when did fender move from fullerton to corona

In 1985, in a campaign initiated by then CBS Musical Instruments division president William Schultz (1926â€“2006), the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company employees purchased the company from CBS and renamed it Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC). Behind the Fender name, FMIC has retained Fender's older models along with newer designs and concepts. The sale however did not include the old Fullerton factory; FMIC had to build a new facility in nearby Corona.

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Coordinates: 33°38′46″N 111°53′57″W / 33.6460322°N 111.899058°W / 33.6460322; -111.899058

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), commonly referred to simply as Fender, is an American manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers. Fender Guitars are among the most recognized in the world. Fender is famous for its solid-body electric guitars and bass guitars, such as the Stratocaster (also known as the "Strat"), Telecaster (also known as the "Tele"), Precision Bass (also known as the "P-Bass"), and the Jazz Bass (also known as the "J-Bass"). Its headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company, previously named the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946.

The company is a privately held corporation with Andy Mooney serving as the Chief Executive Officer. The company filed for an initial public offering in March 2012,[4] but this was withdrawn[5][6] five months later. In addition to its Scottsdale headquarters, Fender has manufacturing facilities in Corona, California (US) and Ensenada, Baja California (Mexico).[7]

The company also manufactures acoustic guitars, electric basses, mandolins, banjos, and electric violins, as well as guitar amplifiers, bass amplifiers, and PA (public address) equipment. Other Fender brands include Squier (entry level/budget), Jackson, Charvel, EVH guitars and amplifiers in collaboration with Eddie Van Halen, and the manufacture and distribution of Gretsch guitars under license.

In 1950, Fender introduced the first mass-produced solid-body Spanish-style electric guitar, the Telecaster (originally named the Broadcaster for two-pickup models and Esquire for single-pickup).[8]  Following its success, Fender created the first mass-produced electric bass, the Precision Bass (P-Bass). In 1954, Fender unveiled the Stratocaster ("Strat") guitar.  With the Telecaster and Precision Bass having been on the market for some time, Leo Fender was able to incorporate input from working musicians into the Stratocaster's design.  The Strat's comfortable contoured edges and in-built vibrato system led to its soaring popularity.

While Fender was not the first to manufacture electric guitars — luthiers and larger musical instrument manufacturers had produced electric guitars since the late 1920s — the popularity of Fender's instruments superseded what had come before. Furthermore, while nearly all other electric guitars featured hollow bodies — making them most similar to an acoustic guitar — or more specialized designs, such as Rickenbacker's solid-body Hawaiian guitars, Fender's instruments possessed an unprecedented level of versatility.  The solid wood bodies of Fender's instruments allowed for minimal feedback with high-gain amplification, an issue that plagued earlier guitars.  The Fender guitars were popular with musicians in a variety of genres and are now revered for their build quality and tonal excellence.

The company began as Fender's Radio Service in late 1938 in Fullerton, California. It got its name from the surname of its founder Leo Fender. As a qualified electronics technician, Leo Fender had been asked to repair not only radios, but also phonograph players, home audio amplifiers, public address systems and musical instrument amplifiers. (At the time, most of these were just variations on a few simple vacuum-tube circuits.) All designs were based on research developed and released to the public domain by Western Electric in the 1930s and used vacuum tubes for amplification. The business also sidelined in carrying records for sale and the in rental of company-designed PA systems. Leo became intrigued by design flaws in contemporary musical instrument amplifiers and began building amplifiers based on his own designs or modifications to designs.

By the early 1940s he had entered into a partnership with local electronics enthusiast Clayton Orr "Doc" Kauffman and together they formed the company K & F Manufacturing Corp to design, manufacture, and market electric instruments and amplifiers. Production began in 1945 with Hawaiian lap steel guitars (incorporating a patented pickup) and amplifiers sold as sets. By the end of the year Fender became convinced that manufacturing was more profitable than repair and he decided to concentrate on that business instead. Kauffman remained, however, unconvinced and he and Fender amicably parted ways by early 1946. At that point Leo renamed the company the Fender Electric Instrument Company. The service shop remained open until 1951, although Leo Fender did not personally supervise it after 1947.

A custom lap steel guitar made in 1946 for his friend Noel Boggs was probably the very first product of the new
company, already sporting the familiar Big "F" logo.[9]

In the late 1940s, Leo Fender began to experiment with more conventional guitar designs.  As early as 1949, the familiar shape of the Telecaster can be made out in some of Fender's prototypes.  Early Telecasters were plagued with issues; Leo Fender boasted the strength of the Telecasters one-piece maple neck while early adopters lamented its tendency to bow in humid weather.  Fender's reluctant addition of a metal truss rod into the necks of his guitars allowed for the much needed ability to fine-tune the instrument to the musician's specific needs.  With the design of the Telecaster finalized, mass-production began in 1950.  The key to Fender's ability to mass-produce an electric guitar was the modular design of the Telecaster.  Its bolted-on neck allowed for the instrument's body and neck to be milled and finished separately and for the final assembling to be done quickly and cheaply by unskilled workers.

Fender owed its early success not only to its founder and talented associates such as musician/product engineer Freddie Tavares but also to the efforts of sales chief, senior partner and marketing genius Don Randall. According to The Stratocaster Chronicles (a book by Tom Wheeler; Hal Leonard Pub., Milwaukee, WI;  2004, p.Â 108), Randall assembled what Fender's original partner Doc Kauffman called "a sales distributorship like nobody had ever seen in the world." Randall worked closely with the immensely talented photographer/designer, Bob Perine. Their catalogs and ads were innovative - such as the "You Won't Part With Yours Either" campaign, which portrayed people surfing, skiing, skydiving, and climbing into jet planes, all while holding Jazzmasters and Stratocasters.

In Fender guitar literatures of the 1960s, attractive, guitar-toting teenagers were posed with surfboards and Perine's classic Thunderbird convertible at local beachside settings, firmly integrating Fender into the surfin’/hot rod/sports car culture of Southern California celebrated by the Beach Boys, beach movies, and surf music. (The Stratocaster Chronicles, by Tom Wheeler; Hal Leonard Pub., Milwaukee, WI; 2004, p. 108).  This early success is dramatically illustrated by the growth of Fender's manufacturing capacity through the 1950s and 1960s.

In early 1965, Leo Fender sold his companies to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for $13 million.[10][11] This was almost two million more than they had paid for The New York Yankees a year before. CBS entered the musical instruments field by acquiring the Fender companies (Fender Sales, Inc., Fender Electric Instrument Company, Inc., Fender Acoustic Instrument Company, Inc., Fender-Rhodes, Inc., Terrafen, Inc., Clef-Tronix, Inc., Randall Publishing Co., Inc., and V.C. Squier Company), as well as Electro-Music Inc. (Leslie speakers), Rogers drums, Steinway pianos, Gemeinhardt flutes, Lyon & Healy harps, Rodgers (institutional) organs, and Gulbransen home organs.

This had far-reaching implications. The sale was taken as a positive development, considering CBS's ability to bring in money and personnel who acquired a large inventory of Fender parts and unassembled guitars that were assembled and put to market. However, the sale also led to a reduction of the quality of Fender's guitars while under the management of "cost-cutting" CBS. Several cosmetic changes occurred after 1965/1966, such as a larger headstock shape on certain guitars. Bound necks with block shaped position markers were introduced in 1966. A bolder black headstock logo, as well as a brushed aluminum face plate with blue or red labels (depending the model) for the guitar and bass amplifiers became standard features, starting in late 1968. These first "silverface" amps added an aluminium trim detail around the speaker baffle until 1970.

Other cosmetic changes included a new "tailless" Fender amp decal and a sparkling orange grillcloth on certain amplifiers in the mid-1970s. Regarding guitars, in mid-1971 the usual four-bolt neck joint was changed to one using only three bolts, and a second string tree for the two middle (G and D) strings was added in late 1972. These changes were said to have been made to save money: while it suited the new 'improved' micro-tilt adjustment of the neck (previously requiring neck removal and shimming), the "Bullet" truss rod system, and a 5-way pickup selector on most models, it also resulted in a greater propensity toward mechanical failure of the guitars.

During the CBS era, the company did introduce some new instrument and amplifier designs. The Fender Starcaster was particularly unusual because of its shallow, yet completely hollow body design that still retained the traditional Fender bolt-on neck, albeit with a completely different headstock. The Starcaster also incorporated a new Humbucking pickup designed by Seth Lover, which became known as the Wide Range pickup. This pickup also gave rise to 3 new incarnations of the classic Telecaster: the Telecaster Custom, the Telecaster Deluxe and the Telecaster Thinline. Though more recent use by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead has raised the Starcaster's profile, CBS-era instruments are generally much less coveted or collectable than the "pre-CBS" models created by Leo Fender prior to selling the Fender companies to CBS in 1965.

The culmination of the CBS "cost-cutting" may have occurred in 1983, when the Fender Stratocaster received a short-lived redesign including a single ("master") tone control, a bare-bones, pickguard-mounted output jack, redesigned single-coil pickups, active electronics, and three push buttons for pickup selection (on the Elite Series). Additionally, previous models such as the Swinger (also known as Musiclander) and Custom (also known as Maverick) were perceived by some musicians as little more than attempts to squeeze profits out of factory stock. The so-called "pre-CBS cult" refers to the popularity of Fenders made before the sale.

After selling the Fender company, Leo Fender founded Music Man in 1975, and G&L Musical Instruments in 1979, both of which manufacture electric guitars and basses based on his later designs.

Fender manufactures its highest quality, most expensive guitars at its Corona factory in California and manufactures a variety of other mid-to-high quality guitars at its Ensenada factory in Baja California, Mexico. Fender also contracts Asian guitar builders to manufacture Fender guitars and the economy priced entry-level Squier guitars.

In 1991, FMIC moved its corporate headquarters from its Corona location to Scottsdale, Arizona. Currently, this is where "administration, marketing, advertising, sales and export operations" take place, not only for the United States operations, but many other countries also.[12]  Older vintage and U.S. built Fender guitars are generally the most favored, but pre-1990 Fender Japan guitars are now highly regarded as well. Fender guitars built in Ensenada, Mexico now fulfill the primary export role formerly held by Japanese-made Fenders. The Japanese Fenders are now manufactured specifically for the Japanese market, with only a small number marked for export.

On February 11, 1994, the Fender manufacturing plant based in Ensenada, Mexico burned down.  Fender President Bill Shultz decided to temporarily move production from the Mexico plant to the U.S. plant.  These Fender guitars are fairly rare and can be identified by the unique serial number.

In recent years, FMIC has branched out into making and selling steel-string acoustic guitars, and has purchased a number of other instrument firms, including the Guild Guitar Company, the Sunn Amplifier Company, and other brands such as SWR Sound Corporation. In early 2003, FMIC made a deal with Gretsch and began manufacturing and distributing new Gretsch guitars. Fender also owns: Jackson, Olympia, Orpheum, Tacoma Guitars (based in Seattle, WA), Squier and Brand X amps. In 2007, Fender acquired Kaman Music Corporation, which owns Ovation Guitar Company, Latin Percussion and Toca hand percussion products, Gibraltar Hardware, Genz Benz Amplification, Charvel, Hamer Guitars and is the exclusive U.S. sales representative for Sabian Cymbals and exclusive worldwide distributor of Takamine Guitars and Gretsch Drums.

In February 2007, Fender announced that it would produce an illustrated product guide in place of its traditional annual Frontline magazine. They made this change in large part due to costs associated with paying royalties for both print and the Internet. With the new illustrated product guide, this removed print issues. The new guide contains the entire range of instruments and amplifiers, with color pictures and basic specifications. The New Fender Frontline In-Home is produced during the year, keeping customers up to date with new products. These are available through guitar publications and are directly mailed to customers who sign up on the Fender website.  As well as these printed formats, Fender Frontline Live launched at the winter NAMM show in January 2007 as a new online reference point, containing information on new products and live footage from the show.

On October 28, 2007, Fender announced its intention to buy Kaman Music Corporation (also known as KMC, and the owner of Hamer Guitars and Genz Benz amplifiers, along with many others, and exclusive distributor for Sabian cymbals and Takamine Guitars).

Other Fender instruments include the Mustang, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Starcaster, Duo-Sonic, Toronado and Bronco guitars; basses such as the Jazz Bass, the 'Telecaster Bass' reissue of the original 1950s Precision Bass; a line of lap steels; three models of electric violin, and the Fender Rhodes electric piano.

In 2011, Volkswagen partnered with Fender Corporation to manufacture premium sound systems for its vehicles in North America, under the direction of Panasonic. Volkswagen vehicles in North America that offer optional Fender Premium Sound are the Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Beetle, Volkswagen Jetta Sedan, Volkswagen Passat, and Volkswagen Tiguan.

As of July 10, 2012, the majority shareholders of Fender were the private equity firm of Weston Presidio (43%), Servco Pacific (5%) and the Japanese music distributors Yamano Music (14%) and Kanda Shokai (13%).[13][14] By December 2012, TPG Growth (the middle market and growth equity investment platform of TPG Capital) and Servco Pacific took control of the company after acquiring the shares held by Weston Presidio.[15]

In February 2015, KMC was sold to Jam Industries[16] by FMIC[17]

The core of its instrument line — the Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Mustang, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass — remains largely unchanged from the 1950s and 1960s originals[18]

The Fender Custom Shop produces special-order guitars for customers through a Custom Shop dealer network, creates limited edition guitars, builds limited edition amplifiers, and does some research & design for the parent company.

Squier was a string manufacturer that Fender acquired. Fender had used the Squier brand since 1982 to market inexpensive variants of Fender guitars to compete with Stratocaster copies, as the Stratocaster became more popular. Squier guitars have been manufactured in Japan, Korea, Mexico, India, Indonesia, China, and the United States.

The Fender company is currently based in Corona, California, about an hourâ€™s drive from Los Angeles and not far from its Fullerton origins. This location has been a working factory since 1998 and manufactures about 400 guitars a day. They offer hour-long factory tours to the public once a week, on Thursday mornings.

The Visitor Center functions as a small museum, full of displays related to the history of the company, photos and a biography of Leo Fender and displays of Fender instruments and the musicians who played them. The actual guided tour leads participants through the working factory where they view construction of guitars from the pickup fabrication process to the Woodmill room, where workers cut Fender guitar bodies and necks from planks of wood. Tour groups then view the Sanding Room where guitars are sanded and shaped, the Buff and Polish Room where the paint job is finalized, the Final Assembly area where the guitar's hardware is added, and the Inspection/End of the Line room where the guitars are tested.[19]

Many rock, country and jazz musicians have used Fender guitars from 1951 to the present. Some notable Fender players, both past and present, include Muddy Waters, Jim Adkins, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Roy Buchanan, Eric Clapton, Albert Collins, Billy Corgan, Robert Cray, Steve Cropper, Kurt Cobain, Bob Dylan, Rory Gallagher, David Gilmour, Janick Gers, Buddy Guy, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Eric Johnson, Mark Knopfler, Scott Lucas, Yngwie Malmsteen, Johnny Marr, Hank Marvin, John Mayer, Dave Murray, Jimmy Page, Nigel Pulsford, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Jim Root, Gavin Rossdale, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Chris Shiflett, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian Wilson, Brad Paisley, and many others.

Bass players favoring Fender instruments have included Geezer Butler, Adam Clayton, Bill Dickens, Mike Dirnt, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Flea, Steve Harris, Cliff Williams, James Jamerson, John Paul Jones, Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney,
Duff McKagan, Nate Mendel, Jaco Pastorius, Esperanza Spalding, Dave Parsons, Dee Dee Ramone, Troy Sanders, Rudy Sarzo, Robert Trujillo, Roger Waters, John Entwistle, Mikey Way and many others.

In July 2017, Fender launched Fender Play, a video based subscription platform offering guitar lessons.[20][21]


what is the climate like in north korea

North Korea has a combination of a continental climate and an oceanic climate, with four distinct seasons.[1][2] Most of North Korea is classified as being of a humid continental climate within the Köppen climate classification scheme, with warm summers and cold, dry winters. In summer, there is a short rainy season called changma.[3]

Geography of North Korea

Coordinates: 40°00′N 127°00′E / 40.000°N 127.000°E / 40.000; 127.000

North Korea is located in east Asia on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea shares a border with three countries; China along the Amnok River, Russia along the Tumen River, and South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The Yellow Sea and the Korea Bay are off the west coast and the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) is off the east coast.

Most of North Korea is a series of medium-sized mountain ranges and large hills, separated by deep, narrow valleys. The highest peak, Paektu-san on the volcanic Baekdu Mountain, is located on its northern border with China, and rises 9,002Â ft. (2,744 m). Along the west coast there are wide coastal plains, while along the Sea of Japan coastline (North Korea's lowest point at 0 m), narrow plains rise into mountains. Similar to South Korea, dozens of small islands dot the western coastline. North Korea's longest river is the Yulu (Yalu). Other large rivers include the Tumen, Taedong and Imjin.

The terrain consists mostly of hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys. The coastal plains are wide in the west and discontinuous in the east.

Early European visitors to Korea remarked that the country resembled "a sea in a heavy gale" because of the many successive mountain ranges that crisscross the peninsula. Some 80 percent of North Korea's land area is composed of mountains and uplands, with all of the peninsula's mountains with elevations of 2,000 metres (6,600Â ft) or more located in North Korea. The great majority of the population lives in the plains and lowlands.

Baekdu Mountain, the highest point in North Korea at 2,743 m (9,003 ft), is a volcanic mountain near Manchuria with basalt lava plateau with elevations between 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) and 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level. The Hamgyong Range, located in the extreme northeastern part of the peninsula, has many high peaks, including Kwanmobong at approximately 2,541 metres (8,337 ft).

Other major ranges include the Rangrim Mountains, which are located in the north-central part of North Korea and run in a north-south direction, making communication between the eastern and western parts of the country rather difficult; and the Kangnam Range, which runs along the North Korea–China border. Geumgangsan, often written Mt Kumgang, or Diamond Mountain, (approximately 1,638 metres (5,374 ft)) in the Taebaek Range, which extends into South Korea, is famous for its scenic beauty.

For the most part, the plains are small. The most extensive are the Pyongyang and Chaeryŏng plains, each covering about 500 km2. Because the mountains on the east coast drop abruptly to the sea, the plains are even smaller there than on the west coast.

The mountain ranges in the northern and eastern parts of North Korea form the watershed for most of its rivers, which run in a westerly direction and empty into the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay. The longest is the Amnok River, which is navigable for 678 km of its 790 kilometres (490 mi). The Duman River, one of the few major rivers to flow into the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea), is the second longest at 521 kilometres (324 mi) but is navigable for only 85 kilometres (53 mi) because of the mountainous topography.

The third longest river, the Daedong River, flows through Pyongyang and is navigable for 245 of its 397Â km. Lakes tend to be small because of the lack of glacial activity and the stability of the Earth's crust in the region. Unlike neighboring Japan or northern China, North Korea experiences few severe earthquakes. The country has a number of natural spas and hot springs, which number 124 according to one North Korean source.[citation needed]

Long winters bring bitter cold and clear weather interspersed with snow storms as a result of northern and northwestern winds that blow from Siberia. The daily average high and low temperatures for Pyongyang in January are −3 and −13 °C (27 and 9 °F). On average, it snows thirty-seven days during the winter. Winter can be particularly harsh in the northern, mountainous regions.[1]

Summer tends to be short, hot, humid, and rainy because of the southern and southeastern monsoon winds that bring moist air from the Pacific Ocean. Spring and autumn are transitional seasons marked by mild temperatures and variable winds and bring the most pleasant weather. The daily average high and low temperatures for Pyongyang in August are 29 and 20 °C (84 and 68 °F).[1]

On average, approximately 60% of all precipitation occurs from June to September. Natural hazards include late spring droughts which are often followed by severe flooding. Typhoons affect the peninsula on an average of at least once every summer or early autumn.[1] The drought that started in June 2015, according to the Korean Central News Agency, has been the worst seen in 100 years.[4]

The environment of North Korea is diverse, encompassing alpine, forest, farmland, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.[5]

In recent years, the environment has been reported to be in a state of "crisis", "catastrophe", or "collapse".[6][7][8]

Cultivation, logging, and natural disasters have all put pressure on North Korea's forests. During the economic crisis of the 1990s, deforestation accelerated, as people turned to the woodlands to provide firewood and food. This in turn has led to soil erosion, soil depletion, and increased risk of flooding. In response, the government has promoted a tree planting program.[6][7][8][9] Based on satellite imagery, it has been estimated that 40 percent of forest cover has been lost since 1985.[10]

North Korea has an area of 120,538 km², of which 120,408 km² is land and 130 km² is water. It has 1,671.5 kilometres (1,038.6 mi) of land boundaries; of these, 1,416 kilometres (880 mi) are with China, 238 kilometres (148 mi) are with South Korea, and 17.5 kilometres (10.9 mi) are with Russia.

The Korean Peninsula extends about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) southward from the northeast Asian continental landmass. The 8,460 kilometres (5,260 mi) coastline of Korea is highly irregular, and North Korea accounts for 2,495 kilometres (1,550 mi) of this, roughly one-third. Some 3579 islands lie adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, mostly along the south and west coasts.[11]

The southern stretch of its east coast forms the northern side of the East Korea Bay. At the headland Musu Dan, this ends and the coast turns sharply northward.

The North Korean government claims territorial waters extending 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) from shore. It also claims an exclusive economic zone 200 nautical miles (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) from shore. In addition, a maritime military boundary that lies 50 nautical miles (92.6 km; 57.5 mi) offshore in the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea) and 200 nautical miles (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) offshore in the Yellow Sea demarcates the waters and airspace into which foreign ships and planes are prohibited from entering without permission.

Waters of the Yellow Sea are demarcated between North Korea and South Korea by the disputed Northern Limit Line drawn by the United Nations Command (Korea) in early 1950s and not officially recognized by North Korea. Disputes between North and South Korean naval vessels have occurred in this area. A total of five disputes were noteworthy enough to have been reported in the news (three in 2009 and two in 2010).

Natural resources include coal, petroleum, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar and hydropower.


who does eden hazard's brother play for

Thorgan Ganael Francis Hazard (French pronunciation: [tɔʁɡan azaʁ]; born 29 March 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who currently plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Belgium national team. He is the brother of Eden and Kylian Hazard; Thorgan is the second oldest child of the family.

Thorgan Hazard

Having previously played at every level in the Belgian national youth team system, he was handed his first senior international cap against the United States in May 2013. While playing in Belgium for Zulte-Waregem for two seasons, he was first awarded the Belgian Golden Shoe in January 2014, a prize for the best footballer in the Belgian Pro League,[3] and later, the prize for best professional football player in May 2014.[4]

Hazard grew up in Braine-le-Comte, a small town in the Wallonia region, but he was born in La Louvière. His first name was inspired by the Belgian comic strip Thorgal and he grew up in a family where football was dominant.[5] His mother Carine and father Thierry were both footballers in Belgium. His father spent most of his career playing at semi-professional level with Louviéroise in the Belgian Second Division.[5] He played mainly as a defensive midfielder.[5] His mother played as a striker in the Belgian Women's First Division and stopped playing when she was three months pregnant with his older brother Eden.[5][6][7][8][9] After playing football, both parents became physical education teachers.[5] Thierry retired from his position in 2009 in order to devote more time to his children.[5]

Hazard has three other siblings. His older brother, Eden, played for Lens' biggest rivals Lille and now plays for Chelsea in England. Hazard's other younger brothers are Kylian and Ethan. In 2013, Kylian joined White Star Bruxelles, and on August 29th of 2017, he signed to join Chelsea's development team.[10] Ethan goes to the youth academy of Eden's former club, Tubize.[5][7][11][12] Hazard and his three brothers were raised in a comfortable environment with their parents ensuring they had whatever they needed to excel.[13] The family lived "no more than three meters" from a football training ground and the brothers often ventured onto a training pitch through a small hole in order to hone and develop their skills.[6]

Hazard began his football career playing for hometown club Royal Stade Brainois at age five. After spending five years at the club, Thorgan followed his brother Eden to Tubize. At age 14, he was discovered by French club Lens while playing for Tubize in a local tournament. Similar to his brother's move to Lille, his parents accepted an offer from Lens with hopes that the training facilities in France would be better, here he met fellow Belgium player and future Chelsea teammate Charly Musonda.[13] Hazard's father later admitted Eden was much better than Thorgan, and that joining clubs in the North of France was the best solution, stating, "They remained so close to home and, at the same time, they integrated at structures where they could grow, because in Belgium, unfortunately, it's a little empty for the training of youth."[14] While in the club's youth academy, Hazard played for the Lens under-16 team, alongside players such as Geoffrey Kondogbia and Raphaël Varane, that won the 2008–09 edition of the Championnat National des 16 ans 44.

On 7 April 2010, Hazard signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal until June 2013.[15] Ahead of the 2010–11 season, Hazard trained with the senior team during the pre-season. On his pre-season debut, he scored a goal in a 1–1 draw with Belgian club Roeselare.[16][17] However, Hazard began the season with the club's Championnat de France amateur team in the fourth division. He made his amateur debut on 8 August 2010, appearing as a substitute in a 2–0 victory over Drancy.[18] After spending most of the season playing concurrently with the reserve team in the CFA and with the under-19 team in the Coupe Gambardella, on 9 May 2011, Hazard was named to the senior team for the first time on 11 May in a Ligue 1 match against Bordeaux. However, Hazard did not feature in the match and finished the 2010–11 campaign with no senior team appearances.

Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Hazard was promoted to the senior team permanently and assigned the number 22 shirt.[19] He made his professional debut in Lens' opening league match of the season against Reims, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 defeat.[20]

On 24 July 2012, Chelsea confirmed on its website the club had agreed terms with Lens for the transfer of Hazard, soon after the signing of his brother Eden from Lille.[21][22] He made his debut on 17 August 2012 in an Under-21 Premier League match, a 0â€“0 home draw against Manchester City in what was to be his only appearance in Chelsea colours before leaving the club.[23][24] On 30 August 2012, Hazard was sent on a season-long loan move to Belgian Pro League club Zulte Waregem. The move was set up to allow him first-team experience rather than be developed slowly by Chelsea.[25]

On 30 August 2012, Hazard was loaned out to Zulte Waregem until May 2013.[26] He made his debut on 15 September 2012 in a 1–0 away win against OH Leuven.[27][28] Hazard scored his first goal on 31 October in a 4–1 home win against Charleroi.[29] On 16 May 2013, Hazard put in an impressive shift as he scored the game's opening goal from the penalty spot before providing two assists in a 5–2 defeat of Club Brugge at the Regenboogstadion in Waregem.[30]

On 15 July 2013, Chelsea and Waregem agreed for Hazard to be loaned back for another year until the end of the 2013â€“14 season.[31][32] Hazard scored a free-kick and assisted a goal as Zulte won their season opener against Lierse on 27 July.[33]

On 2 August, the Belgian club announced Hazard would be replacing experienced defender Davy De Fauw as club captain, which was received with much anger from a section of the club's supporters.[34] This led to Hazard handing the captain's armband back, less than 24 hours after receiving it.[35] After the incident, it was rumoured the move to make Thorgan the club captain was one of the conditions in the loan deal imposed by Chelsea.

On 28 November 2013, Hazard scored against Wigan Athletic in a 2–1 win in the UEFA Europa League group stage win away at the DW Stadium.[36] He was voted as Zulte's player of the season, and scored 17 goals in 53 matches across all competitions. Hazard also won the Belgian Player of the Year Award.

On 5 July 2014, Hazard was loaned to Borussia Mönchengladbach of the German Bundesliga for the 2014–15 season.[37] During his loan, Hazard will be wearing the number 26. In the 3–1 win against FC 08 Homburg in the DFB-Pokal 16 August 2014, Hazard made his debut, coming on in the 78th minute as a substitute for Branimir Hrgota.[38] He then made his league debut 24 August 2014 in a 1–1 draw against VfB Stuttgart, coming off the bench in the 67th minute.[39]

Hazard scored twice in Gladbach's 7–0 win over FK Sarajevo in the UEFA Europa League play-offs on 28 August 2014, including a curling free-kick from 35 yards out.[40][41] On 24 September 2014, Hazard made his first start for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga, against Hamburger SV, playing 71 minutes before being substituted for Fabian Johnson in a 1–0 win.[42] On 6 December 2014, Hazard started against Hertha BSC, only his second start in the Bundesliga. He played the full 90 minutes and assisted Tony Jantschke for the first goal of the match in the opening ten minutes, as well as scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute, his first of the Bundesliga season. The match ended in a 3–2 win, breaking the club's four-match winless streak.[43][44]

On 23 February 2015, Hazard agreed to sign permanently for Borussia Mönchengladbach come 1 July. He joined on a five-year contract lasting until June 2020, a buy-back agreement with Chelsea included. The contract consists of four years, along with one year optional. The transfer fee was reported as €8 million (£5.9 million), 16 times as much as Chelsea paid for him.[45] During an interview about his move becoming permanent in the summer, Hazard confirmed his deal does contain a buy-back clause and that he still dreams of returning to Stamford Bridge in the future. In his interview, he said, "I am focusing on excelling at Borussia Monchengladbach, but I still hope to play for Chelsea one day."[46]

On 8 August 2015, Hazard marked his season debut by scoring in a 4–1 win at FC St. Pauli in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.[47] Following the resignation of manager Lucien Favre, who lost the first five matches of the Bundesliga, and André Schubert's appointment, Hazard was unable to find a place in the starting lineup.[48] Hazard made his first start under Schubert on 20 December against Darmstadt 98, eventually earning preference from Schubert over Ibrahima Traoré on the right side.[49] Hazard finished the season with four goals, two coming in a match against Hertha BSC on 3 April 2016 in a 5–0 win.[50]

Looking to improve his playing time and goalscoring heading into the year,[51] Hazard scored his first ever hat-trick in a 6–1 victory over Swiss club Young Boys in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off round on 24 August 2016. Mönchengladbach set a record with a 9–2 aggregate scoreline, the largest ever margin of victory in a play-off tie.[52] On 17 September, Hazard and teammate Raffael both scored first-half braces against Werder Bremen in a Bundesliga match.[53] With rumours that Chelsea were looking to exercise their buy-back clause on Hazard, and that the clause expired at the end of 2016,[54][55] club sport director Max Eberl claimed Chelsea did not actually have an explicit buy-back clause in Hazard's contract.[56] Hazard, addressing these rumours, said, "I signed a contract here, because I want to play here." On 28 September, Hazard scored his first UEFA Champions League goal, opening the scoring against Barcelona at Borussia-Park before the visitors went on to win 1–2.[57]

Hazard is a Belgian youth international and has represented his nation at under-16, under-17, and under-18 level. With the under-16 team, Hazard was a regular participant. He made his debut on 16 September 2008 in a 5–0 defeat to Germany in a tournament in Hassloch.[58] In the team's next match in the tournament, against Macedonia, Hazard scored a goal in a 3–0 victory. For the rest of the under-16 campaign, he scored goals in matches against Malta and Poland. Hazard also played with the team at the 2009 edition of the Aegean Cup in Turkey. He featured in all three matches as Belgium crashed out in the group stage portion of the competition.

Due to his increased participation with Lens domestically, Hazard primarily played in competitive matches with the under-17 team under coach Bob Browaeys. In August 2009, he played with the team in the Toto Cup, a yearly international youth tournament held in Austria. In the first qualifying round for the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Hazard scored his only goal with the team in a 1â€“1 draw with Montenegro.[59] He was subsequently called-up to the team in March 2010 for Elite Round qualification matches that were played in Northern Ireland.[60] Hazard played in all three matches as Belgium failed to earn qualification to the tournament.

Hazard appeared in only one match with the under-18 team before bypassing the age level to represent the under-19 team ahead of the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He made his debut on 8 February in a friendly match against Belarus, scoring the team's only goal in a 1–0 win.[61] On 27 March 2011, Hazard scored the game-winning goal converting a penalty in a 2–1 win over the Ukraine. In Elite Round qualification for the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Hazard featured as a starter and played the entire match in all three group stage matches. In the second group stage match against Estonia, Hazard netted the winner in the 88th minute to give Belgium a 3–2 win.[62] The victory allowed the nation to qualify for the tournament with one match to spare. Belgium ultimately finished the Elite Round unbeaten.

At the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Hazard featured in two of the three group stage matches Belgium contested. In the team's opening match against Spain, Hazard assisted on the team's only goal in a 4â€“1 defeat after his shot from distance was blocked by the Spanish defence and fell into the path of teammate Florent Cuvelier, who converted his shot.[63] Belgium ultimately finished last in its group, which resulted in the team being eliminated from the tournament.

Due to being an underage player in the 2010–11 season, Hazard remained eligible to play on the under-19 team for the 2011–12 season. In the first match of the campaign against Denmark, Hazard scored the team's only goal converting a penalty in a 1–1 draw. On 7 September 2011, he scored the second goal in the team's 4–1 friendly match win over Turkey. In first round qualification for the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Hazard scored a team-leading three goals. In the first group match against Wales, he scored a double in a 3–0 win and, in the team's final group match against Scotland, Hazard netted the second goal in a 3–1 victory.[64][65][66] In Elite Round qualification, Hazard appeared in two of the team's three group stage matches as Belgium finished third in the group behind favourites Spain and Italy.[67]

On 16 May 2013, Hazard earned his first senior call-up after being included in Marc Wilmots' 28-man squad ahead of a friendly with the United States followed by a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Serbia.[68] On 29 May, he made his senior international debut for Belgium as a second-half substitute for Chelsea teammate Romelu Lukaku in the 4â€“2 friendly win over the United States.[69]

Hazard was one of seven standby players named for Belgium's squad for the 2014 World Cup final stages.[70]


when did fasb codification become authoritative u.s. gaap

The codification is effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. All prior accounting standards documents were superseded as described in FASB Statement No. 168, The FASB Accounting Standards Codification and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Accounting literature not included in the Codification is non-authoritative.

Accounting Standards Codification

In US accounting practices, the Accounting Standards Codification is the current single source of United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). It is maintained by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).

The Codification reorganizes the thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics and displays all topics using a consistent structure. It also includes relevant U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidance that follows the same topical structure in separate sections in the Codification.

To prepare constituents for the change, the FASB provided a number of tools and training resources.[1]

The Codification did not change GAAP, but it introduced a new structure, organized in an easily accessible, user-friendly online research system. The FASB expected the system to reduce the amount of time and effort required to research accounting issues, mitigate the risk of noncompliance with standards through improved usability of the literature, provide accurate information with real-time updates as new standards are released, and assist the FASB with the research efforts required during the standard-setting process.[2]

The three primary goals of the codification are "simplify user access by codifying all authoritative U.S. GAAP in one spot, ensure that the codification content accurately represented authoritative U.S. GAAP as of July 1, 2009, and to create a codification research system that is up to date for the released results of standard-setting activity."[2] The codification was made to make accounting standards easier to find through a single data base.

Before the Codification, accounting standards lacked a consistent and logical structure. For the last 50 years, U.S. GAAP consisted of thousands of standards with multiple standard setters. The old U.S. GAAP were difficult to interpret, and the complexity of the standards made it hard for users to stay up to date. Problems with the old standards increased financial reporting risk and led to inefficiencies that increased cost. FASAC then voiced its concerns due to the increase of financial reporting guidance from the old U.S. GAAP standards, and the FASB responded by launching a new project to codify the standards. The project was approved in September 2004 by the Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation.[2]

All users must register to view any codification information. The codification allows a free basic view or paid professional view to the public. The professional view requires an annual subcription up to $940 depending on concurrent users. [3] Discounts may apply to multiple concurrent users. [4]The codification is used by accounting and reporting professionals, analysts and investors.

Each ASC reference is structured as a series of four numbers separated by hyphens: a three-digit Topic (the first digit of which represents an Area), a two-digit Subtopic, a two-digit Section, and a two- or three-digit Paragraph. [5]

Subtopic 10 is always "Overall."

Section numbers are standardized across topics (not all subtopics have all sections):

For instance, 210-10-20 is Balance Sheet, Overall, Glossary. 605-40-25-1 is Revenue Recognition, Gains and Losses, Recognition, first paragraph.


who said it is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is the beginning of the second sentence of one of the more famous soliloquies in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. It takes place in the beginning of the 5th scene of Act 5, during the time when the Scottish troops, led by Malcolm and Macduff, are approaching Macbeth's castle to besiege it. Macbeth, the play's protagonist, is confident that he can withstand any siege from Malcolm's forces. He hears the cry of a woman and reflects that there was a time when his hair would have stood on end if he had heard such a cry, but he is now so full of horrors and slaughterous thoughts that it can no longer startle him.

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
— To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.

— Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)

Seyton then tells Macbeth of Lady Macbeth's death, and Macbeth delivers this soliloquy as his response to the news.[1] Shortly afterwards he is told of the apparent movement of Birnam Wood towards Dunsinane Castle (as the witches previously prophesied to him), which is actually Malcolm's forces having disguised themselves with tree branches so as to hide their numbers as they approach the castle. This sets the scene for the final events of the play and Macbeth's death at the hands of Macduff.


who played old geena davis in a league of their own

Lynn Cartwright (February 27, 1927 â€“ January 2, 2004) was an American character actress known for her performance as the older version of Geena Davis' character, Dottie Hinson, in the 1992 film A League of Their Own.

Lynn Cartwright

She was born Doralyn Emma Cartwright in McAlester, Oklahoma, the daughter of U.S. Congressman Wilburn Cartwright and his wife Carrie (nÃ©e Staggs). Her younger sister, Wilburta (b. 1928-d.2012), was an artist. She was also related to former Oklahoma legislator Buck Cartwright and former Oklahoma Attorney General Jan-Eric Cartwright.

Her acting career spanned from 1957 to 1992 and included smaller roles in films such as Black Patch (1957), The Cry Baby Killer (1958), The Wasp Woman (1959), All the Loving Couples (1969), Son of Hitler (1978) and Lovelines (1984). She was also involved with the Group Repertory Theatre in Burbank, California.

Cartwright was chosen for the role in A League of Their Own not just because she closely resembles Geena Davis, but also because many of her mannerisms were similar.[1]

Cartwright was married to actor/writer Leo Gordon from
February 14, 1950, until his death on Boxing Day, December 26, 2000. She had a daughter, Tara, and a stepdaughter.

She died from complications of dementia on 2 January 2004, aged 76, after having suffered a fall in which she fractured her hip. Her interment was located in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.


where does the saying 2 shakes of a lamb's tail come from

It has been discussed at length that the oldest documented usage of the phrase "two shakes of a lamb's tail" can be found within the compiled works of Richard Harris Barham called The Ingoldsby Legends (1840), but likely existed in modern language long before then.[3]

Shake (unit)

A shake[1] is an informal unit of time equal to 10 nanoseconds, or 10âˆ’8 seconds. It has applications in nuclear physics, helping to conveniently express the timing of various events in a nuclear explosion. The typical time required for one step in the chain reaction (i.e. the typical time for each neutron to cause a fission event, which releases more neutrons) is of the order of 1 shake, and the chain reaction is typically complete by 50 to 100 shakes.[2]

This is also applicable to circuits. Since signal progression in IC chips is very rapid, on the order of nanoseconds, a shake is good measure of how quickly a signal can progress through an IC (integrated circuit).

Like many nuclear units, it is derived from top secret operations of the Manhattan Project during World War II. The word comes from the expression "two shakes of a lamb's tail" or, in the Southern United States, "three shakes of a billy-goat's tail," which indicates a very short time interval. For nuclear-bomb designers, 10 nanoseconds was a convenient specific interval to connect to this term.


which english county is directly north of staffordshire

Staffordshire (/ˈstæfərdʃɪər, -ʃər/;[2] abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. It adjoins Cheshire to the north west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south east, West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west.

Staffordshire

The largest city in Staffordshire is Stoke-on-Trent, which is administered separately from the rest of the county as an independent unitary authority. Lichfield also has city status, although this is a considerably smaller cathedral city. Major towns include Stafford (the county town), Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leek, and Tamworth. Smaller towns include Stone, Uttoxeter, Rugeley, Eccleshall, Penkridge and large villages Wombourne, Kinver, Tutbury and Stretton. Cannock Chase AONB is within the county as well as parts of the National Forest and the Peak District national park.

Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Bromwich and Smethwick are within the historic county boundaries of Staffordshire, but since 1974 have been part of West Midlands.

Apart from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire is divided into the districts of Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, and Tamworth.

Historically, Staffordshire was divided into five hundreds: Cuttlestone, Offlow, Pirehill, Seisdon, and Totmonslow.

The historic boundaries of Staffordshire cover much of what is now the metropolitan county of West Midlands. An administrative county of Staffordshire was set up in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 covering the county except the county boroughs of Wolverhampton, Walsall, and West Bromwich in the south (the area known as the Black Country), and Hanley in the north. The Act also saw the towns of Tamworth (partly in Warwickshire) and Burton upon Trent (partly in Derbyshire) united entirely in Staffordshire.

In 1553 Queen Mary made Lichfield a county corporate, meaning it was administered separately from the rest of Staffordshire. It remained so until 1888.

Handsworth and Perry Barr became part of the county borough of Birmingham in the early 20th century, and thus associated with Warwickshire. Burton, in the east of the county, became a county borough in 1901, and was followed by Smethwick, another town in the Black Country in 1907. In 1910 the six towns of the Staffordshire Potteries, including Hanley, became the single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.

A significant boundary change occurred in 1926 when the east of Sedgley was transferred to Worcestershire to allow the construction of the new Priory Estate on land purchased by Dudley County Borough council.[3]

A major reorganisation in the Black Country in 1966, under the recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England led to the creation of an area of contiguous county boroughs. The County Borough of Warley was formed by the merger of the county borough of Smethwick and municipal borough of Rowley Regis with the Worcestershire borough of Oldbury: the resulting county borough was associated with Worcestershire. Meanwhile, the county borough of Dudley, historically a detached part of Worcestershire, expanded and became associated with Staffordshire instead. This reorganisation led to the administrative county of Staffordshire having a thin protrusion passing between the county boroughs (to the east) and Shropshire, to the west, to form a short border with Worcestershire.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 the county boroughs of the Black Country and the Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District of Staffordshire became, along with Birmingham, Solihull, and Coventry and other districts, a new metropolitan county of West Midlands. County boroughs were abolished, with Stoke becoming a non-metropolitan district in Staffordshire, and Burton forming an unparished area in the district of East Staffordshire. On 1 April 1997, under a recommendation of the Banham Commission, Stoke-on-Trent became a unitary authority independent of Staffordshire once more.

In July 2009 the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found in Britain was discovered in a field near Lichfield. The artefacts, known as The Staffordshire Hoard have tentatively been dated to the 7th or 8th centuries, placing the origin of the items in the time of the Kingdom of Mercia.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire at current basic prices published (pp. 240–253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Some nationally and internationally known companies have their base in Staffordshire. They include the Britannia Building Society which is based in Leek. JCB is based in Rocester near Uttoxeter and bet365 based in Stoke-on-Trent. The theme park Alton Towers is in the Staffordshire Moorlands and several of the world's largest pottery manufacturers are based in Stoke-on-Trent.

Staffordshire has a completely comprehensive system with eight independent schools. Most secondary schools are from 11–16 or 18, but two in Staffordshire Moorlands and South Staffordshire are from 13–18. Resources are shared where appropriate.

There are two universities in the county, Keele University in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire University, which has campuses in Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, Lichfield and Shrewsbury.[8]

The modern county of Staffordshire currently has three professional football clubs â€“ Stoke City and Port Vale, both from Stoke-on-Trent, and Burton Albion, who play in Burton upon Trent.

Stoke City, one of the oldest professional football clubs in existence, were founded in 1863 and played at the Victoria Ground for 119 years from 1878 until their relocation to the Britannia Stadium in 1997. They were among the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888.[9] By the late 1930s, they were established First Division members and boasted arguably the finest footballer in England at the time in right-winger Stanley Matthews, who had two spells with the club between 1930 and his retirement in 1965 at the age of 50.[10] In 1972, the club finally won a major trophy when they lifted the Football League Cup,[11] but after relegation from the First Division in 1985 they would not experience top flight football for 23 years.[12] After spending some two decades bouncing between the second and third tiers of the English league, they finally reclaimed their top flight status in 2008 by securing promotion to the FA Premier League â€“ where they have remained ever since.[13] Stoke City reached their first FA Cup final in 2011, but lost to Manchester City.[14]

Port Vale, who like Stoke City play in Stoke-on-Trent, were formed in 1876 and became members of the Football League in 1892. After more than 70 years at various stadiums around the city, the club moved to its present home, Vale Park, in 1950. In early 1936, they had eliminated First Division champions Sunderland from the FA Cup. Another FA Cup success came in February 1988 when they eliminated seven-time winners Tottenham Hotspur from the competition. Promotion to the Second Division for the first time since the 1960s was secured in 1989, and Vale would spend nine of the next 11 years at this level. However, the club has been less successful since the turn of the 21st century, and suffered relegation to League Two – the fourth tier of the English league – in 2008. The club has seen an upturn in its fortunes as the club was promoted from league two in the 2012-13 season and currently holds a place in Football League One.[15]

West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Walsall are also notable teams from the county, from the years when those locations were inside Staffordshire.

The county's other professional Football team is Burton Albion from Burton Upon Trent who currently play in the Football League Championship after back to back promotions in 2014–15 from League Two and 2015–16 from League One, after securing promotion to the Football League from the Conference for the first time in the 2008–09 season.

The county has a number of non-league football clubs, including Tamworth,[16] Stafford Rangers,[17] Hednesford Town[18] and Leek Town.[19]  Cannock United,[20]

In cricket, Staffordshire is one of the nineteen Minor counties of English and Welsh cricket.  It is represented in Minor counties cricket by Staffordshire County Cricket Club who have played in the Minor Counties Championship since 1895, a competition which it has won outright eleven times, making it the most successful Minor counties team.  Famous international cricketers produced by the county include Sydney Barnes, Bob Taylor and Dominic Cork, all of whom went on to represent England.

In the north and in the south, the county is hilly, with wild moorlands[21] and uplands of the Peak District in the far north,[22] and Cannock Chase an area of natural beauty in the south. In the middle regions, the landscape is low and undulating. Throughout the entire county there are vast and important coalfields. In the southern part, there are also rich iron ore deposits. The largest river is the Trent. The soil is chiefly clay and agriculture was not highly developed until the mechanisation of farms.

Staffordshire is home to the highest village in Britain, Flash. The village, in the Staffordshire Moorlands, stands at 463 m (1518 ft) above sea level. This record was confirmed in 2007 by the Ordnance Survey after Wanlockhead in Scotland also claimed the record. The BBC's The One Show investigated the case in a bid to settle the argument and Flash was confirmed as the higher of the two. The highest point in Staffordshire is Cheeks Point[23]

Staffordshire contains sectors of three green belt areas, two of which surround the large conurbations of Stoke-on-Trent and the West Midlands, and were first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt.

According to the 2001 Census the population of the Non-metropolitan Staffordshire is 806,744 and the population of Stoke-on-Trent was 240,636 making a total population of 1,047,380. In non-metropolitan Staffordshire, White British is the largest ethnicity, making up 96% of the population. This is followed by White Irish, making up 0.6%. Non-White citizens make up 2% of the population.[24] 94% of the population was born in England, and those born in Scotland and Wales together make up 1% of the total population.[25]

Staffordshire County Council is the top-tier local council for the non-metropolitan county. For Eurostat purposes, it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG22).

Staffordshire operates a cabinet-style council. There are 62 councillors for Staffordshire. The Full Council elects a cabinet of 10 councillors, including the council leader, from the majority party. Each cabinet member has their own portfolio about which they make the "day to day" decisions.[26][27]

Some settlements which were historically part of the county now fall under the West Midlands county:

A type of bull terrier called the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was bred for hunting purposes in this county. They are known affectionately as "staffs", "staffies", and "nanny-dogs". Staffies should not be confused with the considerably larger American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, and (English) Bull Terrier.

The only Cathedral in the county is Lichfield Cathedral in the city of Lichfield. The Diocese of Lichfield covers the whole county with the exception of Stapenhill and Amington, the north of the nearby county of Shropshire and the Black Country area of the West Midlands. The county is covered by the archdeaconries of Stoke-upon-Trent and Lichfield. The current Bishop of Lichfield is Michael Ipgrave and the current Bishop of Stafford Geoff Annas. There are 298 Church of England Churches in the County.

Staffordshire is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham. The current Archbishop is Bernard Longley.

Primitive Methodism was founded in Staffordshire by Hugh Bourne, a native of Stoke-on-Trent, at a public gathering in the village of Mow Cop. He originally followed the Wesleyan form of Methodism but in 1801 he reformed the Methodist service by conducting it outside. By 1811 with his brother he founded the first chapel in the Tunstall area of Stoke-on-Trent.[28]

The most popular Synagogue in the county is on London Road in Newcastle-Under-Lyme which opened in 2006 and replaced the former "Birch Terrace" Synagogue in Hanley[29] according to the 2001 census there were 407 Jewish People in the non-metropolitan area of Staffordshire,[30] and 83 in Stoke-on-Trent,[31]

There are 15 mosques in Stoke-on-Trent, 5 in Burton-upon-Trent and 1 in both Stafford and Lichfield.[32] A new mosque[33][34][35] is under construction in the Hanley area of Stoke-on-Trent and will be the first purpose built mosque in the area. At the 2001 census there were 7,658 Muslims in Stoke-on-Trent and 6,081 in the rest of Staffordshire, with a total of 13,739 making up 1.3% of the population. 62.9% (3823) of the Muslims in the rest of Staffordshire are from the town of Burton-upon-Trent.[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]

Staffordshire has an extensive network of canals including the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, Caldon Canal, Coventry Canal, Shropshire Union Canal, Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and Trent and Mersey Canal.

The county is traversed primarily by the West Coast Main Line.

The county has relatively good links to the national roads network. Several major roads intersect the county, making it a popular location for commuters working in Birmingham.

The M42 has a junction in Tamworth at the south-east of the county, and heads south-west towards Birmingham. The M6 runs north through the county and junctions 10A-16 are in the county. The M6 Toll, the UK's first toll motorway, runs through the county with junctions in Weeford near Lichfield, Cannock and joins the M6 heading north towards Stafford.

The A5 and A34 run through the county. The former has been significantly widened to a dual carriageway at several sections, although much of it remains single carriageway.

There are currently no airports with scheduled flights in the county with the nearest ones being Birmingham, East Midlands and Manchester depending on the location there is however Wolverhampton Airport in Bobbington and Tatenhill Airfield near Burton-upon-Trent both of which are small airports catering for General Aviation.

Daily Newspapers in Staffordshire are The Sentinel covering Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Staffordshire Moorlands, Burton Mail which covers the town of Burton-upon-Trent and the Express & Star which has several editions covering Tamworth, Lichfield, Cannock Chase and Stafford.

The local BBC radio stations covering Staffordshire are BBC Radio Stoke covering Mid and North Staffordshire, BBC WM covering the south of the county and BBC Radio Derby covering East Staffordshire. The local commercial radio stations are Signal 1 and Signal 2 which cover North and Mid Staffordshire, and Touch FM, which covers Burton, Lichfield and Tamworth. Further stations which cover parts of Staffordshire include Heart, Smooth, and Planet Rock which cover the southern parts of the county. Free Radio Birmingham covers Lichfield and Tamworth, and Free Radio Black Country covers the Cannock area.

Staffordshire is served by a number of community radio stations. In North Staffordshire, there are five community radio stations â€“ Moorlands Radio in Leek, 6 Towns Radio, based in Burslem, Cre8 FM, based at Staffordshire University, The Hitmix, based in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Cross Rhythms City Radio based in Hanley

In Stafford there are two community radio stations â€“ Windmill Broadcasting, the UK's only radio station based in a Windmill, in the Broad Eye Windmill, and Stafford FM, which broadcasts to the town on 107.3 FM.
UCB United Christian Broadcasters UCB has been involved in radio broadcasting since 1987.  Today we broadcast nationally to over 53 million people in the UK through DAB digital radio.  Our experienced team of presenters bring a fantastic mix of music, teaching and discussion to anyone interested in exploring Christian faith. Based in Stoke-on-Trent.

In Cannock, there is Cannock Chase Radio, which broadcasts on 89.6 and 94.0 FM, and in Tamworth, there is TCR fm, which broadcasts locally on 106.8 FM.

Staffordshire is predominantly covered by the ITV Central and BBC West Midlands television regions both of which have their studios in Birmingham. The far north of the county, around Biddulph, is served by ITV Granada and BBC North West from Media City UK in Salford.

Map of Staffordshire and its hundreds by Wenceslas Hollar some time between 1627â€“1677.

Stafford Shire Hall.

Boscobel House.

Tamworth Castle.

Lichfield Cathedral.

The Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal.


what happened to paul walker's character in fast and furious 7

Brian and the rest of the crew return to the U.S. and live normal lives again. Brian begins to accustom himself to life as a father, but misses the old life he once enjoyed. Meanwhile, Dom learns from his sister, Mia, that she is pregnant again, but fears to tell Brian because of his longing for missing the bullets. However, their house is destroyed by Deckard Shaw, brother to Owen Shaw, who has come out of hiding for vengeance, which forces Brian, Roman, Tej, Letty and Dom to go after him. Before leaving, Brian makes a promise to Mia that after Shaw is dealt with, he will dedicate himself to his family. To rescue Ramsey, a hacker who has a device known as 'God's Eye' that can locate anyone on Earth, the team airdrops their cars over the Caucasus Mountains and ambush Jakande's convoy and rescue Ramsey, finding out that she is a young woman. They then head to Abu Dhabi, where a billionaire has acquired the flash drive containing God's Eye. The team break into his penthouse and manage to steal the flash drive. On the both occasions, the team is pursued by Shaw, who engages in combat with Dom, with the team barely managing to escape. With God's Eye, the team manages to track down Shaw, who is waiting at a remote factory. Dom, Brian and Mr. Nobody, along with a covert ops unit, attempt to capture Shaw but are ambushed by Jakande and Jakande's militants, who have allied with Deckard. After the ambush, Nobody's men are killed and Nobody is injured, though he manages to escape with Toretto and Brian, while Jakande obtains God's Eye. Nobody warns Brian and Dom that Jakande will use God's Eye to hunt down Ramsey, who is the only one who can destroy it. They drive off, leaving Nobody behind to be evacuated by one of his'stand-by' helicopters. Left with no other choice, the team return to Los Angeles to fight Shaw, Jakande and his men on their home turf. Dom plans to confront Shaw alone while Brian and the rest of the crew prepare to deal with Jakande. Just as they are preparing, Brian calls Mia and professes his love, fearing he may not survive, and learns that she is pregnant with a baby girl, motivating him to come back alive. While Jakande pursues Brian and the rest of the crew with a stealth attack helicopter and a UAV, using God's Eye to track down Ramsey, they barely survive and manage to shut down God's Eye with Brian's help to establish a connection for Ramsey to hack it. In the aftermath, Hobbs kills Jakande by shooting the bag of grenades that Dom managed to throw inside the helicopter, while also taking out the UAV. Deckard is defeated by Dom and imprisoned. Finally at peace, the team celebrate at the beach. While Brian and Mia play with their son, Dom, Letty, Ramsey, Roman and Tej observe, appreciating their happiness and acknowledging that Brian is better off retired with his family. Dom silently leaves, not wanting to disturb the happy moment and drives off. Brian notices and manages to catch up to him, asking Dom "You thought you could leave without saying goodbye?" As he pulls up beside Dom's car in his white Toyota Supra they look at each other and smile, then bid each other farewell as Brian turns off the main road, and Dom continues on ahead.

Brian O'Conner

Crew members:

Brian O'Conner (also known as Brian Earl Spilner) is a fictional character and one of the three main protagonists of The Fast and the Furious film series, the other being Dominic Toretto and Sean Boswell. He is initially portrayed as a police officer, who is later discharged from the LAPD for aiding and abetting Toretto in the first film. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and appears in all films in the series except The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and The Fate of the Furious although he is mentioned in the latter. After Walker's death in a single vehicle accident on November 30, 2013, Universal Pictures decided to retire the character.[1]

Brian grew up in Barstow, California along with childhood friend Roman Pearce (played by Tyrese Gibson in 2 Fast 2 Furious). It was while growing up with him that he first got into cars and street racing (and other sorts of trouble). When Brian was only two months out of the Police Academy, his friend Roman Pearce was caught in a garage with eight stolen vehicles. Roman is later sent to jail then afterwards is on probation with an ankle monitor. He blamed Brian for the arrest although he had no knowledge of what had happened in the carjacking incident, but more as a form of betrayal as Brian had joined forces with the police force, an organization he opposed.

After learning about Mia's pregnancy and Dominic's close relationship with his father, Brian later revealed that he never knew anything about his father since he was never in Brian's life.

During the events of the first film, Brian is working as an undercover detective with the LAPD, who assigns him the task of solving a series of semi-trailer truck hijackings. He is given a very short amount of time to find the people responsible before the truckers start arming themselves with shotguns and taking matters into their own hands. Their only lead is a description of the vehicles used, black Honda Civics with green neon underglow.

When investigating the street race scene, he then meets Dominic Toretto whose crew he later infiltrates, first as a rival racer, in a race which he loses, then as a member after helping Dom escape the police. While running with Dom, he proceeds to investigate rival race crews led by Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) and Hector (played by Noel Gugliemi). He even goes as far as to organize and lead a large SWAT team into Johnny Tran's house after finding large amounts of merchandise, the kind from the highway robberies, while infiltrating his garage. Although the merchandise is illegal, they find nothing on Tran except a few minor chargesâ€”which leaves only Dom as a suspect. Brian soon finds out Toretto is responsible after watching him suddenly leave in the middle of a party at Race Wars and seeing Mia weeping to herself. He then reveals himself to Mia as a police officer and convinces her that if he does not get to her brother and his crew fast, they could get seriously injured or killed by the truckers who have begun to carry firearms.

As Brian and Mia race out to stop Dominic from making another highway robbery, two of his drivers, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and Vincent, are injured in the process, with Letty rolling her car on the side of the road and Vincent being shot in the side by a shotgun from the truck driver who they tried to hijack. Brian saves Vincent only to reveal to Dom that he's a cop. Brian later finds Dominic at his house attempting to look for Jesse (played by Chad Lindberg) when Tran and his accomplice roll up on their motorbikes pulling a drive by shooting on the Toretto house, narrowly missing everyone there except for Jesse who is killed in the process.

Both men then drive after Tran and his accomplice, with Dom running the accomplice of the road while Brian fatally shoots Tran. Afterward he chases Dominic, who he then races resulting in Dominic winning closely just before he is hit by another car. After surviving his car rolling over, Brian later pulls him out of the wreckage only to give him the keys to his vehicle, claiming "I owe you a ten second car" (the price he paid for losing the earlier race was his car). This leads to his aiding and abetting charge, resulting in his removal from the LAPD.

Brian, now living in Miami, Florida competes part time as a street racer for his friend Tej Parker (Ludacris). While racing, he is caught by the local authorities and is facing jail time for his minor charges such as destruction of property (while infiltrating Toretto in the first film) and aiding and abetting Dominic Toretto. However, US Customs Agent Markham (James Remar) later gives him an offer to work undercover to infiltrate a local drug kingpin named Carter Verone (Cole Hauser) in exchange for a clean record. Seeing that they could not pin any charges on Verone until evidence of his payoff is in transit, O'Conner was in charge of being placed as a driver while undercover for Verone. Brian is given a partner named Dunn, who he quizzes regarding his knowledge of cars, and Dunn fails. Brian then proceeded to request his own driver, saying if he doesn't get the driver he wants, he won't participate in the operation and take his chances in Chino.

When Markham agrees to Brian's terms, Brian and his old FBI boss, Agent Bilkins (Thom Barry) seek out his childhood friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) who is now a Demolition Derby driver. Not being on good terms, they scuffle on the ground much like from their childhood days since Pearce is unhappy with Brian being a police officer, and was arrested two months after Brian got out of Police Academy for possessing eight stolen cars, which Pearce blames Brian for, despite his knowing nothing about it. He is able to convince Pearce to accept the deal. After the agreement is settled, Bilkins and Markham then introduce Brian and Roman to Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes),an undercover US Customs agent working with Carter. Brian and Roman are then given there cars. Brian drives a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII, and Roman drives a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder.

While infiltrating Carter Verone, both men are successful in getting into the organization, aided by Monica Fuentes. Monica, who has fallen in love with Brian, warns him that Verone intends to kill them at the end of their mission. Now the stakes are that if they fail, they go to jail or if they succeed, they get executed. With those choices, both men hatch a scheme to avoid jail time and being shot dead. Pearce reconciles with Brian, accepting that his arrest was not his fault. With help from Tej, they orchestrate a "scramble"â€”after driving into a garage they later have hundreds of race cars coming out, having switched cars with Tej and Suki (Devon Aoki) while in the garage.

The cars they later move out in are outfitted with ejection seats to rid themselves of unwanted guests. Brian is forced to meet up with Verone, but after beating up Carter's henchman (with help from Pearce) he proceeds to do a classic car jump onto Verone's boat. Afterward they arrest Verone and are off the hook. He and Monica exchange a meaningful glance, and the end scene is shown between O'Conner and Pearce walking away with their pockets full of Verone's drug money planning to open up a high performance garage.

Paul Walker reprises his role as Brian O'Conner in the fourth installment of the film series. This film takes place after the events of The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious, much before the events of Tokyo Drift.

Brian O'Conner, now a fully reinstated FBI Agent is given the task of bringing down Arturo Braga, a known trafficker in Los Angeles and his connections to the street racing world. Brian is also not surprised to see Dominic Toretto doing a Suge Knight style balcony interrogation of possible lead David Park. Brian knows that it is because of Letty's recent murder that Dominic has returned to get answers. Also, it was Brian who was contacted by Letty with her proposal to infiltrate Braga's organization in exchange for Dom's safe return to Los Angeles.

Despite being a full agent again, he is still seen doing his trademark bending the rules and occasionally breaking them to solve the case.

Brian and Dom both infiltrate Braga's crew, neither aware of who Braga really is. After having the FBI do a fingerprint database search for Braga, it turns up to be the messenger Campos but not before an FBI Agent envious of O'Conner sends in a SWAT team (possibly intentional in ruining the bust as the agent responsible was at odds with O'Conner) forcing Braga to go back into hiding.

Later, as O'Conner and Dominic go into Mexico to search for Braga, they are given a tip off by one of Braga's people, in this case, one of his females named Giselle Harabo (Gal Gadot) who has taken an attraction to Dom. Brian and Dom successfully apprehend Carlos Braga after doing a series of follow ups in Mexico and helps Dom kill Fenix Rise (Laz Alonso), who is responsible for Letty's death, by holding his ankles while Dominic impales him with a henchman's '73 Chevy Camaro F-Bomb, and is even present at Dominic's trial when he is given a sentence of "25 years to life without the possibility of early parole". Despite Dom's sentencing, Brian, Mia, and two of Dom's Latino accomplices from the beginning of the film (Leo and Santos, played by Don Omar and Tego Calderón respectively) are seen driving towards his prison bus in similar style to Dominic's heists about to bust him free, which later leads to Dominic's appearance in Tokyo, Japan during the end film events of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

There is no mention of the fate regarding his plans for opening an automotive shop with childhood friend Roman Pearce in Miami. It is also revealed in this film why he let Dominic go in the first filmâ€”that he respected Dominic more than he did himself, and perhaps due to the fact that his raid on Tran's estate indirectly caused Jesse's death.

During the course of the film, Brian also rekindles his old romance with Mia Toretto, Dominic's younger sister. After seeing her in an FBI interrogation room, he releases her, and the two go out for coffee. During the conversation they share, she reveals her anger at his "betrayal" of their group at the end of the first film, questions why he let Dom go (to which Brian claims he doesn't know), and tells him how hurt she was when he left her suddenly, with no explanation. While Brian initially puts professional distance between himself and Mia, he finally admits to her that leaving her was the hardest thing he ever did, and later, when Mia breaks down, Brian comforts her, resulting in a passionate reunion between the two.

O'Conner and Toretto get caught in a crossfire with corrupt businessman and ruthless drug lord Hernan Reyes's in Rio de Janeiro and plot to steal all of Reyes' money to buy their freedom. It is revealed in Fast Five that O'Conner's father was not there for him and O'Conner does not know anything about him, unlike the close bond that Toretto's father had with both his children. He is often worried that he will behave in the manner that his father did, but Toretto reassured him that he won't because he will keep an eye on him if he does. O'Conner had been in juvenile detention with Roman before he became a cop. O'Conner has also rekindled his relationship with Mia, and she becomes pregnant with his child.

O'Conner, Toretto, and Mia live peacefully in the Canary Islands in Spain, where Mia gives birth to their son. O'Conner joins Toretto's team in complying with the request of Agent Hobbs to take down rival gang leader Owen Shaw. When the team realizes that Braga worked for Shaw, O'Conner decides to enter the United States to interrogate him about Shaw. After successfully questioning Braga and returning to London, O'Conner starts to feel guilty for letting Letty go undercover, which led to her amnesia and subsequent work for Shaw. The group captures Shaw and convinces Letty to side with them. O'Conner apologizes to Letty, who says that she might not remember him, but if she did work for him, she would have done of her own free will. Shaw reveals that he had captured Mia, leading to a high-speed chase after Shaw's airplane, where Mia is rescued and Shaw is crippled and put into a coma. Hobbs then grants the group's amnesty, and the entire crew move back to America, where Mia, Toretto and O'Conner have decided to reside in the old Toretto home.

Brian does not appear in The Fate of the Furious, but he, alongside Mia, is seen in a photo in Dom's car. He is also mentioned by Roman and Letty as when Dom betrays the team, Roman suggests that Brian be called to help them figure out why Dom betrayed them. But Letty reminded him that they all agreed to keep Brian and Mia retired from the team due to them wanting a normal life and for the safety of their children. Dom later names his son after Brian.

His charismatic, level-headed personality often contrasts with Toretto's aggressive behavior. Despite his composure, Brian is a secret adrenalin junkie; once, he confides in Dom (when describing the challenges of fatherhood) that he misses the dangerous lifestyle. He is also shown to be brave, particularly when protecting friends or loved ones by making seemingly lethal, impulsive or courageous decisions.

O'Conner was first unknown with the car tuning community, but after with meeting Toretto, he became more positive, active in the racing scene, becoming a skilled mechanic.

He is very interested in tuners, especially Nissan Skyline models. He owned two Nissan Skyline GT-R R34's (one in the second movie and one in the fourth), Nissan C10 Skyline and finally a Nissan GT-R.

Apart from Skylines, he has owned: a tuned Mitsubishi Eclipse in the first film (but it's hinted this was paid for by the LAPD-FBI task force he had gone undercover for), a Lancer Evo, a Subaru (twice) and a Supra (twice).

The following cars are driven by Brian O'Conner throughout the series:

Note: The Evo VII had the tail lights from the Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally and it was both the 2002 Evo VII and 2002 Lancer OZ Rally.

The role won Walker the MTV Movie Award in 2002 and (posthumously) 2014, for Best On-Screen Team, both of which he shared with Vin Diesel.[2] Further recognition came in the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, again posthumously.[3][4][5] Walker's portrayal has made the actor becoming strongly identified with the character.[6][7]

His relationship with Dominic Toretto has been described as a bromance.[8]


who sets the rules of the financial services ombudsman scheme

The board of the Financial Ombudsman Service[42] is appointed by the Financial Conduct Authority â€“ and the appointment of the chairman is approved by HM Treasury. The board's role includes guarding the independence of the ombudsman - from undue influence by the financial services industry and trade bodies, regulators, consumer groups and government. Board members are non-executive - they have no involvement in individual complaints.

Financial Ombudsman Service

Operational: April 2000

The Financial Ombudsman Service is an ombudsman in the United Kingdom. It was established in 2000, and given statutory powers in 2001 by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, to help settle disputes between consumers and UK-based businesses providing financial services, such as banks, building societies, insurance companies, investment firms, financial advisers and finance companies.[2][3][4]

The Financial Ombudsman Service can deal with complaints from consumers about most financial matters including, for example: banking, insurance, mortgages, pensions, savings and investments, credit cards and store cards, loans and credit, hire purchase and pawnbroking, financial advice, stocks, shares, unit trusts and bonds.

From November 2009 money-transfer operators also came under the ombudsman's remit.

Before the ombudsman can step in, the consumer must first give the business they are unhappy with the opportunity to look into the complaint itself - before the ombudsman service can make a decision on the dispute. The business has a maximum of 8 weeks to resolve the complaint. If they do not resolve it within 8 weeks or the consumer is not happy with the response then they can refer the complaint to the ombudsman service.[5]

The ombudsman has the authority to request or require a company to offer financial compensation, correct a consumer's credit file, or offer an apology, as a means of dispute resolution.[6]

The ombudsman makes decisions on the basis of what it believes is fair and reasonable in the particular circumstances of each case. In making decisions on individual complaints, the law [7][8] requires the ombudsman to take into account: relevant law and regulations; regulator's rules, guidance and standards; codes of practice; and (where appropriate) what he/she considers to have been good industry practice at the relevant time.[9]

The Financial Ombudsman Service is funded by the UK's financial services sector through a combination of statutory levies and case fees.[10][11] These are paid by financial businesses that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and are automatically covered by law by the ombudsman service. The payment of these statutory levies and fees are not optional and are payable whether or not a complaint is upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service. The service is free to consumers. Between 2006 and 2009 the ombudsman service made use of case-handling services provided by Deloitte LLP, to handle the growing volumes of work generated by payment protection insurance complaints.

The Financial Ombudsman Service publishes the proportion of complaints it upholds in favour of consumers. Across all complaints in 2013/2014 the ombudsman found 58% in favour of consumers.[12]

The ombudsman was set up by parliament to be an impartial and independent body, though its decisions can be criticised by the side that loses.[13][14][15] [16] [17][18]

Independent commentators acknowledge that the ombudsman service is a valuable free service for consumers - although those who feel they have "lost" a complaint might understandably feel let down and want to question the ombudsman's impartiality.[19][20] Some consumers have questioned the amount of redress awarded by the ombudsman [21] while many businesses expect the ombudsman to apply the compensation cap rigidly and lobbied against the increase (in January 2012) from £100,000 to £150,000 in the maximum compensation the ombudsman can tell a business to pay.[22]

Various websites have been set up to complain about the Financial Ombudsman's partiality - usually by people who disagree with particular ombudsman decisions.[23][24]

Since September 2009 the Financial Ombudsman Service has been publishing complaints data on its website every six months about named individual businesses. The data provided relates to businesses which have 30 or more new cases, or 30 or more resolved cases, in each six-month period. The data shows the number of new complaints, and the proportion of complaints upheld in favour of consumers.

The complaints data shows that:[25]

The entire ombudsman staff in 2007 (including substantial number of ancillary staff) was 960. They managed to handle 627,814 initial enquiries and close 111,673 cases which had been sent to for adjudication. The BBC reported in September 2007 that the ombudsman planned to reduce staff numbers to 600, reflecting the decline in mortgage endowment complaints.[26] By December 2009 ombudsman staff had increased to over 1,000 - reflecting a substantially increased workload of 200,000 cases. Currently there are 4,500 people working at the ombudsman â€“ reflecting a substantially increased workload of over half a million cases last year (2014/2015).

Staffing levels at the Financial Ombudsman Service fluctuate - as does the budget year-on-year - to match the volume of disputes it is dealing with. The number of staff required - and forecasts for complaints volumes and workload - are consulted on publicly each year in the ombudsman's corporate plan and budget.[27][28]

Around 90% of the disputes that the Financial Ombudsman Service resolves are settled at earlier informal stages, without the intervention of an ombudsman. An ombudsman's decision is the final stage of the Financial Ombudsman Service's process.[29] If the consumer with the complaint accepts a final decision, it is binding on both parties and enforceable in court.[30][31][32]

But if the consumer chooses not to accept an ombudsman's decision, their legal rights remain unaffected and they can take the matter to court instead â€“ subject to any requirements set by the courts. However, independent commentators generally recommend that consumers should use the ombudsman service rather than the courts [33][34][35][36] as the outcome of court cases can be unexpected, disappointing and costly.[37]

However, there have been judicial reviews against the ombudsman, brought by financial services companies who have to accept the ombudsman's decisions which are binding in law. For example, in January 2011 the British Bankers Association – on behalf of a number of high-street banks – brought a judicial review against the ombudsman and the FSA on the approach to PPI complaints handling. The High Court rejected the banks' challenge and endorsed the approach taken by the ombudsman and the FSA.[38] The difficulty in winning a judicial review is that the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 [39] which led to the establishment of the Financial Ombudsman Service requires the ombudsman to make decisions "by reference to what is, in the opinion of the ombudsman, fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case".[40]

In a judicial review of an ombudsman's decision brought by an independent financial adviser (IFA), the judge further clarified that the ombudsman is "free to make an award different from that which a court applying the law would make".[41] This means that a litigant has to surmount the very high hurdle of proving that the entirety of the ombudsman's decision was so unfair that no right minded person would have made a similar decision. This is referred to as the Wednesbury unreasonableness principle which applies to any application for judicial review under made due to the irrationality of the decision.

The ombudsman can be asked to appear before the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee who can be contacted by the consumer's MP.

In November 2011 the Financial Ombudsman Service became covered by the Freedom of Information Act. The ombudsman's website has a page of information on this subject

Consumer satisfaction surveys - and surveys of businesses covered by the ombudsman - are conducted by the Financial Ombudsman Service on an ongoing basis. The results are published annually in the ombudsman's annual review.[43][44]

Customers of the Financial Ombudsman Service - both consumers and businesses - can seek redress from the Independent Assessor [45] if they are unhappy with the level of service they have received.[46]

The Independent Assessor is appointed by the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The current holder of the post is Amerdeep Somal, who has held several similar posts.[47]

The Independent Assessor reports formally to the board of the Financial Ombudsman Service - which publishes a report in full each year as part of the Financial Ombudsman Service's annual review.[48][49][50][51][52][53]

The non-executive board of the Financial Ombudsman Service commissions three-yearly external reviews of the service.[citation needed]

The UK Financial Ombudsman Service is a member of the International Network of Financial Services Ombudsman Schemes, a global association whose members operate as out-of-court dispute resolution mechanisms in the financial sector.

Other members include:

A list of all members can be found at the International Network's website.


rita ora i will never let you down wiki

"I Will Never Let You Down" is a song by British singer Rita Ora, released on 31 March 2014, through Roc Nation and Columbia Records.[1] The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it Ora's fourth overall UK number-one single (and third as a solo artist) within three years.[2]

I Will Never Let You Down

In January 2014, Ora appeared alongside Nick Grimshaw and Paolo Nutini to announce Radio 1's Big Weekend 2014 in Glasgow. During the promotion, she confirmed she had collaborated with Calvin Harris on a new song.[3] The preview of the song was featured in Ora's commercial advertisement for Rimmel London Cosmetics during the 2014 BRIT Awards on 19 February.[4] The song premiered in full on Capital FM on 31 March 2014.[1]

"I Will Never Let You Down" is an up-tempo dance-pop song.[5] It is set at a tempo of 128 beats per minute.[6] Ora herself has likened the song to the work of Whitney Houston, particularly her 1985 song "How Will I Know".[7]

Digital Spy's Lewis Corner gave the song 4 stars out of 5, praising the musical arrangement of the song.[8] Ultimate Music critic said that the song "is without doubt an almighty global smash, the perfect union of two powerhouses making the ultimate feel good love song."[9] In July 2014, Billboard listed "I Will Never Let You Down" as one of the "10 Best Songs of 2014 (So Far)" saying that "one listen to that delicious synth line and gooey chorus will whet your appetite for more listens."[10] Popjustice named it the 5th best single of 2014.[11]

On 18 May 2014, the song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart with sales of 105,095 copies, making it Ora's fourth overall single to reach the top of the chart, and third as a solo artist.[12] As of January 2016, the song has sold 600,000 copies in the UK.

On 20 April 2014, "I Will Never Let You Down" debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number nineteen.[13] Two weeks later, the song reached its peak at number five making it Ora's first top five single in the country, and third overall top ten track on this chart.[14] In New Zealand, the recording entered the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart at number 38, and peaked at number nine after three weeks on the chart.[15] In the United States, the song peaked at number seventy-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "I Will Never Let You Down" also peaked at number twenty-two on the Mainstream Top 40 chart and topped Dance Club Songs chart.

The music video for "I Will Never Let You Down" was filmed in Los Angeles[16] and directed by Francesco Carrozzini.[17] The video features twin dancers Polly and Sophie Duniam.[18] Ora premiered the video in Leicester Square on 31 March 2014. It was uploaded to her official Vevo account the same day.[19]

Ora performed "I Will Never Let You Down" for the first time on television on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon which aired on 22 April 2014.[20] Towards the end of the performance, pop artist Mr. Brainwash appeared, dousing her with colorful paint while she continued to sing.[21] On 8 May 2014, she performed "I Will Never Let You Down" on the finale of Germany's Next Topmodel.[22] Ora was supposed to perform the song at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards, but was forced to pull out after ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, refused to allow her to perform their song.[23]

"I Will Never Let You Down" was remixed for the Pepsi visual album, Pepsi Beats of the Beautiful Game (2014). The production was done by British record producer Switch.[25]

Digital download â€“ Remixes[28]

Digital download â€“ Remixes (Beatport exclusive)[29]

Streaming â€“ Remixes (Spotify exclusive)[30]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone