Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Benutzer:Parzi/Importe/Myrlin Hermes

2013-04-26T02:04:22Z

Elysdir: added Category:American novelists using HotCat

{{refimproveBLP|date=June 2011}}
'''Myrlin Hermes''' (born September 22, 1975) is an American author. She has written two books, ''Careful What You Wish For'' and ''The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet''. She was born in [[California]], but raised in India and Hawaii. She attended [[Reed College]], and received her Master's from [[Royal Holloway, University of London|Royal Holloway at University of London]]. She has received grants and awards from the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies, and the Arts Council England. She currently lives in [[Portland, Oregon]].

About Hermes' first novel, Publishers Weekly praised 'her grasp of domestic joy and sadness, and her evocation of life in a small Southern town, add texture to this uplifting weeper.' Her second novel, ''The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet'' is a prequel to Hamlet, set in Hamlet's imagined college years. Publishers Weekly writes in their review: 'Filled with out-of-context quotes from Hamlet, confusions in sexual identity more commonly found in Shakespeare's comedies, and cameo appearances by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the novel too self-consciously repurposes elements from Shakespeare's tragedy, rendering this a colorful if incidental prologue to the tragic events at Elsinore Castle.' The novel won the 2011 Lambda Literary Foundation's Award for Bisexual Fiction.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.myrlinahermes.com/ Author web page]
*[http://the-lunatic-the-lover-and-the-poet.blogspot.com/ Author's blog]
*[http://www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2010/02/fiction_review_the_lunatic_the.html Review from OregonLive]

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Hermes, Myrlin
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = September 22, 1975
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermes, Myrlin}}
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Reed College alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:Lambda Literary Award winners]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:American novelists]]

Elizabeth Bear

2013-04-25T02:26:02Z

Elysdir: added Category:American novelists using HotCat

{{Infobox writer 
| name = Elizabeth Bear
| image = Elizabeth Bear at Eurocon 2011.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Elizabeth Bear at [[Eurocon]]/[[Swecon]] in Stockholm 2011.
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|09|22}}
| birth_place = [[Hartford, Connecticut]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = [[Novelist]]
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| ethnicity =
| religion =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater = [[The University of Connecticut]]
| period =
| genre = [[Speculative fiction]]
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = '''''[[Hammered (novel)|Hammered]]'''''
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = 2005 [[John W. Campbell Award]] for Best New Writer, 2006 [[Locus Award for Best First Novel]], 2008 [[Hugo Award for Best Short Story]], 2009 [[Hugo Award for Best Novelette]]
| signature =
| website = http://www.elizabethbear.com/
| portaldisp =
}}

'''Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky''' (born September 22, 1971) is an American author. Writing under the name '''Elizabeth Bear''', she works primarily in the genre of [[speculative fiction]], and was a winner of the 2005 [[John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer]], the 2008 [[Hugo Award for Best Short Story]] for "[[Tideline (short story)|Tideline]]," and the 2009 [[Hugo Award for Best Novelette]] for "[[Shoggoths in Bloom]]."<ref>[http://twitter.com/TheHugoAwards Twitter.com]</ref> She is one of only five writers who have gone on to win multiple Hugo Awards for fiction after winning the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (the others being [[C. J. Cherryh]], [[Orson Scott Card]], [[Spider Robinson]], and [[Ted Chiang]]).

==Life and career==
Bear is of Ukrainian and Swedish ancestry.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.absolutewrite.com/chats/Bear_chat_3_17_2009.html | title = Transcript of the Absolute Write chat with writer Elizabeth Bear. March 17, 2009 | publisher = www.absolutewrite.com | date = 2011-05-03 }}</ref>

A native of [[Hartford, Connecticut]], her ''curriculum vitae'' includes working as a "media industry professional," a stablehand, a fluff-page reporter, a maintainer of Microbiology procedure manuals for a 1,000-bed inner-city hospital, a typesetter and layout editor, a traffic manager for an import-export business, Emmanuel Labour, and "the girl who makes the donuts at The Whole Donut at three A.M."

She lived in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]] for some time (the setting for the short stories "One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King", "Follow Me Light", and "This Tragic Glass"), but she returned to Connecticut in January 2006.

Her first novel ''[[Hammered (novel)|Hammered]]'' was published in January 2005 and was followed by ''Scardown'' in July and ''Worldwired'' in November of the same year. The trilogy features Canadian Master Warrant Officer Jenny Casey, who is also the main character in the short story "Gone to Flowers". ''Hammered'' won the [[Locus Award for Best First Novel]] in 2006.

''The Chains That You Refuse'', a collection of her short fiction, was published May 2006 by [[Night Shade Books]]. ''Blood and Iron'', the first book in the fantasy series entitled "The Promethean Age", debuted June 27, 2006. She is also a coauthor of the ongoing [[Shadow Unit]] website/pseudo-TV series.

In 2008, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at [[Northern Illinois University]].<ref>[http://www.ulib.niu.edu/rarebooks/sciencefiction.cfm Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection], Northern Illinois University</ref>

She is an instructor at the [[Viable Paradise]] writer's workshop and has taught at [[Clarion West Writers Workshop]].

She is dating fantasy author [[Scott Lynch]].

The opening quote in [[Criminal Minds]] episode [[List of Criminal Minds episodes (season 6)|"Lauren" (6.18)]] was a direct quote of the second and third lines of Bear's book ''Seven for a Secret'': "The secret to lying is to believe with all your heart. That goes for lying to yourself even more than lying to another."

==Published works: novels==
===The Jenny Casey trilogy===
* ''[[Hammered (novel)|Hammered]]'' (January 2005, Bantam Spectra)
* ''Scardown'' (July 2005, Bantam Spectra)
* ''Worldwired'' (November 2005, Bantam Spectra)

===The Promethean Age===
* ''Blood and Iron'' (June 2006, ROC)
* ''Whiskey and Water'' (July 2007, ROC)
* The Stratford Man:
** Volume I: ''Ink and Steel'' (July 2008, ROC)
** Volume II: ''Hell and Earth'' (August 2008, ROC)

===Jacob's Ladder trilogy===
* ''Dust'' (December 2007, Spectra)
* ''Chill'' (February 2010, Spectra)
* ''Grail'' (February 2011, Spectra)

===The Edda of Burdens===
* ''All the Windwracked Stars'' (October 2008, Tor)
* ''By the Mountain Bound'' (October 2009, Tor)
* ''The Sea thy Mistress'' (October 2010, Tor)

===The Iskryne series===
* ''A Companion to Wolves'', co-written with [[Sarah Monette]] (October 2007, Tor)
* ''The Tempering of Men'', co-written with Sarah Monette (August 2011, Tor)
* ''An Apprentice to Elves'', co-written with Sarah Monette (2013, Tor)

===New Amsterdam series===

* ''New Amsterdam'' (May 2007, [[Subterranean Press]] - see [http://www.elizabethbear.com/newamsterdam.html])
* ''Seven for a Secret'' (novella) (March 2009, Subterranean Press)
* ''The White City'' (novella) (2011, Subterranean Press)
* ''Ad Eternum'' (novella) (February 2012, Subterranean Press)

===Other novels===
* ''Carnival'' (November 2006, Bantam Spectra)
* ''Undertow'' (August 2007, Bantam Spectra)
* ''Bone and Jewel Creatures'' (novella) (2010, Subterranean Press)
* ''Range of Ghosts'' (March 2012, Tor Books)
* ''Shattered Pillars'' (2013, Tor Books)

===Short story collections===
* ''The Chains That You Refuse'' (May 2006, Night Shade Books)
* ''Shoggoths in Bloom'' (October 2012, Prime Books)

==Published works: short fiction==
* "King Pole, Gallows Pole, Bottle Tree" in ''Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy'' (2010, [[St. Martin's Press]]).
* "The Horrid Glory of Its Wings" at Tor.com, December 2009.
* "Swell" in ''Eclipse Three'' (2009, [[Night Shade Books]]).
* "Mongoose" (with [[Sarah Monette]]) in ''Lovecraft Unbound'' (2009, [[Dark Horse Comics]]), (2010, [[The Drabblecast]]).
* "The Red in the Sky is Our Blood" in ''METAtropolis'' (2009, [[Subterranean Press]]).
* "Snow Dragons" in [[Subterranean Magazine]], Summer, 2009.
* "Two Dreams on a Train" reprinted in [[Rewired: The Post-Cyberpunk Anthology]], 2009.
* "Inelastic Collisions" in ''Inferno'' (2009, [[Tor Books]]).
* "The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder" at Tor.com, September 2008.
* "Boojum" (with Sarah Monette) in ''Fast Ships, Black Sails'' (2008, [[Night Shade Books]]).
* "Shoggoths in Bloom" in ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', March 2008.
* "[[Sonny Liston]] Takes the Fall" in ''The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy'' (2008, [[Del Rey Books|Del Rey]]).
* "Your Collar" in ''Subterranean Magazine'', 2008.
* "Annie Webber" in ''Nature'', 2008.
* "Hobnoblin Blues" in ''Realms of Fantasy'', February 2008.
* "The Ladies" in ''Coyote Wild'', December 2007.
* "Black is the Color" in ''Subterranean Magazine'', Summer 2007.
* "Matte" in ''Fictitious Force'', 2007.
* "The Rest of Your Life in a Day" in ''[[Jim Baen's Universe]]'', October 2007.
* "Cryptic Coloration" in ''[[Jim Baen's Universe]]'', June 2007.
* "[[Tideline (short story)|Tideline]]" in ''[[Asimov's Science Fiction]]'', June 2007.
* "Limerant" in ''[[Subterranean Magazine]]'' #6 (2007, [[Subterranean Press]])
* "Abjure the Realm" in ''Coyote Wild'', Winter 2007.
* "War Stories" in ''[[Jim Baen's Universe]]'', February 2007.
* "Something Dreaming Game" in ''Fast Forward 1'' (2007, [[Prometheus Books]])
* [http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/bear_01_07/ "Orm the Beautiful"] in ''[[Clarkesworld Magazine]]'', January 2007.
* "Love Among The Talus" in ''[[Strange Horizons]]'', December 11, 2006.
* "Lucifugous" in ''[[Subterranean Magazine]]'' #5 (2006, [[Subterranean Press]]).
* "Follow Me Light" reprinted in ''Best New Paranormal Romance'' (November 2006) and ''Year's Bear Fantasy and Horror'' (September 2006)
* "Sounding" in ''[[Strange Horizons]]'', September 18, 2006.
* "Two Dreams on Trains" reprinted in ''Year's Best Science Fiction #23'' (July 2006).
* "Wax" reprinted in ''Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2006'' edition (June 2006)
* "Ile of Dogges" (with Sarah Monette) in ''Aeon 7'', 2006
* "Dos Sueños con Trenes" ["Two Dreams on Trains," Spanish-language version] in ''Cuasar'' #42, Marzo 2006
* "The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe" in ''[[Subterranean Magazine]]'' #4 (2006, [[Subterranean Press]])
* "The Cold Blacksmith" in ''[[Jim Baen's Universe]]'', June 2006
* "Gone to Flowers" (2006) in ''[[Eidolon I]]'' (ed. [[Jonathan Strahan]], [[Jeremy G. Byrne]])
* "Los Empujadores Furioso" ''[[On Spec]]'', Winter 2006
* "Wane" in [[Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]] #203 Mar/Apr 2006
* "Wax" in ''[[Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]]'' #201 Nov/Dec 2005
* "Long Cold Day" in ''[[Sci Fiction]]'', September 21, 2005
* "House of the Rising Sun" in ''[[The Third Alternative]]'' #42, Summer 2005
* "And the Deep Blue Sea " in ''[[Sci Fiction]]'', May 4, 2005
* "One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King" in ''Lenox Avenue'', March–April 2005
* "Botticelli " at ''The Agony Column'', February 2005
* "Two Dreams on Trains" in ''[[Strange Horizons]]'', January 3, 2005
* "Follow Me Light" in ''[[Sci Fiction]]'', January 12, 2005
* "When you Visit the Magoebaskloof Hotel, Be Certain not to Miss the Samango Monkeys" in Interzone 195, Nov/Dec 2004
* "Seven Dragons Mountains" in ''All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories'', Wheatland Press, October 2004 (YBF&H Honorable Mention)
* "Sleeping Dogs Lie" in ''Flytrap'', November 2004
* "Ice (Lod)" (Polish-Language version) in ''Nowa Fantastyka'' #7 (Summer 2004)
* "Old Leatherwings" in ''Lenox Avenue'', July 2004
* "This Tragic Glass" in ''[[Sci Fiction]]'', April 7, 2004 (YBSF Honorable Mention, James Tiptree, Jr. Award long list)
* "The Chains That You Refuse" in ''Chiaroscuro'', April 2004
* "Speak!" in ''[[On Spec]]'', Winter 2003
* "Tiger! Tiger!" in the anthology ''[[Shadows Over Baker Street]]'' (Del Rey, September 2003)
* "Ice" in the April 2003 issue of ''[[Ideomancer]]''
* "The Dying of the Light" (with Amber van Dyk) in the April 2003 issue of the ''[[Fortean Bureau]]'' (YBF&H Honorable Mention)
* An excerpt from "Hammered" appeared in the Summer 2003 issue of ''Harpur Palate''
* "The Company of Four" in ''Scheherazade'' issue #20
* "The Devil You Don't" in ''Amberzine'' 11

==Published works: poetry==
* "Li Bai Drowns While Embracing The Moon" in ''Not One Of Us'', Issue 42.
* "Seven Steeds" in ''Lone Star Stories'', Issue 29, Oct 2008.
* "e.e. 'doc' cummings" in ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', March 2003.

==Published works: essays==
* "We'll Make Great Pets" in ''Chicks Dig Time Lords'' (2010, [[Mad Norwegian Press]])

==Awards==
* 2005 [[John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer]]
* 2006 [[Locus Award for Best First Novel]] for ''Hammered/Scardown/Worldwired''
* 2008 [[Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award]] for Best Short Science Fiction for "[[Tideline (short story)|Tideline]]"
* 2008 [[Hugo Award for Best Short Story]] for "Tideline"
* 2009 [[Hugo Award for Best Novelette]] for "[[Shoggoths in Bloom]]"
* 2009 [[Gaylactic Spectrum Award]] for Best Novel for ''The Stratford Man'' (''Ink and Steel'' and ''Hell and Earth'')
* 2012 [[Audie Award]] for Best Original Work for "Metatropolis: Cascadia"
* 2012 [[Hugo Award for Best Fancast]] for SF Squeecast

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Elizabeth Bear}}
* [http://www.elizabethbear.com/ Elizabeth Bear's official website]
* [http://www.livejournal.com/users/matociquala/ Elizabeth Bear's LiveJournal]
* [http://www.ibdof.com/viewforum.php?f=1805 Official forum] at [[IBDoF]]
* [http://us.macmillan.com/author/elizabethbear Elizabeth Bear's page] at [[Tor Books]]
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=59638 Elizabeth Bear author spotlight] at [[Random House]]
* [http://www.sffaudio.com/2007/05/free-elizabeth-bear-audio-fiction-from.html Free: Wax at SFFAudio.com]
* {{isfdb name|id=Elizabeth_Bear|name=Elizabeth Bear}}
* http://www.unclehugo.com/prod/reviewsSF.shtml Uncle Hugo's SF Bookstore
* http://www.scifan.com/writers/bb/BearElizabeth.asp
* http://www.shadowunit.org
* [http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/bear_interview/ Interview] at [[Clarkesworld Magazine]], May 2010

{{Authority control|VIAF=58812050|LCCN=no/2005/043525}}
{{Persondata 
| NAME = Bear, Elizabeth
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = September 22, 1971
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Hartford, Connecticut]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bear, Elizabeth}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American women novelists]]
[[Category:American science fiction writers]]
[[Category:American short story writers]]
[[Category:American women writers]]
[[Category:Clarion Workshop]]
[[Category:Hugo Award winning writers]]
[[Category:John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners]]
[[Category:People from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Women science fiction and fantasy writers]]
[[Category:University of Connecticut alumni]]
[[Category:American novelists]]

Postal (Computerspiel)

2008-04-02T04:55:06Z

Elysdir: Still no indication of what the controversy is.

{{Infobox VG
| title = Postal Classic
|image = 
|caption=European boxart
|publisher = [[Ripcord Games]]
|developer = [[Running With Scissors, Inc.|Running With Scissors]]
|released=[[November 14]], [[1997]]
|genre=[[Third-person shooter]]
|modes=[[Singleplayer]], [[Multiplayer]]
|ratings=[[Entertainment Software Rating Board|ESRB]]: M (Mature)<br>[[Pan European Game Information|PEGI]]: 18+<br>[[Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia)|OFLC]]: RC
|platforms =[[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Linux]], [[Mac OS]]
|media = [[CD-ROM]]
|requirements = see [[#System requirements|System requirements]]
|input = [[computer keyboard|Keyboard]]
}}
'''''Postal''''' is a [[Video game controversy|controversial]]{{fact}} [[computer game]] made by [[Running With Scissors, Inc.|Running With Scissors]] and published by [[Ripcord Games]] in [[1997]]. In [[2003]] there was a sequel, ''[[Postal²]]'', that is perhaps better known than the original. {{Fact|date=January 2008}} Director [[Uwe Boll]] has bought the movie rights for the series, and has produced a [[Postal (film)|film of the same name]].

== General information ==
''Postal'' is a 2D shooter with mainly [[isometric]], but also some [[Top-down shooter|top-down]] levels featuring hand-painted backgrounds. Gameplay and interface are similar to [[first-person shooters]] of the time in most, but not all counts:

*Movement is always relative to the orientation of the player character ("Postal Dude"). The player therefore must always be aware of the direction the character is facing, which can be difficult on the isometric maps.
*There are eight weapon slots, each with a fixed amount of maximum ammo. The default weapon is a weak machine gun with unlimited ammo.
*Contrary to first-person shooters, however, the goal is not just to stay alive and reach the next level, but to kill a given percentage of the armed [[Non-player character|NPC]]s on the map. Only then the exit to the next level is activated.

There is no plot as such. The presence of a moving van on the first level suggests that the Postal Dude has been evicted from his home and is therefore "[[going postal]]", but no background story evolves during the game.

An add-on to the game called '''''Special Delivery''''' was made in [[1998]] which featured four new levels (department store, shanty town, earthquake zone and vacation resort), new characters, new sounds, new modes of play (co-op and a refined deathmatch). Original and add-on were released together as '''''Postal Plus''''' in [[2001]] and ported to [[Linux]] by [[Loki Software]].

== System requirements ==
===Windows ===
Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95

==== Minimum ====
* [[Pentium]]
* 16 MB [[RAM]]
* 4× [[CD-ROM]] drive
* 256-color [[SVGA]] (640×480)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

==== Recommended ====
* [[Pentium]] 166
* 32 MB [[RAM]]
* 4× [[CD-ROM]] drive
* 256-color [[SVGA]] (640×480)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

===Linux===
As stated on the official ''Postal Plus'' help file.

====Minimum====
* 133 MHz or higher [[Central processing unit|CPU]]
* 16 MB or more of RAM
* 24 MB or more of available [[hard drive]] space.
* Any Video Card (with at least 256 colors at 640×480 resolution)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

====Recommended====
* 300 MHz or higher [[Central processing unit|CPU]]
* 64 MB or more of RAM
* 24 MB or more of available [[hard drive]] space.
* Any Video Card (with at least 256 colors at 640×480 resolution)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

===Macintosh===
According to a review on MacGamer.[http://www.macgamer.com/features/?id=579]
*PowerPC
*16 MB RAM
*2× CD-ROM drive

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.gopostal.com/ Go Postal (NSFW)]: The official website
*{{moby game|id=/postal|name=''Postal''}}
*[http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/postal ''Postal''] at [[Metacritic]]: The game received "mixed or average" reviews.
*[http://www.ownt.com/the_state_of/violent_gaming/violent_gaming.shtm Interview with Vince Desi]

{{Postal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postal 1}}
[[Category:1997 video games]]
[[Category:Mac OS games]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Linux games]]
[[Category:Running With Scissors games]]
[[Category:Run and gun games]]

[[de:Postal]]
[[es:Postal (videojuego)]]
[[ja:ポスタル (ゲーム)]]
[[pl:Postal (gra)]]
[[pt:Postal (jogo)]]
[[sv:Postal]]

Präsidentschaftsvorwahl in den Vereinigten Staaten

2008-02-14T00:28:48Z

Elysdir: /* History */ There were political parties, even in the US, before 1800; removing false statement to the contrary.

The series of '''presidential primary elections and caucuses''' is one of the first steps in the process of electing the [[President of the United States|President of the United States of America]]. The [[primary election]]s are run by state and local governments (where states do not have [[caucus]]es). A state primary election usually determines which candidates for president will be supported by that state at the national convention of each [[political party]].

==Process==
Both major political parties (Democratic and Republican) officially nominate their candidate for President at their respective [[United States presidential nominating convention|national conventions]], usually held during the summer before the federal election. Depending on state law and state party rules, when voters cast ballots for a candidate in a presidential caucus or primary, they may actually be voting to award [[delegate]]s "bound" to vote for a candidate at the state or national convention, or they may simply be expressing an opinion that the state party is not bound to follow in selecting delegates to the national convention. In addition to delegates chosen during primaries and caucuses, state delegations to both the ([[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]) conventions also include "unpledged" delegates. For Republicans, these include top party officials. Democrats have a more expansive group of unpledged delegates called "[[superdelegate]]s", who are party leaders and elected officials.

In recent elections, the eventual nominees were known well before the actual conventions took place. The last time a major party's nominee was not clear before the convention was in [[United States presidential election, 1976|1976]], when incumbent president [[Gerald Ford]] narrowly defeated [[Ronald Reagan]].

===Calendar===
{{future election in the United States}}
Campaigning for president often begins a year or more before the [[New Hampshire primary]], almost two years before the [[United States presidential election|presidential election]].

For 2008, both the Republicans and the Democrats have moved their Nevada caucus to an earlier date than traditional, to January 19. In response, other states have also changed their primary election dates for 2008, creating a cascade of changes in other states. The current dates up to and including [[Super Duper Tuesday|Super Tuesday]] are now:<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://archive.stateline.org/flash-data/Primary/2008_presidential_primaries.pdf
| title = Presidential primary and caucus dates
| accessdate = 2007-08-31
| date = 2007-08-30
| format = [[Portable Document Format|PDF]]
| work = Stateline.org
| publisher = [[Pew Research Center]]
| pages = 1 }}
</ref>

*[[January 3]] — [[Iowa caucus|Iowa caucus]]
*[[January 5]] — Republican Wyoming caucus
*[[January 8]] — [[New Hampshire primary|New Hampshire primary]]
*[[January 15]] — [[Michigan Presidential Primary, 2008 (disambiguation)|Michigan primary]] (allowed on appeal<ref>http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071107/UPDATE/711070451</ref>)
*[[January 19]] — Nevada Caucus / [[South Carolina Republican primary, 2008|Republican South Carolina primary]]
*[[January 26]] — [[South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008|Democratic South Carolina primary]]
*[[January 29]] — Florida primary
*[[February 1]] - [[February 2]]―Republican Maine caucus
*[[February 5]] ― [[Super Tuesday]]: Primaries/caucuses for both parties in 19 states, plus three Democratic-only caucuses and two Republican-only primaries

The [[Republican National Committee]], with the concurrence of chairman [[Mike Duncan]] on [[November 8]], voted 121-9 to strip one-half of delegates from five States that violated the rules of having no primary before [[February 5]]. The States and their losses were: [[Florida]] (57), [[Michigan]] (30), [[Wyoming]] (14), and [[New Hampshire]] (12). The Democratic party has also voted to remove all of Florida and Michigan's delegates.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,309756,00.html</ref><ref>http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/shared/news/DNC02_PBP.html</ref>

The first binding event, in which a candidate can secure convention delegates, is traditionally the [[Iowa caucus]], held in early January of the presidential election year. It is followed by the New Hampshire primary, the first primary by tradition and New Hampshire state law.

Because these states are small, campaigning takes place on a much more personal scale. As a result, even a little-known, underfunded candidate can use "retail politics" to meet intimately with interested voters and perform better than expected. The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary have produced a number of headline-making upsets in history.<ref> Sacala (2003)</ref>:

* [[Harry S. Truman]] ended his re-election bid in 1952 after losing the New Hampshire primary.<ref>http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1976-2/1976-02-06-CBS-15.html</ref>
* [[Lyndon Baines Johnson]] dropped his 1968 reelection bid after performing far below expectations in the New Hampshire primary.
* [[Pat Buchanan]]'s 2nd place showing in the 1992 and win in the 1996 New Hampshire primaries coincided with the weakness of the future nominees, incumbent [[George H. W. Bush]], and Senator [[Bob Dole]] respectively, Bush and Dole subsequently lost the general election; prior to the General Election, then Governor [[Bill Clinton]] only garnered a 43% plurality in the general election after losing New Hampshire in 1992.
* [[John McCain]], a senator from [[Arizona]], defeated [[George W. Bush]] in the New Hampshire primary in [[United States presidential election, 2000|2000]], creating the illusion of a close contest. (McCain went on to lose the South Carolina primary, which effectively ended his campaign in 2000 despite late wins in Michigan and his home state of Arizona)
* [[John Kerry]] won both the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary over heavily favored [[Howard Dean]] to win the 2004 Democratic nomination.

Iowa and New Hampshire set the tone for campaigns — and allow an outsider to topple the favorite. In recent elections, the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary have garnered over half the national and international media attention paid to the entire selection process.

After Iowa and New Hampshire, primaries and caucuses are held in the other states, [[Puerto Rico]], insular areas, and the [[District of Columbia]]. The front runners attempt to solidify their status, while the others fight to become #2.<ref> Scala (2003)</ref> Each party sets its own calendar and rules and in some cases actually administers the election; however, in order to reduce expenses and encourage turnout, the major parties' primaries are usually held the same day and may be consolidated with other state elections. The primary election itself is administered by local governments according to state law. In some cases, state law determines how delegates will be awarded and who may participate in the primary; where it does not, party rules prevail.<ref>http://www.gop.com/Images/AllStateSummaries.pdf</ref>

In recent years states have been holding increasingly early primaries to maximize their leverage (see [[United States presidential primary#Front-loading and compression|below]]). [[California]] moved its primary back to June in 2004, having moved it to March in 1996. However, California now has its presidential primary on the first Tuesday in February ([[February 5th]] [[2008]]) as one of the 24 states holding primaries on [[Super Tuesday]].

==Types of primaries==
Franchise in a primary is governed by rules established by the state party, although the states may impose other regulations.

Nearly all states have a ''binding'' primary, in which the results of the election legally ''bind'' some or all of the delegates to vote for a particular candidate at the national convention, for a certain number of ballots or until the candidate releases the delegates. A handful of states practice a ''non-binding'' primary, which may select candidates to a state convention which then selects delegates. Both major parties have rules which designate [[superdelegate]]s.

In many states, only voters registered with a party may vote in that party's primary, known as a [[closed primary]]. In some states, a semi-closed primary is practiced, in which voters unaffiliated with a party ([[Independent (voter)|independent]]s) may choose a party primary in which to vote. In an [[open primary]], any voter may vote in any party's primary. In all of these systems, a voter may participate in only one primary; that is, a voter who casts a vote for a candidate standing for the Republican nomination for president cannot cast a vote for a candidate standing for the Democratic nomination, or vice versa. A few states once staged a [[blanket primary]], in which voters could vote for one candidate in multiple primaries, but the practice was struck down by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in the 2000 case of ''[[California Democratic Party v. Jones]]'' as violating the [[freedom of assembly]] guaranteed by the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]].<ref> Bruce E. Cain and Elisabeth R. Gerber, ''Voting at the political fault line: California's Experiment with the Blanket Primary''(2002)</ref>

Under the 2008 Democratic Party selection rules, adopted in 2006, delegates are selected under [[proportional representation]], with a candidate requiring a minimum threshold of 15% in a state in order to receive delegates. In addition, the Democratic Party has the right to reject any candidate under their bylaws. Each state publishes a Delegate Selection Plan that notes the mechanics of calculating the number of delegates per [[congressional district]], and how votes are transferred from local conventions to the state and national convention.<ref>http://a9.g.akamai.net/7/9/8082/v001/democratic1.download.akamai.com/8082/pdfs/2008delegateselectionrules.pdf</ref>

The Republican Party's 2008 rules leave more discretion to the states in choosing a method of allocating delegates. As a result, states variously apply the statewide winner-take-all method (e.g., [[New York]]), district- and state-level winner-take-all (e.g., [[California]]), or proportional allocation (e.g., [[Massachusetts]]).<ref>http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/R-DSVE.phtml</ref>

==History==
There is no provision for the role of political parties in the [[United States Constitution]]. Before 1820, [[Democratic-Republican]] members of Congress would nominate a single candidate from their party. That system collapsed in 1824, and by 1832 the preferred mechanism for nomination was a [[United States presidential nominating convention|national convention]].<ref> James S. Chase; ''Emergence of the Presidential Nominating Convention, 1789–1832'' (1973) </ref>

Delegates to the national convention were usually selected at state conventions whose own delegates were chosen by district conventions. Sometimes they were dominated by intrigue between [[political boss]]es who controlled delegates; the national convention was far from democratic or transparent. [[Progressive Era]] reformers looked to the [[primary election]] as a way to measure popular opinion of candidates, as opposed to the opinion of the bosses. In 1910, Oregon became the first state to establish a presidential preference primary in which the delegates to the National Convention were required to support the winner of the primary at the convention. By 1912, twelve states either selected delegates in primaries, used a preferential primary, or both. By 1920 there were 20 states with primaries, but some went back and from 1936 to 1968, 13 or 14 states used them. (Ware p 248)

The primary received its first major test in the [[United States presidential election, 1912|1912 election]] pitting incumbent President [[William Howard Taft]] against challengers [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[Woodrow Wilson|Woodrow Wilson]]. Roosevelt proved the most popular candidate, but as most primaries were non-binding "preference" shows and held in only fourteen of the-then forty-eight states, the Republican nomination went to Taft, who controlled the convention.

Seeking to boost [[voter turnout]], [[New Hampshire]] simplified its [[ballot access]] laws in 1949. In the ensuing "beauty contest" of 1952, Republican [[Dwight Eisenhower]] demonstrated his broad voter appeal by out polling the favored [[Robert A. Taft]], "Mr. Republican." Also, Democrat [[Estes Kefauver]] defeated incumbent President [[Harry S. Truman]], leading the latter to abandon his campaign for another term.<ref> Paul T. David. ''Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952.'' (1954) Volume: 1: pp 37-40.</ref>
The first-in-the-nation [[New Hampshire primary]] has since become a widely-observed test of candidates' viability.

The impetus for national adoption of the binding primary election was the chaotic [[1968 Democratic National Convention]]. Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]] secured the nomination despite primary victories and other shows of support for Senator [[Eugene McCarthy]], running against Humphrey on a strong anti-[[Vietnam War]] platform. After this, a [[Democratic National Committee]]-commissioned panel led by Senator [[George McGovern]] recommended that states adopt new rules to assure wider participation. A large number of states, faced with the need to conform to more detailed rules for the selection of national delegates, chose a presidential primary as an easier way to come into compliance with the new national Democratic Party rules. The result was that many more future delegates would be selected by a state presidential primary. The Republicans also adopted many more state presidential primaries.

With the broadened use of the primary system, states have tried to increase their influence in the nomination process. One tactic has been to create geographic blocs to encourage candidates to spend time in a region. [[Vermont]] and [[Massachusetts]] attempted to stage a joint [[New England]] primary on the first Tuesday of March, but New Hampshire refused to participate so it could retain its traditional place as the first primary. The first successful regional primary was [[Super Tuesday]] of [[March 8]], [[1988]], in which nine [[Southern United States|Southern]] states united in the hope that the Democrats would select a candidate in line with Southern interests.<ref> Laurence W. Moreland, et al. ''The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics'' (1991) pp 3-20</ref>

Another trend is to stage earlier and earlier primaries, given impetus by Super Tuesday and the mid-1990s move (since repealed) of the [[California]] primary and its bloc of votes—the largest in the nation—from June to March. In order to retain its tradition as the first primary in the country (and adhere to a state law which requires it to be), New Hampshire's primary has moved forward steadily, from early March to early January.

==Criticisms==
===Representativeness===
Great attention was paid to the results of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary; however, critics, such as Mississippi secretary of state Eric Clark (see quote below), and Tennessee Senator William Brock, point out that these states are not representative of the United States as a whole: they are overwhelmingly [[white (people)|white]], more rural, and wealthier than the national average, and neither is in the fast-growing [[Western United States|West]] or [[Southern United States|South]]. For example, [[New Jersey]] and [[Montana]], which are the last states to have their primaries, usually end up having no say in who the presidential candidate will be; in 2004, they had their primaries in June, 13 weeks after Senator [[John Kerry]] became unopposed.<ref name="WNJandMTLast">{{cite journal | first = | last = | | title = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/nyregion/24vote.html?ex=1277265600&en=306c89c8091cff64&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss}}</ref> The New Jersey primary has been moved to February for the 2008 election.

Although the addition of [[Nevada]] to the early primaries in 2008 was done to equalize representativeness in the country, this change does little to represent the entire country.

In 2005, the primary commission of the Democratic National Committee began considering removing New Hampshire and Iowa from the top of the calendar. A revised system was supposed to take effect beginning in 2008; however, it has not received approval, so New Hampshire and Iowa are still the first primaries in 2008. New Hampshire is fighting back by obliging candidates who want to campaign in the state to pledge to uphold that primary as the first one.

In [[Mississippi]], secretary of state Eric Clark said:<ref name="EricClark">{{cite journal | first = | last = | | title = http://www.sos.state.ms.us/pubs/PressReleases/Articles/ClarkPushesPresidentialPrimaryReform.asp}}</ref>

{{cquote|It's obvious to me that too many Americans, including Mississippians, are effectively left out of the process. The problem now is that too many states are having their primary elections very early in the year, and the nomination is locked up in a matter of weeks. The nominees had effectively been decided by March 7 [2000]. Mississippians had no meaningful voice in the process. In fact, Americans in 33 states had no meaningful voice in the process. Instead of getting people involved, today's primary system rewards big money and mass media campaigns. Every candidate should have a fair chance to be heard, regardless of how much money he or she has.}}

===Front-loading and compression===
States vie for earlier primaries in order to claim greater influence in the nomination process, as the early primaries can show the nation, showing which candidates are popular and give those who shine early the advantage of a [[bandwagon effect]]. Candidates can ignore primaries once their nomination is secure, depriving citizens of a presidential forum debating the issues relevant to their state. As a result, rather than stretching from March to July, most primaries take place in a compressed time frame in February and March. National party leaders also have an interest in compressing the primary calendar, as it enables the party to reduce the chance of a bruising internecine battle and to preserve resources for the general campaign.

In such a primary season, however, many primaries will fall on the same day, forcing candidates to choose where to spend their time and resources. Indeed, [[Super Tuesday]] was created deliberately to increase the influence of the South. When states cannot agree to coordinate primaries, however, attention flows to larger states with large numbers of delegates at the expense of smaller ones. Because the candidate's time is limited, paid advertising may play a greater role. Moreover, a compressed calendar limits the ability of lesser-known candidates to corral resources and raise their visibility among voters, especially when a better-known candidate enjoys the financial and institutional backing of the party establishment.<ref name="WilliamBock">{{cite journal | first = | last = | | title = http://www.centerforpolitics.org/reform/report_nominating.htm}}</ref>

In an article from ''Detroit News'', Tennessee Senator [[Bill Brock|William (Bill) Brock]] said about front-running, "Today, too many people in too many states have no voice in the election of our major party nominees. For them, the nominations are over before they have begun."<ref name="WilliamBock">{{cite journal | first = | last = | | title = http://www.centerforpolitics.org/reform/report_nominating.htm}}</ref>

==Reform proposals==
There are several proposals for reforming the primary system. Some have called for a single nationwide primary to be held on one day. Others point out that requiring candidates to campaign in every state simultaneously would exacerbate the purported problem of campaigns being dominated by the candidates who raise the most money. The following proposals attempt to return the primary system to a more relaxed schedule, and would help less-funded candidates by lowering the cost of entry.

===Graduated random Presidential primary system (American Plan)===

One reform concept is the [[Graduated Random Presidential Primary System|graduated random Presidential primary system]], variations of which have been referred to as the American Plan or the California Plan. This plan starts with small primaries, and gradually moves up to larger ones, in 10 steps, with states chosen at random. The idea is that fewer initial primaries, typically in smaller states, would allow grassroots campaigns to score early successes and pick up steam. However, since states are chosen at random, travel costs may still be significant.

===Delaware Plan===

A commission empaneled by the Republican National Committee recommended the [[Delaware Plan]] in 2000. This plan had states grouped by size into four groups, with the smallest primaries first, then the next-smallest, and so on. Populous states objected to the plan, however, because it would have always scheduled their primaries at the end of the season. Other criticisms included the wide geographic range of the states, necessitating high travel costs. The Delaware Plan was put to vote at [[Republican National Convention]] of 2000 and rejected.

===Rotating regional primary system===

The [[National Association of Secretaries of State]] has endorsed a [[Rotating Regional Primary System|rotating regional primary system]], with the country split into four regions: the West, the Midwest, the South, and the Northeast.<ref>http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=74&Itemid=210</ref> Unlike the Delaware Plan and the American Plan, the Rotating Regional Primary System would lower campaigning costs by restricting groups of primaries to single, contiguous regions. Criticisms of the regional plan include the higher entry costs than the other plans (since 1/4 of the country would vote in the first regional), and the political bias of certain regions (the South or the Northeast) unduly influencing the selection of a nominee.

===Interregional primary plan===
In the [[Interregional Primary Plan|interregional primary plan]] the country is divided into geographical regions. On each primary date from March to June, one state from each of six regions votes. Each election date would contain a wide variety of perspectives. The order of the states in each region is set by a lottery. In a 24-year cycle, every state would have a chance to be among the first primary states. The primary criticism of this plan is that travel costs would be quite high: in each round, candidates would essentially have to cover the entire country in order to effectively campaign. Contrary to most reform plans, this would reduce the ability of lesser-funded candidates to build up from small contests to large ones.<ref>http://www.fairvote.org/?page=2072</ref>

===National primary===

Many have proposed a [[National Primary|national primary]], a single day on which all state primaries and caucuses would be held, with over 120 bills offered in Congress.<ref>{{cite book | title = What Role for Government?: Lessons from Policy Research | year= 1983 | publisher = Duke University Press | isbn= 0822304813 | author = Zeckhauser Richard J, Leebaert Derek | pages=p.46}} </ref>

===Balanced primary system===

A balanced primary system has been proposed<ref>http://politicalgrind.com/2008/01/08/a-better-way-to-choose-a-president/</ref>. It seeks to improve on the current system, while avoiding the problems associated with other reform proposals. Under this plan, primary contests would be held during 13 out of the 18 weeks, starting in late January and ending in late May. California would vote about halfway through the process. Before California votes, each week’s contest would choose about 12% of the delegates necessary for the nomination, from a single state, or a group of contiguous states. After California votes, the contests would award more delegates in larger groups of states, since the positions of the hopefuls would be better known by then.

To provide balance, diversity in each contest would be maximized. Liberal states would be paired with conservative states; urban areas would be mixed with rural areas. The contests would move around so that each region of the country would award some delegates before California votes. In subsequent years, groups of states could trade off dates, so that the same states did not vote early in every election.

The advantages of this system include the feature that lesser known candidates could still have a chance by using retail politics in small states early, without giving those early small states too much influence. Travel time and advertising cost would be minimized by requiring that groups of states be contiguous, thus saving the hopefuls’ time and money. The disadvantage is that the careful balance would require the cooperation of the great majority of the states, making the plan more difficult to implement.

==Lists of primaries==
{{main|Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries|Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries}}

==See also==
* [[United States presidential election debates]]
* [[United States Electoral College]]
* [[Ames Straw Poll|Ames (Iowa) Straw Poll]] on a Saturday in August prior to the election year, since 1979

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* Brereton Charles. ''First in the Nation: New Hampshire and the Premier Presidential Primary''. Portsmouth, NH: Peter E. Randall Publishers, 1987.
* Kendall, Kathleen E. ''Communication in the Presidential Primaries: Candidates and the Media, 1912-2000'' (2000)
* Hugh, Gregg. [http://www.state.nh.us/nhinfo/genesis.html "First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary"], ''State of New Hampshire Manual for the General Court'', (Department of State) No.55, 1997.
* McGaughey, Bill. "On the Ballot in Louisiana". Minneapolis: Thistlerose Publications. ISBN 0-9605630-6-7.] A minor candidate's experiences campaigning in Louisiana's 2004 Democratic presidential primary.
* Palmer, Niall A. ''The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process'' (1997)
* [http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/139096 "Reid, labor aided Nevada with Demos"], Arizona Daily Star, July 24, 2006.
* Sabato, Larry, [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2006/summer/sabato-politics-americas/ Politics: America's Missing Constitutional Link], ''Virginia Quarterly Review'', Summer 2006, 149-61.
* Scala, Dante J. ''Stormy Weather: The New Hampshire Primary and Presidential Politics'' (2003)
* Ware, Alan. ''The American Direct Primary: Party Institutionalization and Transformation in the North'' (2002), a British perspective

== External links ==
*[http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1801 List of States by primary type]

[[Category:United States presidential primaries]]
[[Category:Electoral reform]]

{{USPresidentialElections}}
{{U.S. presidential primaries}}

[[fa:انتخابات مقدماتی ریاست جمهوری ایالات متحده آمریکا]]
[[he:הבחירות המקדימות לנשיאות ארצות הברית]]
[[ja:アメリカ合衆国大統領予備選挙]]
[[vi:Bầu cử sơ bộ tổng thống Hoa Kỳ]]

Postal (Computerspiel)

2007-12-01T23:48:33Z

Elysdir: If you're not going to say why it's controversial, you need to at least give a citation.

{{Infobox VG
| title = Postal Classic
|image = [[Image:Postal_cover.gif|100px|Postal Plus box art]]
|publisher = [[Ripcord Games]]
|developer = [[Running With Scissors, Inc.|Running With Scissors]]
|released = [[1997-11-14]]
|genre = [[Third-person shooter]]
|modes = [[Singleplayer]], [[Multiplayer]]
|ratings = [[ESRB]]: Mature
|platforms = [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Linux]], [[Mac OS]]
|media = [[CD]]
|requirements = see [[#System requirements|System requirements]]
|input = [[computer keyboard|Keyboard]]
|preceded by =
|followed by = [[Postal²]]
}}
'''''Postal''''' is a [[Video game controversy|controversial]]{{fact}} [[computer game]] made by [[Running With Scissors, Inc.|Running With Scissors]] and published by [[Ripcord Games]] in [[1997]]. In [[2003]] there was a sequel, ''[[Postal²]]'', that is perhaps better known than the original. Director [[Uwe Boll]] has bought the movie rights for the series, and has produced a [[Postal (film)|film of the same name]].

== General information ==
''Postal'' is a 2D shooter with mainly [[isometric]], but also some [[Top-down_shooter|top-down]] levels featuring hand-painted backgrounds. Gameplay and interface are similar to [[first-person shooters]] of the time in most, but not all counts:

*Movement is always relative to the orientation of the player character ("Postal Dude"). The player therefore must always be aware of the direction the character is facing, which can be difficult on the isometric maps.
*There are eight weapon slots, each with a fixed amount of maximum ammo. The default weapon is a weak machine gun with unlimited ammo.
*Contrary to first-person shooters, however, the goal is not just to stay alive and reach the next level, but to kill a given percentage of the armed [[Non-player character|NPC]]s on the map. Only then the exit to the next level is activated.

There is no plot as such. The presence of a moving van on the first level suggests that the Postal Dude has been evicted from his home and is therefore "[[going postal]]", but no background story evolves during the game.

An add-on to the game called '''''Special Delivery''''' was made in [[1998]] which featured four new levels (department store, shanty town, earthquake zone and vacation resort), new characters, new sounds, new modes of play (co-op and a refined deathmatch). Original and add-on were released together as '''''Postal Plus''''' in [[2001]] and ported to [[Linux]] by [[Loki Software]].

== System requirements ==
===Windows ===
Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95

==== Minimum ====
* [[Pentium]]
* 16 MB [[RAM]]
* 4× [[CD-ROM]] drive
* 256-color [[SVGA]] (640×480)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

==== Recommended ====
* [[Pentium]] 166
* 32 MB [[RAM]]
* 4× [[CD-ROM]] drive
* 256-color [[SVGA]] (640×480)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

===Linux===
As stated on the official ''Postal Plus'' help file.

====Minimum====
* 133 MHz or higher [[Central processing unit|CPU]]
* 16 MB or more of RAM
* 24 MB or more of available [[hard drive]] space.
* Any Video Card (with at least 256 colors at 640×480 resolution)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

====Recommended====
* 300 MHz or higher [[Central processing unit|CPU]]
* 64 MB or more of RAM
* 24 MB or more of available [[hard drive]] space.
* Any Video Card (with at least 256 colors at 640×480 resolution)
* 16-bit Audio Card (Sound Blaster 16 or 100% Compatible)

===Macintosh===
According to a review on MacGamer.[http://www.macgamer.com/features/?id=579]
*PowerPC
*16 MB RAM
*2× CD-ROM drive

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.gopostal.com/ Go Postal (NSFW)]: The official website
*{{moby game|id=/postal|name=''Postal''}}
*[http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/postal ''Postal''] at [[Metacritic]]: The game received "mixed or average" reviews.
*[http://www.ownt.com/the_state_of/violent_gaming/violent_gaming.shtm Interview with Vince Desi]

{{Postal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Postal 1}}
[[Category:1997 video games]]
[[Category:Mac OS games]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Linux games]]
[[Category:Running With Scissors games]]
[[Category:Run and gun games]]

[[de:Postal]]
[[es:Postal (videojuego)]]
[[ja:ポスタル (ゲーム)]]
[[pl:Postal (gra)]]
[[pt:Postal (jogo)]]
[[sv:Postal]]

Meutereien von Spithead und Nore

2006-04-02T17:56:32Z

Elysdir: /* The Nore */ Corrected typo "eleceted" to "elected"

The '''Spithead and Nore mutinies''' were two major [[mutiny|mutinies]] by sailors of the [[Royal Navy]] in [[1797]]. There was also discontent and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year. The mutinies were potentially dangerous for the [[United Kingdom]] because at the time the UK was at war with the [[French Revolution|Revolutionary]] government in [[France]]. There were also concerns among some members of the British ruling class that the mutinies might be the trigger to a wider uprising similar to the French Revolution.

==Spithead==
The mutiny at [[Spithead]] (an [[anchor|anchorage]] near [[Portsmouth]]) lasted from [[16 April]] to [[15 May]], 1797. Sailors on 16 ships in the [[Channel Fleet]], commanded by [[Admiral]] [[Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport|Lord Bridport]], protested at the living conditions aboard [[Royal Navy]] vessels and demanded a pay rise.

Seamen's pay rates had been established in [[1658]], and due to the stability of wages and prices, they had still been reasonably competitive as recently as the [[Seven Years' War]], 40 years earlier; however, high [[inflation]] during the last decades of the [[18th century]] severely eroded the real value of the pay. At the same time, the practice of [[Copper Hull|coppering]] the bottoms of [[Hull (watercraft)|hulls]], starting in [[1761]], meant that British warships no longer had to return to port frequently to have their hulls scraped, and the additional time at sea significantly altered the rhythm and difficulty of seamen's work. The Royal Navy had not yet made adjustments for any of these changes, and was slow to understand their effects on its crews. Finally, since it was wartime, [[impressment]] meant that some of the seamen were on board ship against their wills.

The mutineers were led by elected delegates and tried to negotiate with the [[Admiralty]] for two weeks. The negotiations broke down, and minor violence broke out. When the situation calmed, Admiral [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Lord Howe]] intervened to negotiate an agreement that saw a [[Pardon#Pardons and clemency in the United Kingdom|Royal pardon]] for all crews, together with a pay rise and better living conditions. Afterwards, the mutiny was to become nicknamed "breeze at Spithead".

==The Nore==
Inspired by the example of their comrades at Spithead, the mutiny at the [[Nore]] (an anchorage in the [[Thames Estuary]]) began on [[12 May]] when the crew of the ''Sandwich'', notorious for it's vile conditions seized control of the ship and the rest of the fleet quickly followed their example. The mutineers had been unable to organise easily due to the fleet being scattered along the Nore but they quickly elected delgates for each ship and [[Richard Parker (British sailor)|Richard Parker]], a former naval [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]], was elected "President of the Delegates of the Fleet". Demands were formulated and on 20th May a list of 8 demands were presented to Admiral Buckner, which were mainly demands for pardons, issues regarding pay and modification of the [[Articles of War]]. These demands infuriated the Admiralty who refused all bar the offering of a pardon in return for immediate return to duty.

The mutineers expanded their initial grievance about living conditions into the beginnings of a social revolution, and [[blockade]]d [[London]], preventing merchant vessels from entering the port. After the successful resolution of the Spithead mutiny, the government and the Admiralty were not minded to make further concessions, particular as the Nore mutineers had more political aims.

The mutineers were denied food, many deserted, and mutiny failed. Parker was quickly convicted of [[treason]] and [[piracy]] and [[hanged]] from the [[yardarm]] of [[HMS Sandwich]], the vessel where the mutiny started. In the reprisals which followed a total of 29 men were hanged, others sentenced to be [[flogging|flogged]], [[imprisonment|imprisoned]] or [[penal transportation|transported]] to [[Australia]].

==Other mutinies and discontent in 1797==
In September 1797, the crew of the [[HMS Hermione (1782)|''Hermione'']] mutinied in the [[West Indies]], killing almost all the officers in revenge for the flinging into the sea of two men who had broken their limbs falling from the rigging in a desperate scramble to avoid [[flogging]] for being last man down on deck. Other mutinies took place on the coast of [[Ireland]] and at the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and spread to the fleet under Admiral [[John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent|Jervis]] off the coast of [[Spain]].

==Literature and Music==
[[Herman Melville]]'s [[novel]] ''[[Billy Budd (novel)|Billy Budd]]'' is set immediately after the main mutinies.

[[The Men They Couldn't Hang]], an English folk-punk group, commemorated the executed leaders of the mutiny in the ballad "The Colours" [[[http://lyrics.rare-lyrics.com/M/Men-They-Couldn't-Hang/The-Colours.html] (1988).

==External links==
*[http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.585/viewPage/1 Research guide B8: The Spithead and Nore mutinies of 1797] (from the [[National Maritime Museum]])

==References==
*Dobree and Manwaring, ''The Floating Republic'', 1935

[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category: Mutinies]]

Rechtsberater des Weißen Hauses

2005-10-07T21:03:39Z

Elysdir: rv: removing silly reference to "Ben Parsons" (presumably vandalism)

The '''White House Counsel''' is a staff appointee of the [[President of the United States]]. The Counsel's role is to advise the President on all legal issues concerning the President and the [[White House]]. The current White House Counsel is [[Harriet Miers]], who was appointed to fill the post when President [[George W. Bush]] nominated her predecessor, [[Alberto Gonzales]], to the post of [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]]. Since she is now a nominee for [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]], she could be replaced soon if she is confirmed.

The '''Office of Counsel to the President''' is responsible for advising on all legal aspects of policy questions, legal issues arising in connection with the President's decision to sign or veto legislation, ethical questions, financial disclosures, and conflicts of interest during employment and post employment. The Counsel's Office also helps define the line between official and political activities, oversees executive appointments and judicial selection, handles Presidential pardons, reviews legislation and Presidential statements, and handles lawsuits against the President in his role as President, as well as serving as the [[White House]] contact for the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]].

Although the White House Counsel offers legal advice to the President, the Counsel does so in the President's official capacity, and does not serve as the President's personal attorney. There is therefore controversy over the scope of the [[attorney-client privilege]] between the Counsel and the President. It is clear, however, that the privilege does not apply in personal matters, such as [[impeachment]] proceedings; thus, in such situations the President relies on a personal attorney for confidential legal advice.

==Partial List of White House Counsels==

* [[Clark M. Clifford]] ([[1946]]-[[1950]])
* [[Charles S. Murphy]] ([[1951]]-[[1953]])
* [[Edward McCabe (attorney)|Edward McCabe]] ([[1958]]-[[1961]])
* [[Theodore Sorenson]] ([[1961]]-[[1963]])
* [[Charles Colson]] ([[1969]]-[[1970]])
* [[John Dean]] ([[1970]]-[[1973]])
* [[Leonard Garment]] ([[1973]]-[[1974]])
* [[William Casselman]] ([[1974]]-[[1975]])
* [[Lloyd Cutler]] ([[1979]]-[[1981]]) (1st time)
* [[Fred Fielding]] ([[1981]]-[[1986]])
* [[C. Boyden Gray]] ([[1989]]-[[1993]])
* [[Bernard Nussbaum]] ([[1993]]-[[1994]])
* [[Lloyd Cutler]] ([[1994]]) (2nd time)
* [[Abner J. Mikva]] ([[1994]]-[[1995]])
* [[Jack Quinn]] ([[1995]]-[[1996]])
* [[Lanny Davis]] ([[1996]]-[[1998]])
* [[Charles Ruff]] ([[1998]]-[[1999]])
* [[Beth Nolan]] ([[1999]]-[[2001]])
* [[Alberto Gonzales]] ([[2001]]-[[2005]])
* [[Harriet Miers]] ([[2005]]-Present) Nominated for Supreme Court Justice

==External link==
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/off-descrp.html White House Offices]

[[Category:U.S. presidential advisors| ]]
[[Category:American lawyers| ]]