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" Jane Pratt (born November 11, 1962) is the founding editor of ""Sassy"", ""Jane and"" xoJane. She is the host of the talk show ""Jane Radio"" on Sirius XM Radio. |
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" Jane Pratt was born in San Francisco, California, to Sheila Marks Blake, an artist, and Vernon Pratt, a minimalist painter and professor of art at Duke University. Her mother grew up in Queens, New York, and her maternal grandfather, Joseph Marks, was a vice-president of the Doubleday publishing company. Her paternal grandfather was Gaither Pratt, a paranormal psychology researcher at the University of Virginia. Pratt's parents were divorced when she was 13. |
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" She was raised in Durham, North Carolina, and attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, at the age of 15. After graduating from Phillips Academy, Pratt enrolled at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, where she received a degree in communications with a minor in modern dance. Her publishing career began with internships at ""Rolling Stone"" magazine and ""Sportstyle,"" a Fairchild Publication. After graduating, Pratt landed her first job as assistant editor of ""McCall's"", and in 1986, became an associate editor of ""Teenage Magazine"". From there, she went on to found ""Sassy Magazine"". |
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" At the age of 24, Pratt became the founding editor of ""Sassy"", a magazine for teenage girls. Under Pratt, the magazine experienced rapid circulation growth. The magazine released a limited-edition Sonic Youth flexi-disc (a cover of the New York Dolls ""Personality Crisis""). Band members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon were fans of the teen magazine. |
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" The magazine's affinity for indie rock led to the formation of the band Chia Pet, which counted Sassy writer Christina Kelly and Pratt as members. Chia Pet released ""Blind Date"" on the Kokopop label in 1992, which won simultaneous Single of the Week honors in both ""NME"" and ""Melody Maker"". |
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" The success of ""Sassy"" led Pratt to host a talk show on Fox in 1992, however, it was cancelled after only 13 weeks. The show moved to Lifetime in 1993 but only lasted 12 weeks due to low ratings. |
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" Pratt was also a frequent contributor to VH-1 and ""Extra"", where she was featured interviewing such personalities as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., and Drew Barrymore. |
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" Pratt is the author of two books, ""For Real: The Uncensored Truth About America's Teenagers"" (Hyperion, September 1995) and ""Beyond Beauty: Girls Speak Out on Looks, Style and Stereotypes"", which is published by Callaway Editions in association with Clarkson Potter. |
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" After ""Sassy"" was bought by Los Angeles–based Peterson Publishing in 1994, the New York–based Pratt regrouped with several former ""Sassy"" staffers to form ""Jane"", a lifestyle magazine for 18- to 34-year-old women which debuted three years later. Its first cover featured actress Drew Barrymore. Other colleagues have included singer Michael Stipe, whom she dated; director Spike Jonze, whom she hired as editor of short-lived teenage boy–targeted ""Dirt"" magazine; actress Chloë Sevigny, who was once a summer intern at ""Sassy""; and Pamela Anderson, who wrote a regular monthly column for ""Jane"". |
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" ""Jane"" was nominated for a National Magazine Award for General Excellence by the American Society of Magazine Editors, and Pratt was named ""Editor of the Year"" in 2002 by ""Adweek"". |
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" On July 25, 2005, Pratt announced that she was resigning from her position as editor-in-chief of ""Jane"" and would be leaving the company on September 30, 2005, exactly eight years after its debut issue. Circulation had steadily increased since the magazine's debut, with 700,000 readers as of the day Pratt announced she would be stepping down. |
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" On July 9, 2007, Charles Townsend, president and CEO of Condé Nast Publications, announced that ""Jane"" magazine would cease publication with its August 2007 issue. The magazine's website, janemag.com, was also to be shut down. ""This was a very difficult decision for us,"" Mr. Townsend said. ""We worked diligently to make ""Jane"" a success. However, we have come to believe that the magazine and website will not fulfill our long-term business expectations."" |
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" In May 2011, Pratt launched women's lifestyle site called xoJane. Pratt and collaborators describe the site as "" ...not snarky, but inclusive and uplifting, while remaining nothing but honest at all times. Like Sassy and Jane before it, xoJane.com is written by a group of women (and some token males) with strong voices, identities, and opinions, many in direct opposition to each other, who are living what they are writing about."" According to ""Forbes"", in less than two months from the launch date, xoJane.com established itself as one of the ""Top 10 Lifestyle Websites for Women."" Pratt served as editor-in-chief with Emily McCombs as executive editor, Mandy Stadtmiller as editor-at-large, and Lesley Kinzel as deputy editor. She launched a British sister site, xojane.co.uk, in June 2012, with Rebecca Holman as editor. |
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" xoJane and xoVain were acquired by Time Inc. from Pratt and SAY Media in 2015. In December 2016, Time indicated that it would be folding xoJane into ""InStyle"", following reports that Pratt was leaving Time and looking for a new owner for her web properties. While a statement from Time said that the site would redirect to InStyle.com, an internal xoJane letter said the site would remain up but no new content would be produced after the end of 2016. |
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" Pratt and actor/writer Andrew Shaifer have a daughter, Charlotte Jane (born December 2002). She was pregnant with twins, due in the summer of 2005, but she miscarried both that April. |
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"= = = Snooker world rankings 1991/1992 = = = |
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" Snooker world rankings 1991/1992: The professional world rankings for the top 64 snooker players in the 1991/1992 season are listed below. There were 146 ranked players on the full list, with Bill Werbeniuk in 146th place. |
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"= = = Battle of Mirbat = = = |
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" The Battle of Mirbat took place on 19 July 1972 during the Dhofar Rebellion in Oman, which was supported by Communist guerrillas from South Yemen. Britain assisted the Omani government by sending elements of its Special Air Service both to train soldiers and compete against the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG) guerrillas for the ""hearts and minds"" of the Omani people. |
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" At 6 am on 19 July 1972 the PFLOAG attacked the British Army Training Team (BATT) house, which housed the nine SAS soldiers, based just outside the Port of Mirbat. The PFLOAG (locally known as the Adoo) attacked the SAS BATT house knowing that to be able to reach the Port of Mirbat they would first have to defeat the SAS guarding the approach to the town in Jebel Ali, a series of small desert slopes leading to the Port. |
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" The Officer in Command, Captain Mike Kealy observed the waves advancing on the fort, but at first did not order his men to open fire because he thought it was the ""Night Picket"" coming back from night shift. The Night Picket were a loyal group of the Omani Army positioned on the slopes to warn the BATT house of Adoo troop movements. Realising that the Night Picket must have been killed, Kealy ordered his men to open fire. Kealy and other members of the team took up positions behind the sand-bag parapet on the roof of the BATT house, firing at the Adoo with L1A1 SLR battle rifles, with one man firing the Browning M2HB heavy machine gun, with a further two men on ground level operating and firing an infantry mortar surrounded by sand-bags. The Adoo were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, and were mortar bombing the area around the BATT house. Kealy ordered the signaller to establish communications with SAS Headquarters at Um al Quarif, to request reinforcements. |
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" There were also a small number of Omani Intelligence Service personnel in the BATT House, a small contingent of Pakistani soldiers and a member of British Military Intelligence seconded to the OIS. They joined the team on the roof and fired on the Adoo with SLRs and other small arms. Initially some of the Pakistani soldiers were reluctant to join the defence of the fort because their roles with the BATT were largely administrative, but they obeyed orders from Mike Kealy and the British Military Intelligence Corporal. |
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" Knowing that the SLRs would not be of full use until the Adoo were closer than the weapon's range of 800 metres, and lacking heavier firepower, Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba made a run for the 25 Pounder Artillery Piece, which was positioned next to a smaller fort manned by nine Omani Army Special Forces soldiers, who had not played a part in the battle. The Omani policeman who was guarding the weapon had been seriously wounded. Talaiasi Labalaba managed to operate the weapon, which is a six-man job, by himself and fire a round a minute at the approaching Adoo, directing their attention away from the BATT house. Kealy received a radio message from Talaiasi reporting that a bullet had skimmed his face, he was badly injured, and was struggling to operate the gun on his own. At the BATT house Kealy asked for a volunteer to run to Talaiasi's aid. Trooper Sekonaia Takavesi volunteered to go. |
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" Sekonaia Takavesi ran from the BATT house, with the remaining men providing covering fire, in an attempt to distract the Adoo. Sekonaia ran the 800 metres through heavy gunfire, and reached the gun emplacement. Sekonaia tried to give aid to his injured friend, while firing at the approaching Adoo with his personal weapon. Realising that they needed help, Sekonaia tried to raise the small number of Omani soldiers inside the smaller fort and Walid Khamis emerged. The remaining Omani soldiers in the fort engaged the enemy with small arms fire from firing positions on the roof and through the windows of the fort. As the two men made it back to the emplacement, the Omani soldier fell wounded after being shot in the stomach with a 7.62 mm bullet. Adoo continued to advance upon both the BATT house and the artillery emplacement. At one point, the Adoo were so close that Sekonaia and Talaiasi fired the weapon at point blank range, aiming down the barrel. Talaiasi crawled across a small space to reach a 60 mm Infantry Mortar, but fell dead after being shot in the neck. Sekonaia, also shot through the shoulder and grazed by a bullet to the back of his head, continued to fire at the approaching Adoo with his personal weapon. The squad signaller sent messages through to the main Forward Operating Base, to request air support and medical evacuation for the men in the gun emplacement. |
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" Captain Kealy and Trooper Tobin made a run to the artillery piece. Upon reaching it, they dived in to avoid increasingly intense gunfire from the Adoo. Sekonaia continued to fire on the attackers, propped up against sand bags after being shot through the stomach (the bullet narrowly missing his spine). The Adoo threw several hand grenades, but only one detonated, exploding behind the emplacement with no one injured. During the battle, Trooper Tobin attempted to reach over the body of Talaiasi. In so doing, Tobin was mortally wounded when a bullet struck his face. By this time, BAC Strikemaster light-attack jets of the Sultan of Oman's Air Force had arrived and began strafing the Adoo in the Jebel Ali. With a low cloud base making for low-altitude attack runs, only machine-guns and light rockets were used. Reinforcements arrived from G Squadron and, defeated, the PFLOAG withdrew at about 12:30. All wounded SAS soldiers were evacuated, and given medical treatment. Trooper Tobin eventually died in hospital, due not directly to the multiple gunshot wounds but to an infection in his lung caused by a splintered tooth, which he had inhaled when his bottom jaw was blown off by an AK-47 round. |
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" The 25-pounder gun (now known as the ""Mirbat gun"") used by Fijian Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba during the siege is now housed in the Firepower museum of the Royal Artillery at the former Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. Though killed in action, Sgt Labalaba displayed remarkable bravery by singlehandedly operating the 25-pounder gun, a weapon normally requiring four to six soldiers to operate. Labalaba's heroism was a key factor in halting the Adoo's assault on the emplacement, allowing time for reinforcements to arrive. Labalaba was awarded a posthumous Mention in Dispatches for his actions in the Battle of Mirbat, though some of his comrades have since campaigned for him to be awarded the more prestigious Victoria Cross. |
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" The following SAS soldiers were present at Mirbat on 19 July 1972: |
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" Kealy received the Distinguished Service Order, Takavesi the Distinguished Conduct Medal, Bennett and McNeice the Military Medal. These were announced three years after the event. An Omani from the fort, Walid Khamis, was injured during the battle and received the Sultan's Gallantry Medal - Oman's highest award. |
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" The battle was underreported, and many considered the SAS team deserving of further individual awards for gallantry. However, many in Oman at that time perceived a desire by HM Government and the MoD to downplay incidents of direct involvement of British service personnel in military action. The British Military Intelligence Corporal received a medal for gallantry from the Sultan (for this action and others), but was threatened with disciplinary action by the British Army for being directly involved in the action at Mirbat. |
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"= = = Neal Foulds = = = |
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" Neal Foulds (born 13 July 1963) is an English former professional snooker player and six-times tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Black in 1992. He was the runner up for the UK Championships in 1986, the British Open in 1987 and reached the semi finals of the Masters on three occasions, as well as the World Championship. After his retirement, Foulds became a commentator for the BBC and is currently part of the presenting team for ITV and Eurosport. |
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" The son of snooker professional Geoff Foulds, he began playing the game at the age of 11 and by the early 1980s was already one of the strongest players in his area. Following victory in the national under-19′s Championship beating John Parrott in the final, Foulds then turned professional in 1983. |
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" At the end of the season he qualified for the final stages of the World Championship at his first attempt. Even more impressively however, he then defeated twice-champion Alex Higgins 10–9 in the first round before going down 13–9 to Doug Mountjoy in the last 16, a run that saw him enter the rankings at number 30. |
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" Foulds quickly climbed the rankings in the seasons that followed reaching no. 3 within four years. He won his first ranking tournament in 1986, the BCE International, beating Cliff Thorburn 12–9 in the final. In the same season he was runner-up to Steve Davis in the UK Championship, and he also reached the semi-finals of the 1987 World Championship, losing 16–9 to Joe Johnson. |
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" Starting the following season in a career high position of number three, 1987/88 was not to be quite as successful, though another strong run to the quarter-finals in the 1988 World Snooker Championship before losing to Terry Griffiths ensured that he would retain his spot at third in the rankings. Foulds also won the 1988 Dubai Masters, beating Steve Davis in the final, though this event would not hold any ranking points until the following year. |
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" From here however he started to struggle, dropping 17 places to 20th in the rankings and finding himself having to qualify for events the following season. Still, 1989/90 was to see a revival and despite a round one exit at the World Championship to Wayne Jones, he did enough to regain a place in the top 16 before moving up to number seven at the end of 1990/1. |
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" In 1992, Foulds was crowned the Scottish Masters champion and also won the 1992 edition of Pot Black, beating Nigel Bond, Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan en route to the final, where he beat James Wattana. |
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" Though he was able to maintain a top 16 place until the end of the 1993/4 season, and a place on the tour until 2003, he played his final match as a Main Tour player on 13 January 2003 before retiring from competitive play aged 39. |
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" Foulds made a brief reappearance as a player in November 2011 in the World Seniors (aged 48) before eventually losing to Dene O'Kane. |
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" Foulds made 86 competitive century breaks in his career. |
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" Since his retirement, Foulds has moved up to the commentary box for Eurosport, BBC, Sky Sports and he also co-hosts all ITV4 tournament coverage, interviewing players as well as commentating. In 2014, Foulds made a cameo as himself commentating on a fictional match at the climax of the snooker short film drama 'Extended Rest'. |
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" Foulds is married and has a daughter. |
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