Fun fact: Martin Kove was not the director's top choice to play John Kreese in The Karate Kid.
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VI (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)
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Deleted member 87099
They made up a significant portion of previous threads. This only proves my point as the isolation of anything remotely related to current politics has likely snuffed out content.
Deleted member 92121
Benny the Boss
(inspired by a post by @Persephone a few pages back)
Benito "Benny" Mussolini, better known by his informal title of "Il Duce" (the duke) was one of the most notorious and succesful gangsters of the 20th century, and is widely recognized as being the main force behind the establishment of "The Comission" and the National Crime Syndicate.
Born in the town of Predappio, northern Italy, to modest parents, Benito's family soon emigrated to the United States, setting up shop in New York city. Benito grew up in Little Italy experiencing the hardships of a poor immigrant upbringing. It didn't take long for the child to get involved in petty criminal activities, seeking opportunities wherever they could be found.
By the early 1900's Benny, as he was known to his friends, had set up business running a gambling den. It's believed that around this time he caught the attention of Don Guiseppe Morello, head of the Morello Crime family. Even though Mussolini had no Sicilian blood in him, Guiseppe adopted him into his family, recognizing Benny's talent at management and natural charisma. By 1910 "Big Talk Benny" (a knickname originating from his predisposition to giving speeches), was a Capo in the family, controling a number of gambling, prostitution and extortion operations around all over Dontown Manhattan. At that same year Morello was arrested under charges of counterfeiting, and his criminal empire in New York was split between Mussolini, Guiseppe "Joe" Masseria and Salvatore D'Aquila.
Mussolini was constantly at odds with other members of the Italian criminal world due to his non-sicilian blood. "Blood alone moves the wheels of this Business" - proclaimed him once, in relation to his family history. Nevertheless his intense belief in a organized business structure (modeled after the Roman Legions, as Mussolini had a historical fascination with said Empire), ensured a more stable operation when compared to his sicilian rivals.
By the 1920's with the advent of Prohibition the Mussolini Crime Family was well established and more powerfull than ever. In 1922 Morello was released from prison and D'Aquila, fearing a threat from his former boss, decided to have him assassinated. Masseria sided with Morello, and Mussolini did the same. Sporadic fighting would go on in NYC until, in 1925, Italo Balbo, a top lieutenant of Mussolini, reportedly assassinated D'Aquila in the streets of the Bronx. From them on the city was divided between Benny "Il Duce" Mussolini and Joe Masseria (Morello settled for being Masseria's consiglieri). Mussolini's power was unprecedented in the criminal world, and he had connections to every facet of business in the city. His ties extended further, with him maintaining good relations with Buffalo, Atlantic City, Philadelphia and the Torio Outfit (later the Capone Outfit) in Chicago. His political connections were also numerous. In one (possibly false) tale, Mussolini once slapped a city councilman he had been bribing. Mussolini then uttered "I have no patience for politics."
By 1930 the tensions between the Mussolini and the Masseria families reached a boiling point, and war for control of the city broke out. The Predappioni War (named after Mussolini's birthplace) created national news and left multiple dead on both sides. By 1931 Mussolini had set up a deal with Masseria's liutenant Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano. On April 15 1931 two shooters (reportedly Luciano and Galeazzo "The Count" Cianno, who was Mussolini's son-in-law) shot Masseria to death while he dined in his restaurant. Mussolini and Luciano then divided New York among the "Five Families", agreeing to set up a "Comission" to handle conflicts between the mafia in the future.
While there was no official leader, Mussolini was viewed by many as the de facto "Capo di tutti capi" (boss of all bosses). This often generated a tense business relationship between himself and other bosses such as Luciano, Vincent Mangano, Frank Costello, and Joseph Profaci. Another point of contention was Mussolini's overt anti-semitism, with his hostile position towards jewish assossiates such as Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. For these reasons many saw Benny Mussolini as a "Moustache Pete", an oldschool italian gangster who had no place in modern crime. To his benefit, however, Mussolini never pushed his claim of Boss of all bosses forward. Nor did he openly attack other families dealings with non-italians.
Throughout the 1930's the Mussolini Crime Family was recognized as the most powerful criminal organization in the U.S. Many of Benny's lieutenants such as Italo "The Marshal" Balbo, Michael "Lefty" Bianchi, and Constanzo Cianno (Galeazzo's father) where held in as much esteem as other Don's. Two of Benny's son's, Vittorio and Bruno were also involved in the criminal business. In 1939 Constanzo died of a heart attack. The following year Balbo was arrested for racketeering, and the year after that Bruno Mussolini was shot dead in the streets (some theorize over gambling debts). This string of events, combined with increasing pressure from the other families and law enforcement, convinced Mussolini to retire in 1943.
In 1945, however, Mussolini had a change of heart, and came out of retirement. This reignited federal attention on the family and feuds with Luciano and Meyer Lansky. On the 28th of April, 1945, Benny "Il Duce" Mussolini was visiting the barber when two men walked in and fired 11 shots at him. Mussolini was dead at the spot. Who ordered the hit remains a matter of debate. Most theorize Luciano, while other likely suspects are Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Vincent Mangano, or even his own son-in-law, Cianno, who wished to return to a position of power.
(inspired by a post by @Persephone a few pages back)
Benito "Benny" Mussolini, better known by his informal title of "Il Duce" (the duke) was one of the most notorious and succesful gangsters of the 20th century, and is widely recognized as being the main force behind the establishment of "The Comission" and the National Crime Syndicate.
Born in the town of Predappio, northern Italy, to modest parents, Benito's family soon emigrated to the United States, setting up shop in New York city. Benito grew up in Little Italy experiencing the hardships of a poor immigrant upbringing. It didn't take long for the child to get involved in petty criminal activities, seeking opportunities wherever they could be found.
By the early 1900's Benny, as he was known to his friends, had set up business running a gambling den. It's believed that around this time he caught the attention of Don Guiseppe Morello, head of the Morello Crime family. Even though Mussolini had no Sicilian blood in him, Guiseppe adopted him into his family, recognizing Benny's talent at management and natural charisma. By 1910 "Big Talk Benny" (a knickname originating from his predisposition to giving speeches), was a Capo in the family, controling a number of gambling, prostitution and extortion operations around all over Dontown Manhattan. At that same year Morello was arrested under charges of counterfeiting, and his criminal empire in New York was split between Mussolini, Guiseppe "Joe" Masseria and Salvatore D'Aquila.
Mussolini was constantly at odds with other members of the Italian criminal world due to his non-sicilian blood. "Blood alone moves the wheels of this Business" - proclaimed him once, in relation to his family history. Nevertheless his intense belief in a organized business structure (modeled after the Roman Legions, as Mussolini had a historical fascination with said Empire), ensured a more stable operation when compared to his sicilian rivals.
By the 1920's with the advent of Prohibition the Mussolini Crime Family was well established and more powerfull than ever. In 1922 Morello was released from prison and D'Aquila, fearing a threat from his former boss, decided to have him assassinated. Masseria sided with Morello, and Mussolini did the same. Sporadic fighting would go on in NYC until, in 1925, Italo Balbo, a top lieutenant of Mussolini, reportedly assassinated D'Aquila in the streets of the Bronx. From them on the city was divided between Benny "Il Duce" Mussolini and Joe Masseria (Morello settled for being Masseria's consiglieri). Mussolini's power was unprecedented in the criminal world, and he had connections to every facet of business in the city. His ties extended further, with him maintaining good relations with Buffalo, Atlantic City, Philadelphia and the Torio Outfit (later the Capone Outfit) in Chicago. His political connections were also numerous. In one (possibly false) tale, Mussolini once slapped a city councilman he had been bribing. Mussolini then uttered "I have no patience for politics."
By 1930 the tensions between the Mussolini and the Masseria families reached a boiling point, and war for control of the city broke out. The Predappioni War (named after Mussolini's birthplace) created national news and left multiple dead on both sides. By 1931 Mussolini had set up a deal with Masseria's liutenant Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano. On April 15 1931 two shooters (reportedly Luciano and Galeazzo "The Count" Cianno, who was Mussolini's son-in-law) shot Masseria to death while he dined in his restaurant. Mussolini and Luciano then divided New York among the "Five Families", agreeing to set up a "Comission" to handle conflicts between the mafia in the future.
While there was no official leader, Mussolini was viewed by many as the de facto "Capo di tutti capi" (boss of all bosses). This often generated a tense business relationship between himself and other bosses such as Luciano, Vincent Mangano, Frank Costello, and Joseph Profaci. Another point of contention was Mussolini's overt anti-semitism, with his hostile position towards jewish assossiates such as Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. For these reasons many saw Benny Mussolini as a "Moustache Pete", an oldschool italian gangster who had no place in modern crime. To his benefit, however, Mussolini never pushed his claim of Boss of all bosses forward. Nor did he openly attack other families dealings with non-italians.
Throughout the 1930's the Mussolini Crime Family was recognized as the most powerful criminal organization in the U.S. Many of Benny's lieutenants such as Italo "The Marshal" Balbo, Michael "Lefty" Bianchi, and Constanzo Cianno (Galeazzo's father) where held in as much esteem as other Don's. Two of Benny's son's, Vittorio and Bruno were also involved in the criminal business. In 1939 Constanzo died of a heart attack. The following year Balbo was arrested for racketeering, and the year after that Bruno Mussolini was shot dead in the streets (some theorize over gambling debts). This string of events, combined with increasing pressure from the other families and law enforcement, convinced Mussolini to retire in 1943.
In 1945, however, Mussolini had a change of heart, and came out of retirement. This reignited federal attention on the family and feuds with Luciano and Meyer Lansky. On the 28th of April, 1945, Benny "Il Duce" Mussolini was visiting the barber when two men walked in and fired 11 shots at him. Mussolini was dead at the spot. Who ordered the hit remains a matter of debate. Most theorize Luciano, while other likely suspects are Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Vincent Mangano, or even his own son-in-law, Cianno, who wished to return to a position of power.
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Quite frankly I suggested probably the simplest solution that @CalBear could take and that is placing a banner above the reply box and with the text "Current Politics are not allowed here, please place all current politics Wikiboxes in the Current Politics Wikibox Thread" with a link to said Wikibox Thread
TARZAN THE UNTAMED
The rise of Michael Heseltine
CHARACTERS:
- Neil Kinnock, Leader of the Labour Party since 1983 and Prime Minister since 1991
- John Prescott, Transport Secretary in the Kinnock cabinet
- Michael Heseltine, backbencher and former member of Thatcher's cabinet
- John Smith, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Kinnock cabinet
- Gordon Brown, Trade and Industry Secretary in the Kinnock cabinet
- Paddy Ashdown, Leader of the Liberal Democrats somce 1988
CHAPTER 2:
Neil Kinnock was standing at the doorstep of 10 Downing Street. After having sat on the opposition benches for twelve years, his Labour Party had returned to power. Even though Labour commanded a majority of just two seats in the House of Commons, Kinnock believed that he could form a stable minority government. Kinnock appointed senior shadow ministers to high-profile ministerial positions. John Smith was appointed Chancellor, Gerald Kaufman was appointed Foreign Secretary and Roy Hattersley was appointed Home Secretary. It seemed that a new dawn had broken, and the old guard was replaced by a new administration. The Conservatives were shaken by their defeat in the election. Many blamed Margaret Thatcher for the demise of their party. Thatcher's leading opponent, former Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine, quickly became a front-runner in the subsequent leadership election. Thatcher still wielded significant authority in the party, and lobbied for John Major, the relatively unknown former Chancellor. Former Education Secretary Kenneth Clarke and Minister of State for Local Government Michael Portillo also ran. However, it was unlikely that either of them would win because most wets backed Heseltine and most dries backed Major. In the first ballot, Heseltine secured a commanding lead over his challengers, but fell short of winning outright. Realising that they could not win, Major, Clarke and Portillo withdrew within minutes of the announcement of the result. Heseltine was thus elected unopposed.
In the summer of 1992, all was going well for Labour. Opinion polls indicated that the Conservative party trailed the Labour party by a margin of 4-5 percentage points. Kinnock was confident that his party would increase their majority if he called a snap election. However, on 16 September 1992 the government was forced to as forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. The government had attempted to prop up the depreciating pound to avoid withdrawal from the monetary system the country had joined only two years earlier. Neil Kinnock raised interest rates to 10% and authorised the spending of billions of pounds of foreign currency reserves to buy up sterling being sold on the currency markets. These measures failed to prevent the pound falling below its minimum level in the ERM. Chancellor John Smith took the decision to defend sterling's position, believing that to devalue would promote inflation. However, the attempt to save the UK's participation in the monetary system failed, and the government was forced to withdraw.
The decision to withdraw had been agreed at an emergency meeting during the day between Smith, Kinnock, Foreign Secretary Gerald Kaufman, President of the Board of Trade Gordon Brown, and Home Secretary Roy Hattersley.
The Labour government image had been damaged to the extent that the electorate was more inclined to support a claim of the opposition of the time – that the economic recovery ought to be credited to external factors, as opposed to government policies implemented by Labour. The Gallup poll for September showed a lead of 4% for Labour. By the October poll, following Black Wednesday, their share of the intended vote in the poll had plunged from 44% to 36%. Kinnock sacked Chancellor Smith in May and replaced him with Employment Secretary John Prescott. Prescott was seen as the political link to the working class, but failed to prevent the decline of the public support for Labour. Kinnock realised he was going to lose the 1996 election, and resigned in 1995. Chancellor Prescott was elected leader of the Labour party unoppposed, because no one else wanted the job of leader of a party that was about to be defeated.
Labour had lost their 2 seat majority on 17 May 1994, after they lost Environment Secretary Bryan Gould resigned from parliament and Labour lost the by-election to Gould's seat on 8 June. Labour subsequently entered a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberal Democrats. However, the pact became very unpopular, and the vote share of the LibDems collapsed in opinion polls.
Prescott called an election on 18 March 1996. ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks (Parliament was dissolved on 9 April).
Labour argued that a long campaign would expose the Conservatives and allow the Labour message to be heard.
Labour began low in the polls, and had experienced great difficulties over the previous four years, with polling often putting it some 15 points adrift of the Conservatives. Prescott hoped that a long campaign would expose Heseltine's "elitism" and the Labour campaign emphasised stability, as did its manifesto title 'You can only be sure with Labour'. However, the campaign was beset by deep-set problems, such as the rise of Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party which advocated a referendum on Scottish independence. The party threatened to take away many voters from Labour in Scotland. Furthermore, the collapse of the Liberal Democratic campaign meant that the Conservatives would be able to gain many Liberal Democratic seats.
The overall result of the election ended 5 years of Labour government. Immediately following the election Prescott resigned as Prime Minister, but refused to resign as party leader. The Conservatives commanded a 28 seat majority and subsequently formed a government.
The rise of Michael Heseltine
CHARACTERS:
- Neil Kinnock, Leader of the Labour Party since 1983 and Prime Minister since 1991
- John Prescott, Transport Secretary in the Kinnock cabinet
- Michael Heseltine, backbencher and former member of Thatcher's cabinet
- John Smith, Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Kinnock cabinet
- Gordon Brown, Trade and Industry Secretary in the Kinnock cabinet
- Paddy Ashdown, Leader of the Liberal Democrats somce 1988
CHAPTER 2:
Neil Kinnock was standing at the doorstep of 10 Downing Street. After having sat on the opposition benches for twelve years, his Labour Party had returned to power. Even though Labour commanded a majority of just two seats in the House of Commons, Kinnock believed that he could form a stable minority government. Kinnock appointed senior shadow ministers to high-profile ministerial positions. John Smith was appointed Chancellor, Gerald Kaufman was appointed Foreign Secretary and Roy Hattersley was appointed Home Secretary. It seemed that a new dawn had broken, and the old guard was replaced by a new administration. The Conservatives were shaken by their defeat in the election. Many blamed Margaret Thatcher for the demise of their party. Thatcher's leading opponent, former Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine, quickly became a front-runner in the subsequent leadership election. Thatcher still wielded significant authority in the party, and lobbied for John Major, the relatively unknown former Chancellor. Former Education Secretary Kenneth Clarke and Minister of State for Local Government Michael Portillo also ran. However, it was unlikely that either of them would win because most wets backed Heseltine and most dries backed Major. In the first ballot, Heseltine secured a commanding lead over his challengers, but fell short of winning outright. Realising that they could not win, Major, Clarke and Portillo withdrew within minutes of the announcement of the result. Heseltine was thus elected unopposed.
In the summer of 1992, all was going well for Labour. Opinion polls indicated that the Conservative party trailed the Labour party by a margin of 4-5 percentage points. Kinnock was confident that his party would increase their majority if he called a snap election. However, on 16 September 1992 the government was forced to as forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. The government had attempted to prop up the depreciating pound to avoid withdrawal from the monetary system the country had joined only two years earlier. Neil Kinnock raised interest rates to 10% and authorised the spending of billions of pounds of foreign currency reserves to buy up sterling being sold on the currency markets. These measures failed to prevent the pound falling below its minimum level in the ERM. Chancellor John Smith took the decision to defend sterling's position, believing that to devalue would promote inflation. However, the attempt to save the UK's participation in the monetary system failed, and the government was forced to withdraw.
The decision to withdraw had been agreed at an emergency meeting during the day between Smith, Kinnock, Foreign Secretary Gerald Kaufman, President of the Board of Trade Gordon Brown, and Home Secretary Roy Hattersley.
The Labour government image had been damaged to the extent that the electorate was more inclined to support a claim of the opposition of the time – that the economic recovery ought to be credited to external factors, as opposed to government policies implemented by Labour. The Gallup poll for September showed a lead of 4% for Labour. By the October poll, following Black Wednesday, their share of the intended vote in the poll had plunged from 44% to 36%. Kinnock sacked Chancellor Smith in May and replaced him with Employment Secretary John Prescott. Prescott was seen as the political link to the working class, but failed to prevent the decline of the public support for Labour. Kinnock realised he was going to lose the 1996 election, and resigned in 1995. Chancellor Prescott was elected leader of the Labour party unoppposed, because no one else wanted the job of leader of a party that was about to be defeated.
Labour had lost their 2 seat majority on 17 May 1994, after they lost Environment Secretary Bryan Gould resigned from parliament and Labour lost the by-election to Gould's seat on 8 June. Labour subsequently entered a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberal Democrats. However, the pact became very unpopular, and the vote share of the LibDems collapsed in opinion polls.
Prescott called an election on 18 March 1996. ensuring the formal campaign would be unusually long, at six weeks (Parliament was dissolved on 9 April).
Labour argued that a long campaign would expose the Conservatives and allow the Labour message to be heard.
Labour began low in the polls, and had experienced great difficulties over the previous four years, with polling often putting it some 15 points adrift of the Conservatives. Prescott hoped that a long campaign would expose Heseltine's "elitism" and the Labour campaign emphasised stability, as did its manifesto title 'You can only be sure with Labour'. However, the campaign was beset by deep-set problems, such as the rise of Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party which advocated a referendum on Scottish independence. The party threatened to take away many voters from Labour in Scotland. Furthermore, the collapse of the Liberal Democratic campaign meant that the Conservatives would be able to gain many Liberal Democratic seats.
The overall result of the election ended 5 years of Labour government. Immediately following the election Prescott resigned as Prime Minister, but refused to resign as party leader. The Conservatives commanded a 28 seat majority and subsequently formed a government.
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Considering most of them were essentially poor reruns of the last couple of US presidential elections most of us nonAmericans who read this thread don't consider it much of a loss.
A lot of the big Current Politics wikibox producers tend to post a lot of their work in their test threads instead.
So on 9/11, the Twin Towers are not hit but planes but the Sears Tower in Chicago is? Then later on the Freedom Tower is built in the Sears Tower's place?
Hmm, seems interesting.
Ive read during the planning of 9/11 on Wiki, the Sears Tower, the Empire State Building, the Prudential Tower in Boston, the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, the Transamerica Pyramid, and the Columbia Center in Seattle were also targeted besides the WTC and pentagon.
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Well King of the Uzbeks, I bet that this interesting infobox will become one of the top 15 most liked infoboxes on this thread.
List of Scottish monarchs
The Darien scheme succeeds, Scotland rejects the Act of Union and reverts to the Jacobite succession after the death of Queen Anne under a deal allowing the Stuart monarchs to remain personally Catholic while recognizing the Protestant state religion, and the succession passes from the Stuarts to the houses of Savoy, Austria-Este, and Wittelsbach.
The Darien scheme succeeds, Scotland rejects the Act of Union and reverts to the Jacobite succession after the death of Queen Anne under a deal allowing the Stuart monarchs to remain personally Catholic while recognizing the Protestant state religion, and the succession passes from the Stuarts to the houses of Savoy, Austria-Este, and Wittelsbach.
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Well King of the Uzbeks, I bet that this interesting infobox will become one of the top 15 most liked infoboxes on this thread.
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