Barclays Wealth Management serves affluent and high net worth clients through offices across the UK, offering personalised banking, credit, investment management and wealth planning services.

Reported client assets were £202.8 billion (as of 30 June 2013).

In May 2013, Peter Horrell was named interim chief executive of the Wealth and Investment Management division of Barclays reporting to Antony Jenkins, Barclays group chief executive. Horrell was permanently appointed chief executive in September 2013. Akshaya Bhargava succeeded him as chief executive on 13 October 2014.

Dena Brumpton joined in September 2015 as new chief executive of Barclays Wealth Management. In December 2016, she was appointed CEO of the newly formed Wealth & Investments business, which incorporated the UK Savings business in March 2018. In July 2018, Barclays announced the retirement of Dena Brumpton and the appointment of Dirk Klee as her successor, both effective from September 2018.

Barclays is a transatlantic consumer and wholesale bank offering products and services across personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management, with a strong presence in its two home markets of the UK and the US.

With over 325 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 40 countries and employs approximately 80,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide.

Community investment and sponsorships
Barclays Wealth has an active community investment programme in many of the jurisdictions in which it operates, with a particular focus on providing grants to charities helping disadvantaged people work towards financial independence and security.

The firm also has a policy of encouraging employees in their personal charitable giving and fundraising efforts. Staff are able to volunteer in work time and Barclays Wealth will match any monies raised through a staff member's individual fundraising efforts.

Notable persons
Mark Gilbert, American Major League Baseball player, and US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa

References

External links

Official site
Official site for the Americas
Official Barclays Stockbrokers website m.williams

Banks of the United Kingdom
Barclays
Investment management companies of the United Kingdom
Offshore finance


O'Dell is a railway point on the British Columbia Railway north of Prince George, British Columbia.

References
BCGNIS Geographical Name Query

Rail transport in British Columbia
Prince George, British Columbia