IN: Field Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts  (24 May 1870 - 11 September 1950) was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 until 1924 and from 1939 until 1948. Although Smuts had originally advocated racial segregation and opposed the enfranchisement of black Africans, his views changed and he backed the Fagan Commission's findings that complete segregation was impossible. Smuts subsequently lost the 1948 election to hard-line Afrikaners who created apartheid.

The Union of South Africa was born, and the Afrikaners held the key to political power, as the majority of the electorate. Although Botha was appointed prime minister of the new country, Smuts was given three key ministries: Interior, Mines, and Defence. Undeniably, Smuts was the second most powerful man in South Africa. To solidify their dominance of South African politics, the Afrikaners united to form the South African Party, a new pan-South African Afrikaner party.  The harmony and cooperation soon ended. Smuts was criticised for his overarching powers, and the cabinet was reshuffled. Smuts lost Interior and Mines, but gained control of Finance. This was still too much for Smuts' opponents, who decried his possession of both Defence and Finance: two departments that were usually at loggerheads. At the 1913 South African Party conference, the Old Boers (Hertzog, Steyn, De Wet), called for Botha and Smuts to step down. The two narrowly survived a confidence vote, and the troublesome triumvirate stormed out, leaving the party for good.  With the schism in internal party politics came a new threat to the mines that brought South Africa its wealth. A small-scale miners' dispute flared into a full-blown strike, and rioting broke out in Johannesburg after Smuts intervened heavy-handedly. After police shot dead twenty-one strikers, Smuts and Botha headed unaccompanied to Johannesburg to resolve the situation personally. Facing down threats to their own lives, they negotiated a cease-fire. But the cease-fire did not hold, and in 1914, a railway strike turned into a general strike. Threats of a revolution caused Smuts to declare martial law. Smuts acted ruthlessly, deporting union leaders without trial and using Parliament to absolve him and the government of any blame retroactively. This was too much for the Old Boers, who set up their own National Party to fight the all-powerful Botha-Smuts partnership.

What year did he try to gain control over France?

OUT: 


IN: John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Arizona since 1987. He was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama. McCain graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958 and followed his father and grandfather--both four-star admirals--into the United States Navy. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers.

Various advocacy groups have given McCain scores or grades as to how well his votes align with the positions of each group. The American Conservative Union has awarded McCain a lifetime rating of 82 percent through 2015, while McCain has an average lifetime 12 percent "Liberal Quotient" from Americans for Democratic Action through 2015. CrowdPac, which rates politicians based on donations made and received, has given Senator McCain a score of 4.3C with 10C being the most conservative and 10L being the most liberal.  The non-partisan National Journal rates a Senator's votes by what percentage of the Senate voted more liberally than he or she, and what percentage more conservatively, in three policy areas: economic, social, and foreign. For 2005-2006 (as reported in the 2008 Almanac of American Politics), McCain's average ratings were as follows: economic policy: 59 percent conservative and 41 percent liberal; social policy: 54 percent conservative and 38 percent liberal; and foreign policy: 56 percent conservative and 43 percent liberal. In 2012, the National Journal gave McCain a composite score of 73% conservative and 27% liberal, while in 2013 he received a composite score of 60% conservative and 40% liberal.  Columnists such as Robert Robb and Matthew Continetti have used a formulation devised by William F. Buckley Jr. to describe McCain as "conservative" but not "a conservative", meaning that while McCain usually tends towards conservative positions, he is not "anchored by the philosophical tenets of modern American conservatism." Following his 2008 presidential election loss, McCain began adopting more orthodox conservative views; the magazine National Journal rated McCain along with seven of his colleagues as the "most conservative" Senators for 2010 and he achieved his first 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union for that year. During Barack Obama's presidency, McCain was one of the top five Republicans most likely to vote with Obama's position on significant votes; McCain voted with Obama's position on such votes more than half the time in 2013 and was "censured by the Arizona Republican party for a so-called 'liberal' voting record."  From the late 1990s until 2008, McCain was a board member of Project Vote Smart which was set up by Richard Kimball, his 1986 Senate opponent. The project provides non-partisan information about the political positions of McCain and other candidates for political office. Additionally, McCain uses his Senate website to describe his political positions.

Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

OUT: The American Conservative Union has awarded McCain a lifetime rating of 82 percent through 2015,


IN: Rex Ryan and his fraternal twin, Rob, were born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on December 13, 1962, to Doris and Buddy Ryan. When the boys were aged two, their parents amicably divorced. Following the divorce, their mother attended the University of Chicago to earn her doctorate. Rex, Rob, and their older brother Jim moved with her to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where she secured an administrative position at the University of Toronto.

The Bills opened the 2015 season with a 27-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Frustrated by the Bills leading the NFL in penalties heading into their Week 5 game against the Tennessee Titans, Ryan gave the entire team wristbands with the message "Yes sir". These were the only words he wanted his players to use with officials if they were flagged. After being flagged 17 times in Week 4 loss against the New York Giants, the Bills were penalized only seven times in their 14-13 victory over the Titans. The Bills entered their bye week with a 3-4 record after losing in London to the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Ryan gave the whole team the week off during the bye, and he himself found a secluded beach to "get away and focus". The Bills came out of their bye week and defeated the Miami Dolphins by a score of 3-17, improving their season record to 4-4. Ryan is now 2-5 all time following a bye week. Ryan returned to MetLife Stadium in Week 10 for a much anticipated Thursday Night Football game against the Jets. The Bills won the game by a score of 22-17, and improved to 5-4 on the season. Ryan faced questions before and after the game about his decision to name IK Enemkpali, who had been released by the Jets in preseason after breaking quarterback Geno Smith's jaw in an altercation, as Buffalo's captain for the game.  The Bills were unable to make the playoffs in their first season with Ryan as coach, as they were eliminated in Week 15 with a 35-25 loss to the Washington Redskins on December 20, extending their drought to 16 seasons, the NFL's longest active drought. They finished the season with an 8-8 record.

was there anything else of significance of note

OUT:
Ryan gave the whole team the week off during the bye, and he himself found a secluded beach to "get away and focus".