SIGABA

# SIGABA

## Abstract

In the history of cryptography, the ECM Mark II was a cipher machine used by the United States for message encryption from World War II until the 1950s. The machine was also known as the SIGABA or Converter M-134 by the Army, or CSP-888/889 by the Navy, and a modified Navy version was termed the CSP-2900.

Like many machines of the era it used an electromechanical system of rotors to encipher messages, but with a number of security improvements over previous designs. No successful cryptanalysis of the machine during its service lifetime is publicly known.

## History

It was clear to US cryptographers well before World War II that the single-stepping mechanical motion of rotor machines (e.g. the Hebern machine) could be exploited by attackers. In the case of the famous Enigma machine, these attacks were supposed to be upset by moving the rotors to random locations at the start of each new message. This, however, proved not to be secure enough, and German Enigma messages were frequently broken by cryptanalysis during World War II.

William Friedman, director of the US Army 's Signals Intelligence Service, devised a system to correct for this attack by truly randomizing the motion of the rotors. His modification consisted of a paper tape reader from a teletype machine attached to a small device with metal "feelers" positioned to pass electricity through the holes. When a letter was pressed on the keyboard the signal would be sent through the rotors as it was in the Enigma, producing an encrypted version. In addition, the current would also flow through the paper tape attachment, and any holes in the tape at its current location would cause the corresponding rotor to turn, and then advance the paper tape one position. In comparison, the Enigma rotated its rotors one position with each key press, a much less random movement. The resulting design went into limited production as the M-134 Converter, and its message settings included the position of the tape and the settings of a plugboard that indicated which line of holes on the tape controlled which rotors. However, there were problems using fragile paper tapes under field conditions.

Friedman's associate, Frank Rowlett, then came up with a different way to advance the rotors, using another set of rotors. In Rowlett's design, each rotor must be constructed such that between one and four output signals were generated, advancing one or more of the rotors (rotors normally have one output for every input). There was little money for encryption development in the US before the war, so Friedman and Rowlett built a series of "add on" devices called the SIGGOO (or M-229) that were used with the existing M-134s in place of the paper tape reader. These were external boxes containing a three rotor setup in which five of the inputs were live, as if someone had pressed five keys at the same time on an Enigma, and the outputs were "gathered up" into five groups as well — that is all the letters from A to E would be wired together for instance. That way the five signals on the input side would be randomized through the rotors, and come out the far side with power in one of five lines. Now the movement of the rotors could be controlled with a day code, and the paper tape was eliminated. They referred to the combination of machines as the M-134-C.

In 1935 they showed their work to Joseph Wenger, a cryptographer in the OP-20-G section of the U.S. Navy. He found little interest for it in the Navy until early 1937, when he showed it to Commander Laurance Safford, Friedman's counterpart in the Office of Naval Intelligence. He immediately saw the potential of the machine, and he and Commander Seiler then added a number of features to make the machine easier to build, resulting in the Electric Code Machine Mark II (or ECM Mark II), which the navy then produced as the CSP-889 (or 888).

Oddly, the Army was unaware of either the changes or the mass production of the system, but were "let in" on the secret in early 1940. In 1941 the Army and Navy joined in a joint cryptographic system, based on the machine. The Army then started using it as the SIGABA. Just over 10,000 machines were built.

On 26 June 1942, the Army and Navy agreed not to allow SIGABA machines to be placed in foreign territory except where armed American personnel were able to protect the machine. The SIGABA would be made available to another Allied country only if personnel of that country were denied direct access to the machine or its operation by an American liaison officer who would operate it.

## Description

SIGABA was similar to the Enigma in basic theory, in that it used a series of rotors to encipher every character of the plaintext into a different character of ciphertext. Unlike Enigma's three rotors however, the SIGABA included fifteen, and did not use a reflecting rotor.

The SIGABA had three banks of five rotors each; the action of two of the banks controlled the stepping of the third.

- The main bank of five rotors was termed the cipher rotors (Army) or alphabet maze (Navy) and each rotor had 26 contacts. This assembly acted similarly to other rotor machines, such as the Enigma; when a plaintext letter was entered, a signal would enter one side of the bank and exit the other, denoting the ciphertext letter. Unlike the Enigma, there was no reflector.

- The second bank of five rotors was termed the control rotors or stepping maze. These were also 26-contact rotors. The control rotors received four signals at each step. After passing through the control rotors, the outputs were divided into ten groups of various sizes, ranging from 1–6 wires. Each group corresponded to an input wire for the next bank of rotors.

- The third bank of rotors was called the index rotors. These rotors were smaller, with only ten contacts, and did not step during the encryption. After travelling though the index rotors, one to four of five output lines would have power. These then turned the cypher rotors.

The SIGABA advanced one or more of its main rotors in a complex, pseudorandom fashion. This meant that attacks which could break other rotor machines with simpler stepping (for example, Enigma) were made much more complex. Even with the plaintext in hand, there were so many potential inputs to the encryption that it was difficult to work out the settings.

On the downside, the SIGABA was also large, heavy, expensive, difficult to operate, mechanically complex, and fragile. It was nowhere near as practical a device as the Enigma, which was smaller and lighter than the radios with which it was used. It found widespread use in the radio rooms of US Navy ships, but as a result of these practical problems the SIGABA simply couldn't be used in the field. In most theatres other systems were used instead, especially for tactical communications. One of the most famous was the use of Navajo code talkers for tactical field communications in the Pacific Theater. In other theatres, less secure, but smaller, lighter, and sturdier machines were used, such as the M-209. SIGABA, impressive as it was, was overkill for tactical communications. This said, new speculative evidence emerged more recently that the M-209 code was broken by German cryptanalysts during World War II.

## Operation

Because SIGABA did not have a reflector, a 26+ pole switch was needed to change the signal paths through the alphabet maze between the encryption and decryption modes. The long “controller” switch was mounted vertically, with its knob on the top of the housing. See image. It had five positions, O, P, R, E and D. Besides encrypt (E) and decrypt (D), it had a plain text position (P) that printed whatever was typed on the output tape, and a reset position (R) that was used to set the rotors and to zeroize the machine. The O position turned the machine off. The P setting was used to print the indicators and date/time groups on the output tape. It was the only mode that printed numbers. No printing took place in the R setting, but digit keys were active to increment rotors.

During encryption, the Z key was connected to the X key and the space bar produced a Z input to the alphabet maze. A Z was printed as a space on decryption. The reader was expected to understand that a word like “xebra” in a decrypted message was actually “zebra.” The printer automatically added a space between each group of five characters during encryption.

The SIGABA was zeroized when all the index rotors read zero in their low order digit and all the alphabet and code rotors were set to the letter O. Each rotor had a cam that caused the rotor to stop in the proper position during the zeroize process.

SIGABA's rotors were all housed in a removable frame held in place by four thumb screws. This allowed the most sensitive elements of the machine to be stored in more secure safes and to be quickly thrown overboard or otherwise destroyed if capture was threatened. It also allowed a machine to quickly switch between networks that used different rotor orders. Messages had two 5- character indicators, an exterior indicator that specified the system being used and the security classification and an interior indicator that determined the initial settings of the code and alphabet rotors. The key list included separate index rotor settings for each security classification. This prevented lower classification messages from being used as cribs to attack higher classification messages.

The Navy and Army had different procedures for the interior indicator. Both started by zeroizing the machine and having the operator select a random 5-character string for each new message. This was then encrypted to produce the interior indicator. Army key lists included an initial setting for the rotors that was used to encrypt the random string. The Navy operators used the keyboard to increment the code rotors until they matched the random character string. The alphabet rotor would move during this process and their final position was the internal indicator. In case of joint operations, the Army procedures were followed.

The key lists included a “26-30” check string. After the rotors were reordered according to the current key, the operator would zeroize the machine, encrypt 25 characters and then encrypt “AAAAA”. The ciphertext resulting from the five A's had to match the check string. The manual warned that typographical errors were possible in key lists and that a four character match should be accepted.

The manual also gave suggestions on how to generate random strings for creating indicators. These included using playing cards and poker chips, to selecting characters from cipher texts and using the SIGABA itself as a random character generator.

## Security

Although the SIGABA was extremely secure, the US continued to upgrade its capability throughout the war, for fear of the Axis cryptanalytic ability to break SIGABA's code. When the German's ENIGMA messages and Japan's Type B Cipher Machine were broken, the messages were closely scrutinized for signs that Axis forces were able to read the US cryptography codes. Axis prisoners of war (POWs) were also interrogated with the goal of finding evidence that US cryptography had been broken. However, neither the Germans nor the Japanese were making any progress in breaking the SIGABA code. A decrypted JN-A-20 message, dated 24 January 1942, sent from the naval attaché in Berlin to vice chief of Japanese Naval General Staff in Tokyo stated that "joint Jap-German cryptanalytical efforts" to be "highly satisfactory", since the "German have exhibited commendable ingenuity and recently experienced some success on English Navy systems", but are "encountering difficulty in establishing successful techniques of attack on 'enemy' code setup". In another decrypted JN-A-20 message, the Germans admitted that their progress in breaking US communications was unsatisfactory. The Japanese also admitted in their own communications that they had made no real progress against the American cipher system. In September 1944, when the Allies were advancing steadily on the Western front, the war diary of the German Signal Intelligence Group recorded: "U.S. 5-letter traffic: Work discontinued as unprofitable at this time".

SIGABA systems were closely guarded at all times, with separate safes for the system base and the code-wheel assembly, but there was one incident where a unit was lost for a time. On February 3, 1945, a truck carrying a SIGABA system in three safes was stolen while its guards were visiting a brothel in recently liberated Colmar, France. General Eisenhower ordered an extensive search, which finally discovered the safes six weeks later in a nearby river.

## Interoperability with Allied counterparts

The need for cooperation among US, British, and Canadian forces in carrying out joint military operations against Axis forces gave rise to the need for a cipher system that could be used by all Allied forces. This functionality was achieved in three different ways. Firstly, the ECM Adapter (CSP 1000), which could be retrofitted on Allied cipher machines, was produced at the Washington Naval Yard ECM Repair Shop. A total of 3,500 adapters were produced. The second method was to adapt the SIGABA for interoperation with a modified British machine, the Typex. The common machine was known as the Combined Cipher Machine (CCM), and was used from November 1943. Because of the high cost of production, only 631 CCMs were made. The third way was the most common and most cost-effective. It was the "X" Adapter manufactured by the Teletype Corporation in Chicago. A total of 4,500 of these adapters were installed at depot-level maintenance facilities.


Chris Fehn

# Chris Fehn

## Abstract

Christopher Michael Fehn (born February 24, 1973) is an American musician. He was a percussionist and backing vocalist for the heavy metal band Slipknot from 1998 to 2019, in which he was designated #3. He was also the bassist for Will Haven from 2010 to 2012.

## Career

### Slipknot

Fehn joined Slipknot in 1998, replacing percussionist Brandon Darner. As well as lending his percussion talents to the band, he has also sung backing vocals on a number of songs Slipknot has both recorded and performed live. Fehn describes himself as a "big fan of the band" and says of Slipknot, "the world needed something like this."

In an interview with Face Culture, Fehn stated that the band members gave him a hard time during his early years with the band. He described that his time during the self-titled album era was his "hazing period."

Slipknot bassist Paul Gray stated in an interview that Fehn "often brings humor to the band," and that they "definitely need that guy." Fehn would wear a Pinocchio -style mask and would frequently stroke the nose as if he was masturbating.

On March 14, 2019, Fehn filed a lawsuit against Slipknot, citing payment being held back. Fehn specifically accused Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan for what he felt was questionable business dealings.

On March 18, 2019, Fehn officially split with Slipknot following the filing of his lawsuit. However, a few days later, the message was removed from the website and according to Fehn's lawyer, the percussionist's employment status with the band had not changed since his initial filing.

Fehn was also the bassist of Will Haven from 2010 to 2012.

## Personal life

In the early years of Slipknot before their signing with Roadrunner Records, Fehn was an electrician.

Outside Slipknot, Fehn is a very keen golfer, and shown on an interview he did on the band's 2006 DVD, Voliminal: Inside the Nine, where he is interviewed at a golf course.

Fehn has two sons, born in 2012, and 2023.

Fehn has ornithophobia.

## Discography

### with Slipknot

- Slipknot (1999)

- Iowa (2001)

- Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004)

- 9.0 Live (2005)

- All Hope Is Gone (2008)

- Antennas to Hell (2012)

- .5: The Gray Chapter (2014)

- Live at MSG (2023)

### with Will Haven

- Voir Dire (2011)

### Other appearances

- Phil Campbell – Old Lions Still Roar (2019) drums on "These Old Boots"

## Filmography

- 1999: Welcome to Our Neighborhood

- 2000: Slipknot: Generation Z

- 2002: Disasterpieces

- 2002: Rollerball

- 2003: Slipknot: Up to Our Necks

- 2006: Voliminal: Inside the Nine

- 2008: Nine: The Making of "All Hope Is Gone"

- 2009: Of the (sic): Your Nightmares, Our Dreams

- 2010: (sic)nesses

- 2013: Motionless in White – America (appears in the video as the freakshow host)

- 2016: Officer Downe

- 2017: Day of the Gusano: Live in Mexico


Heliot Ramos

# Heliot Ramos

## Abstract

Heliot Lemuel Ramos Lebrón (born September 7, 1999) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Giants selected Ramos in the first round, with the 19th overall selection, of the 2017 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2022.

## Career

### Amateur career

Ramos attended Leadership Christian Academy in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He played for the Las Lomas Potros travel ball club in Puerto Rico. Ramos was the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game, a showcase of high school juniors and seniors that was held at Wrigley Field on July 23, 2016. He committed to play baseball at Florida International University, prior to signing his professional contract.

### Professional career

#### 2017–18

The San Francisco Giants selected Ramos in the first round, with the 19th overall selection, of the 2017 MLB draft. He signed for a signing bonus of $3,101,700.

Ramos began his professional career in 2017 with the Arizona League Giants of the Rookie-level Arizona League, based at the team's minor league complex in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was ranked first in the league with a.645 slugging percentage, 2nd with a.348 batting average, 8th with a.404 on-base percentage, 2nd with a 1.049 on base plus slugging percentage (OPS), and tied for 7th with six home runs in 138 at bats. Following the season, Baseball America named Ramos a 2017 Rookie-Level Classification All-Star, and he was one of only three outfielders selected among players in the four Rookie-level leagues. In the Giants' 2017 draft class, Baseball America rated Ramos as the Best Power Hitter, Best Defensive Player, and Best Athlete, and as having the Best Pro Debut. He was also named an Arizona League post-season All Star, and an MiLB.com Organization All Star. Ramos participated in the Giants' Instructional League following the 2017 season.

In 2018, Ramos played with the Augusta GreenJackets of the Single-A South Atlantic League. He hit.245/.313/.396 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs, and 8 steals in 15 attempts, in 485 at bats over 124 games. He was a 2018 Futures Game selection.

#### 2019–22

He began the 2019 season with the San Jose Giants of the High-A California League. Ramos was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game. With San Jose, he batted.306(4th in the California League)/.385(9th)/.500 in 294 at bats. In August, the Giants promoted Ramos, 19 years of age at the time, to the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Double-A Eastern League. Over 389 at bats in 102 games between the two teams, Ramos slashed.290/.369/.481 with 16 home runs and 55 RBIs, and 8 steals in 18 attempts. He was an All Star Futures Game selection. He was named a California League mid-season and post-season All Star, and an MiLB.com Organization All Star. In the Arizona Fall League he batted.185/.250/.262 in 65 at bats.

In 2021, Ramos was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game. In July 2021, Ramos was promoted to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Across 449 at bats, while 5.7 years younger than the average player in the league, Ramos hit.254/.323/.416 with 15 steals in 19 attempts. Ramos was added to the 40-man roster following the season on November 19, 2021. He was ranked # 5 in the Giants 2022 MLB Prospect Rankings.

In 2022, playing for Triple-A Sacramento, he batted.227/.305/.349 in 427 at bats, with 61 runs, 11 home runs, and 45 RBIs. He played 49 games in center field, 33 in right field, 21 in left field, and 8 at DH. The Giants promoted Ramos to the major leagues on April 10, 2022. With the Giants, he batted 2-for-20.

#### 2023

On March 10, 2023, Ramos was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento to begin the 2023 season. He made 9 appearances for the Giants before being placed on the 60-day injured list on May 19 with a right oblique strain. On July 18, he was activated and optioned to Triple–A Sacramento. In 25 games for San Francisco, Ramos batted.179/.233/.304 with one home run and two RBI.

#### 2024

Ramos was optioned to Triple–A Sacramento to begin the 2024 season. In 30 games with the River Cats, he hit.296/.388/.565 with 8 home runs, 23 runs, and 21 RBIs. The Giants promoted Ramos to the major leagues once again on May 8, 2024, when Jorge Soler was placed on the 10-day injury list.

Ramos was selected to the 2024 MLB All-Star Game for the National League as a backup. At the time of his selection, he was hitting.299/.370/.517 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs. He is the first homegrown Giants outfielder to make the All-Star game since Chili Davis in 1986.

On September 15, 2024, Ramos hit a ninth-inning, game-tying home run against Robert Suárez of the San Diego Padres, directly into McCovey Cove. This was the first "splash hit" by a right-handed batter in Oracle Park 's 25-year history. The Giants lost the game 4–3 in 10 innings.

## Personal life

Ramos is the younger brother of Héctor Ramos, a professional soccer player and the all-time top scorer of the Puerto Rican national team. He is also the younger brother of Henry Ramos, also a professional baseball outfielder, who made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.


Supporters' group

# Supporters' group

## Abstract

A supporters' group or supporters' club is an independent fan club or campaign group in sport, mostly association football.

Supporters' groups in continental Europe are generally known as ultras, which derives from the Latin word ultrā, meaning beyond in English, with the implication that their enthusiasm is 'beyond' the normal. In the Anglosphere, these groups are generally known as "supporters' groups". Most groups in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia call themselves "supporters' groups"; however, some do self-identify as ultras, particularly in communities with large Spanish, French, or Italian speaking populations. In Mexico, they are called porras, while in South America they are called either hinchada (plural of hincha, a Spanish word that was first used in Uruguay to refer to a single fan or supporter) or, exclusively in Brazil, torcida (plural of torcedor, which means 'supporter' in Portuguese) and fanaticada (plural of 'fan' in Portuguese). All of these terms are most commonly used to refer to the whole crowd of a team in the stadium and not just the groups within those crowds that lead the chants and display of choreographies and flags.

These groups in particular are barras bravas in Argentina and torcidas organizadas in Brazil (where there are also barras bravas, but are less in comparison). Both (but especially barras bravas) are organised supporters' groups that are not only focused on supporting their team and intimidating rivals, but also on antagonizing opposing fans, or defending (themselves and the rest of their club's supporters) from police repression or attacks by rival groups.

Supporters' groups and ultras are renowned for their fanatical vocal support in large groups, defiance of the authorities, and the display of banners at stadiums, which are used to create an atmosphere to intimidate opposing players and supporters, as well as cheering on their own team.

## Characteristics

Supporters' groups are usually centered around a core group (who tend to have executive control over the whole group), with smaller subgroups organised by location, friendship, or political stance. Supporters' groups tend to use various styles and sizes of banners and flags with the name and symbols of the group. Some supporters' groups sell their own merchandise such as scarves, hats, and jackets. The resulting culture is a mix of several supporting styles such as scarf-waving and chanting. A supporters' group can number from a handful of fans to hundreds, and often claim entire sections of a stadium for themselves.

According to a writer for Spiked, the four core points of the ultra mentality are:

- never stop singing or chanting during a match, no matter the result

- never sit down during a match

- attend as many games as possible (home and away), regardless of cost or distance

- loyalty to the stand in which the group is located

Supporters' groups usually have a representative who liaises with the club owners on a regular basis, mostly regarding tickets, seat allocations, and storage facilities. Some groups sell their own merchandise to raise funds for performing displays. Some clubs provide groups with cheaper tickets, storage rooms for flags, and banners and early access to the stadium before matches in order to prepare displays. These types of favoured relationships are often criticised as an abuse of power. and for displaying banners and flags, which hinder the view of those sitting behind.

### Match day

During matches of significant importance, many supporters' groups choreograph a large overhead display that is displayed just in the section of the stadium where the group is located or the entire stadium. Sometimes, small sheets of plastic or paper are held aloft to form a pattern, or to colour the stadium. Such a display is called a "mosaic" or "card display". Other materials used in certain types of displays include balloons, streamers, huge banners, flares, smoke bombs, and at times, giant dolls. Popular culture icons are often used on banners. Corporate brand logos and catchphrases are also often used. The displays, which can be expensive to make, often take months to prepare. All of the supporter-provided overhead displays, two-poles, banners, etc. are called tifo.

Supporters groups tend to be highly vocal at matches, with each group having several football chants. The melodies are mostly taken from popular songs.

### Hooliganism

Unlike hooligan firms, whose main aim is to fight fans of other clubs, the main focus of supporters' groups is to support their own team. Unlike some hooligans, who try to be inconspicuous when they travel in ways such as not wearing team colours in order to avoid detection by the police, team supporters tend to have a bolder attitude, and are more conspicuous when they travel. They proudly display their scarves and club colours while arriving en masse, which allows the police to keep a close eye on their movements. Although supporters' groups can become violent, the vast majority of matches go ahead with no violent incidents.

## By region

### Oceania

The main supporter group of the Australia national soccer team is Socceroos Active Support (SAS). SAS was founded in January 2015 as an independent group, that uses social media to organise and keep in touch. This replaced the former active support group Terrace Australis, who were founded by the FFA and fans in 2013, during Australia's 2014 World Cup qualification campaign. Its establishment came in the wake of poor off-field action and minimal community engagement. Previously, the emergence of Terrace Australis saw the Green and Gold Army relinquish its role as a hub for active support, which it had claimed since its establishment in 2001.

The main supporter group of the Australia national rugby league team is The Roo Crew.

The supporters of the New Zealand national football team are known as the 'White Noise', a play on the All Whites nickname.

The official South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter group is known as " The Burrow ". Their active supporter group is known as "Gate38" and is made up of young men who were involved in the "scumgate" scandal in 2013. The Rabbitohs also have a large supporter base in Perth, where they rival the Fremantle Dockers in supporter size.

The official New South Wales rugby league team supporter group is known as "Blatchy's Blues".

The official Queensland rugby league team supporter group is known as "Maroon Crusade".

The official Gold Coast Titans supporter group is known as "The Legion".

The official Canberra Raiders supporter group is known as "The Greenhouse".

The Brisbane Broncos have the largest fan base of any NRL club and they have been voted the most popular rugby league team in Australia for several years. A Broncos supporters' group called "The Thoroughbreds", made up of prominent businessmen, made an unsuccessful bid to purchase News Ltd's controlling share of the club in 2007.

The Bulldogs Army is the core support group for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with the section they sit within known as 'The Kennel'. To be sitting in this section, supporters must become a member of the club itself and register any large flags and/or banners which are brought to the game. At all away games the Bulldogs Army locates themselves in the general admission section. The main aim of the Bulldogs Army is to show support and passion for the Bulldogs.

As the region's traditional local representatives, the Bulldogs predominantly draw on a support base in and around the suburbs of Canterbury and Bankstown in south-western Sydney, although in recent years club administration and home matches have relocated to Sydney Olympic Park. The Bulldogs are the most supported NRL club in regional NSW – over 25% of Bulldog fans are located in regional NSW, over 25% are located outside of NSW and over 10% are located in QLD. The club has one of the highest average attendances in the league: over the 2010 season, it was one of only two clubs to record an average home crowd of more than 20,000.

The multicultural demographics of the suburbs in the club's support base, such as Lakemba, means the club has a large number of supporters from a range of non-Anglo ethnicities. In recent years the club has become particularly identified in the media with the Lebanese and the Greek community, particularly with the club's former star goalkicker Hazem El Masri, being a Lebanese immigrant who migrated from Lebanon as a young child. The Greek community has a huge history of Greeks playing for the club dating back to the 1970s with club legend George Peponis, being a Greek immigrant who migrated from Greece as a very young child who captained the Bulldogs and Australia. El Masri retired at the end of the 2009 season.

The Melbourne Storm 's supporter base grew from almost 500,000 in 2004 to almost 800,000 in 2009, making them the fourth most popular rugby team. The club's supporter group, the "Graveyard Crew", make an Aussie-rules -(AFL) style banner for the team to run through in important matches.

The Sydney Roosters have a strong support base across Australia. Aside from its traditional fan base in Sydney, which is most concentrated in its homeland in the affluent eastern suburbs, the club is also popular in South East Queensland, Canberra and Newcastle. The club has an internet message board for supporters, "The Wall", which has been the official forum since 1999. The club has announced that "The Wall" will be closing as of late January 2012. "The Chookpen" is an unofficial site.

In 2013 the club tallied the fourth-highest home attendance of all National Rugby League clubs (behind the Brisbane Broncos) with an average of 19,368 spectators at the Sydney Football Stadium.

At the club's home ground, the Sydney Football Stadium, the supporters congregate in distinct sections. The "Chook Pen", a designated area in Bay 35, is the preferred location for the most animated fans. Members of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust are seated in the Members' Stand on the western side of the ground, and season ticket holders are located just beneath the Members' area, in Bays 12–14.

In 2014, the Roosters had nearly 17,000 paying members, in addition to the 45,550 members of the Roosters' Leagues Club, which is the major benefactor of the football club. The Easts Leagues Club and the Sydney Roosters "operate as one entity" known as the Easts Group. Under this arrangement, the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club is the 'parent company' of the Easts Group. The Football Club delegates, however, overarching responsibility for both football and leagues club operations to a single general manager who oversees the whole group's performance. The leagues club group provides financial support to the football club, only where necessary, as in recent years the football club's sponsorships and TV revenues are generally covering most Rugby League expenditures.

Port Adelaide Football Club has many supporter groups, with every state or territory containing at least one supporter group. In addition, many country towns within South Australia have their own supporter group, many of which travel to both home and away games.

- Port Adelaide Cheer Squad

- Outer Army

- Alberton Crowd

- Interstate Groups

There are also a number of English supporters' groups located in Australia for premiership teams and championship teams. The Hornets Down Under are an example of a championship supporters' group.

### East Asia

In Japan, supporters' sections are known as oendan and are prominent at baseball games and football matches.

The supporters' group for the South Korea national football team is Bulgeun Angma (lit. 'Red Devils').

### South Asia

The India national football team has a supporters' group called the Blue Pilgrims. They were formed with a motive to support the national team and the U-17 team during the 2017 U17 World Cup held in India.

Mariners' Base Camp and East Bengal Ultras are the ultras fan group of Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal FC respectively, two of the oldest football clubs in Asia. Derbies of the two clubs called as Kolkata Derby often witness record breaking spectator, one such moment was during 1997 Kolkata Derby in the Federation Cup Semi-final, where a recorded crowd of 131,781 turned up for the match while the official capacity of the stadium was 120,000. Fans of the clubs formed in the early 2010's also created ultras fan group, like Manjappada, which supports Kerala Blasters FC, West Block Blues, which supports Bengaluru FC and some more.

|+Active supporters' groups in Bangladesh!scope="col"|Club!scope="col"|Name|-| rowspan="2" | Bashundhara Kings | Bashundhara Kings Ultras

### South America

In South America, barras bravas are the main supporter' groups. Similar to hooligan firms and ultras, the phenomenon originated in Argentina in the 1950s, but it has spread throughout most of the region during the following decades. This gang-like groups coordinate chants (which accompany playing bass drums and, less, trumpets) and display choreographies (like throw balloons, confetti, smoke bombs and firecrackers when their team goes out to the pitch; and wave banners, flags and umbrellas during the whole matches) to encourage their teams and intimidate rivals and referees, seek fights against opposing barras bravas and repel police repression.

They wield enormous power and influence over football in their respective states, especially in Argentina, which is home to some of the largest and strongest organised supporter groups worldwide.

The exception is Brazil, where the clubs have active supporter' groups named torcidas organizadas, who play a similar role to the barras bravas. However, the southern part of Brazil, in the south part of Santa Catarina and in all Rio Grande do Sul, contrary to the rest of the country, the supporter groups are barras bravas.

### Continental Europe

In Europe, there are primarily three types of groups: official supporter groups, ultras, and hooligan firms.

Official supporter groups primary function is to liaise with the club board and protects supporter interest as well as have a say in the running of the clubs, and they usually represent all types of supporters of all ages ranging from fanatical supporters, to disabled supporters, to supporters who rarely frequent games, however they are still an independent body. The oldest of which is Torcida founded in 1950 as supporters of Hajduk Split from Croatia.

Ultras groups are independent of the club; however, they too are frequently supported by the club as they cater to the majority of the most vocal and committed supporters, producing atmosphere and encouraging the players. However, frequent tensions also arise, due to often vocal and pro-active criticism of management or players and the illegality of some their actions, such as graffiti and lighting pyrotechnics during matches. Many ultras groups, to maintain their independence and raise money, run their own shops selling supporter merchandise, most commonly clothing such as supporter scarves, and sometimes in collaboration with the club match tickets.

Hooligan firms are largely restricted to a secretive sub-culture, due to the illegal nature of their activity. As they mostly socialise with other hooligans, they therefore have little contact with other sets of supporters.

In the past, the distinction between ultras and hooligans was blurred, with the majority being considered both. Due to the increase in condemnation and punishment of hooligan activity, the divide has become increasingly visible, however for some groups, especially groups who support smaller teams and therefore have less members, this divide is still very much blurred; some groups have started using the label hooltras.

### Britain and Ireland

Most supporters' groups are not only officially endorsed by the affiliated club, but also recognised on the club's website and hold regular meetings at the stadium.

In England and Wales, nearly all official supporter groups are affiliated with the Football Supporters' Federation. Also In England and Wales only, Supporters Direct are an umbrella organization promoting fan-ownership. For example. Leeds United has a number of supporters groups representing people with protected characteristics which include Punjabi Whites. LGBT fan group inclusion in Leeds United.

There are also numerous hooligan firms in Britain, also known as casuals in itself a style of support and sub-culture, stemming largely from the fact that Britain is the birthplace of the phenomenon of football hooliganism.

In the Republic of Ireland the supporters embrace a mixture of both ultra and casual styles.

### North America

The major supporters' group for the United States men's and women's national teams is The American Outlaws. The major supporters' group in Canada is The Voyageurs.

There are independent supporters' groups for teams in Major League Soccer (MLS), which operates in the United States and Canada, and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as for many teams of the lower divisions of the United States soccer pyramid. Many of these groups are members of the Independent Supporters Council. MLS holds an annual "Supporters' Summit" to meet with the leadership of most of its supporter groups to discuss issues including security, self-policing, supporter group managed sections, and strategies for league success. Many teams in other leagues, including the National Premier Soccer League, USL Pro, USL Premier Development League, and North American Soccer League (2010) have associated supporters' groups. Supporters' groups can be found for some NCAA soccer programs such as Legion 1818 at Saint Louis University, Englemann Elite at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, or the Red Cedar Rowdies, influenced by Detroit City FC's Northern Guard Supporters, at Michigan State University. In Canada, there are supporters' groups for all Canadian Premier League teams. There are also supporters' groups in cities hoping to get a CanPL team in the future.

Major League Baseball supporters' groups include Dodgers ' Pantone 294 group and Oakland Athletics ' Section 149.

NFL supporters' groups include the Raiders ' Black Hole, Pittsburgh Steelers ' Steel City Mafia, Arizona Cardinals ' Bird Gang, and the New Orleans Saints Big Easy Mafia, which includes international chapters. The Dallas Cowboys, who bill themselves as "America's Team", and other successful teams such as New England Patriots, have supporters' groups around the U.S., and Jacksonville Jaguars ' Bold City Brigade includes a UK chapter as part of its bid to promote Jaguars as London's "home team".

NHL supporters' groups include the New York Islanders ' Blue and Orange Army est2009. The Blue and Orange Army aka BOA, was officially formed in 2009, and is the first true supporters section in the NHL.

In Mexico there are porras, that are older and are not violent like the first ones. Some association football clubs in Mexico also have animation groups, which stage tifo and other choreographed displays. A brawl between groups at Querétaro - Atlas match in 2022 injured 20 fans and resulted in Liga MX banning animation groups from organizing in opponents' stadiums.


The Divide (2015 film)

# The Divide (2015 film)

## Abstract

The Divide is a 2015 documentary film directed by British filmmaker Katharine Round. It was produced by Katharine Round and Christopher Hird. It is an adaptation of the acclaimed 2009 socio-economic book The Spirit Level by Richard G. Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. The book argues that there are "pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, (and) encouraging excessive consumption".

Originally titled The Spirit Level, The film ran a successful crowdfunding campaign through IndieGoGo, raising £70,000, £20,000 more than expected. The film was completed in 2015 and previewed that same year. It was released theatrically in the UK in April 2016. A US release is set to follow later in 2016. It was launched on Netflix on October 3, 2016 with streaming capabilities for US and UK territories only.

The film has appeared at several major film festivals including: Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 2015), Open City Film Festival in London (June 2015) where it was nominated for Best UK Film, Cork Film Festival (November 2015), and ZagrebDox Film Festival (February 2016).

## Synopsis

As many Western countries have become richer, they've seemingly become unhappier; with fearful communities, health problems and violent deaths becoming more common not less. The Divide weaves together seven stories to paint a picture of how economic division creates social division. The film depicts the startling truth of struggling to make ends meet in America. Together, it ties the mentality that developed countries have become based around consumerism, materialism and the idea of happiness that these objects and actions should be in your life, despite that they seem to be perpetuating the individuals struggle. The Divide also showed that inequality can come from the people; how they view your "image", status, and neighborhood in which it can displayed either wealth or poverty.

## Cast


Nigel Ng

# Nigel Ng

## Abstract

Nigel Ng (/ ʌ ŋ / UNG; born 15 March 1991) is a Malaysian comedian and YouTube-personality. He is best known for co-creating (alongside Evelyn Mok) and portraying Uncle Roger, a character representing a middle-aged Asian uncle with an exaggerated Cantonese accent who is often seen critiquing people's attempts at cooking Asian food.

## Early life

Nigel Ng was born in Kuala Lumpur on 15 March 1991, the son of Chinese-Malaysian parents who also have Hokkien ancestry. His mother is a homemaker, while his father is a car salesman. He has a sister and a brother. After graduating from Chong Hwa Independent High School in 2009, he moved to the U.S. to study at Northwestern University. He majored in engineering and minored in philosophy, graduating in 2014.

## Career

### Early work

Ng previously worked as a data scientist at Monzo and maintained a GitHub account. Inspired to pursue a comedy career in part by the work of Hong Kong comedy actor Stephen Chow, he made his TV debut in 2018 on Comedy Central 's Stand Up Central. He hosted the comedy podcasts Rice to Meet You with UK-based Swedish comedian Evelyn Mok. and HAIYAA with Nigel Ng with his producer Matt. On 2 January 2021, he uploaded his first video on the Chinese video sharing website Bilibili. In 2021, he appeared on the 19th season premiere episode of the British comedy show Mock the Week.

### Uncle Roger

Ng is best known for his comedic alter ego Uncle Roger, representing a middle-aged Asian uncle who speaks with a pronounced and exaggerated Cantonese accent and prides himself on various East and Southeast Asian stereotypes. His podcast partner Evelyn Mok came up with the middle-aged Asian uncle character for a sitcom with Ng in mind, and Ng further developed the character on TikTok and Instagram sketches before moving the character onto YouTube.

In July 2020, Ng attracted attention for an Uncle Roger video critiquing Hersha Patel's BBC Food video on cooking egg-fried rice. After the video went viral, Ng and Patel appeared on BBC Food together and collaborated on a YouTube video. In August, he spent a day working in Elizabeth Haigh 's restaurant, Mei Mei. The following month, he posted a critique video with regards to Gordon Ramsay 's fried rice and praised Ramsay for having correct technique. He has released numerous videos critiquing Jamie Oliver 's versions of popular Asian dishes like egg fried rice, Thai green curry, and ramen.

Ng was a special guest on second season of MasterChef Singapore in 2021, and a guest judge on the third season of Junior MasterChef Indonesia in 2022. That same year, he was a guest diner on the 21st season of Hell's Kitchen.

On 22 May 2023, it was reported that Ng's Chinese social media accounts (Bilibili and Weibo) had been closed down in response to perceived criticism of China's government in his stand-up comedy special for the phrase "this Nephew using Huawei phone, they all listening", implying that the Chinese government eavesdrops on civilian phone calls.

On 11 September 2024, Nigel opened his first restaurant “Fuiyoh! It’s Uncle Roger” at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. He mentioned that he had plans to expand in Asia and then further into Western countries e.g. Australia, UK and US.

## Reception

### Positive

Ng won the Amused Moose Laugh-Off 2016 and was runner-up in the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2015. He was also a finalist in the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year (2016) and Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year (2015). He was nominated for the "Best Newcomer Award" for his stand-up comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019.

### Negative

The accent Ng uses for the Uncle Roger character has received criticism for perpetuating negative stereotypes about Asians. Chef J. Kenji López-Alt (who is of Japanese descent) said, "I don't like that schtick seems to give a free pass to people to imitate stereotypical Asian speech patterns and pronunciation, especially as it's almost always non-Asians doing the imitating. It's ugly, it's yellowface, it's not funny, and it promotes anti-Asian racism at a time when Asians are already being heavily discriminated against." In response, Ng has said that it highlights the difference in the perception of Asian stereotypes between Asians living in Asia and Asian-Americans. His critique video of Patel's egg-fried rice has been described as making the viewers "fall for every cultural 'trap' his character sets", overlooking the differences of rice cooking methods in Indian cuisine, and turning East and Southeast Asians into "rice-cooking supremacists" with his "faux encouragement".

On 12 January 2021, Ng apologized on the Chinese social media platform Weibo and deleted a video featuring fellow YouTuber Mike Chen, who had been critical of the Chinese Communist Party and had also been associated with the ultra-conservative movement Falun Gong. He stated, "This video has made a bad social impact... I wasn't aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China. I hope you can give Uncle Roger, who has just entered China, a chance to improve!" His response attracted criticism on Twitter. In his first subsequent video as Uncle Roger, he said he would "keep making funny videos no politics, no drama".

On 30 July 2023, Ng stated in an Uncle Roger video, "Not all Southeast Asia has good food. You don't want food from Laos and Cambodia." He also jokingly called Laotian food an inferior version of Thai food, causing criticism and backlash from both Laotian and Cambodian communities. In a response video to Laotian chef Ae Southammavong challenging him to try Laotian food she had cooked, Ng accepted the challenge and explained his comments by saying, "All the Laos food I had so far... not my favourite. Asian people criticizing other Asian people is just a way of life." Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism issued a statement condemning Ng's remarks as damaging to the image of its cuisine and demanding an apology. The Embassy of Malaysia in Phnom Penh distanced Malaysia from Ng's remarks, saying that "hey do not in any way reflect our view".

Ng has stated that he does not want any of his viewers to spread hate towards anyone.

## Personal life

Ng lived in the Hammersmith district of London. In 2020, he discussed being the victim of an anti-Asian assault while living there.


The Do-Deca-Pentathlon

# The Do-Deca-Pentathlon

## Abstract

The Do-Deca-Pentathlon is a 2012 independent comedy film written and directed by brothers Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. The film stars Mark Kelly, Steve Zissis, Jennifer Lafleur, and Julie Vorus. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 11, 2012. It was released on June 26, 2012, through video on demand, prior to being released in a limited release on July 6, 2012, by Fox Searchlight and Red Flag Releasing.

## Plot

The film is about two brothers in their mid-30s (played by Mark Kelly and Steve Zissis) whose lifelong rivalry compels them to secretly complete an athletic competition that they came up with in high school but left unfinished.

## Cast

- Mark Kelly as Jeremy

- Steve Zissis as Mark Brendan Robinson as Young Mark

- Brendan Robinson as Young Mark

- Jennifer Lafleur as Stephanie

- Julie Vorus as Alice

## Production

Production on the film commenced in 2008, in New Orleans.

## Release

The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 11, 2012. It went on to premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival on April 26, 2012. Shortly after, it was announced that Fox Searchlight Pictures, and Red Flag Releasing had acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released through video on demand on June 26, 2012, before a limited release on July 6, 2012.

## Critical response

As of November 2022, the film holds a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 41 reviews with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Slight but satisfying, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon wrings fresh laughs from tired man-child comedy tropes." Critic Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it the Duplass brothers' second-best film, after their debut, The Puffy Chair.