Irish Land Commission

The Irish Land Commission (or simply Land Commission) was created in 1881 as a rent fixing commission by the Land Law (Ireland) Act 1881, also known as the second Irish Land Act. For a century it was the body responsible for re-distributing farmland in Ireland.

UK Land Acts

With the Ashbourne Act 1885 the commission developed into a tenant-purchasing commission and assisted in the agreed transfer of freehold farmland from landlord to tenant. This was a response to the turbulent Land War that had started in 1879. It was rapidly enacted by the government of Lord Salisbury, was funded initially with £5,000,000, and was designed to avert support for the Irish Parliamentary Party, given the larger number of voters allowed by the Reform Act 1884, before the IPP entered its alliance with William Ewart Gladstone in 1886.

The Commission eventually transferred 13.5 million acres (55,000 km²) by 1920. Following the Land Conference of December 1902 arranged by George Wyndham (a conservative minister and Chief Secretary for Ireland, but also descended from Lord Edward FitzGerald), the revolutionary Wyndham Land (Purchase) Act 1903 was orchestrated through parliament by William O'Brien MP, which provided government finance to buy out freeholds, with the former tenant farmers paying back the capital over 68 years. This was managed by the Land Commission, along with ancillary work such as compiling statistics. Valuations were reckoned on a "years purchase" (Y.P.) basis, the price being a multiple of (perhaps 16 times) the annual rent, instead of the discounted cash flow method used today. The Commission had to supervise the haggling process and find the fairest multiple for every transfer. The loans issued by government were resold in the capital markets as "Land Bonds".

Kenya

Coordinates: 1°N 38°E / 1°N 38°E / 1; 38

Kenya (/ˈkɛnjə/; locally [ˈkɛɲa]), officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community (EAC). Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. Kenya's territory lies on the equator and overlies the East African Rift covering a diverse and expansive terrain that extends roughly from Lake Victoria to Lake Turkana (formerly called Lake Rudolf) and further south-east to the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km² (224,445 sq mi), and had a population of approximately 45 million people in July 2014.

Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the savannah grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya, which has snow permanently on its peaks. Further inland, in the Nyanza region, there is a hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested hilly areas in the neighboring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes. Kenya is known for its safaris, diverse climate and geography, and expansive wildlife reserves and national parks such as the East and West Tsavo National Park, the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Aberdares National Park. Kenya has several world heritage sites such as Lamu and numerous beaches, including in Diani, Bamburi and Kilifi, where international yachting competitions are held every year.

Kenya (Commonwealth realm)

The Commonwealth realm of Kenya, officially known as "Kenya", was a predecessor to the modern-day Republic of Kenya. It existed between 12 December 1963 and 12 December 1964.

When British rule ended in 1963, the Kenya Colony was given independence as a Commonwealth realm in which form the state existed until the proclamation of the Republic of Kenya came into existence on 12 December 1964. During this time, the British monarch (Elizabeth II) remained head of state. Kenya shared the Sovereign with the other Commonwealth realms. The monarch's constitutional roles were mostly delegated to the Governor-General of Kenya:

The royal succession was governed by the English Act of Settlement of 1701.

Jomo Kenyatta held office as prime minister (and head of government). Despite being head of state of Kenya throughout this period; Queen Elizabeth II never visited Kenya in her capacity as 'Queen of Kenya', though she did visit:

Jonti Picking

Jonathan "Jonti" Picking (born 17 May 1975), otherwise known as Weebl or Mr. Weebl, is a British Internet personality and flash animator and is the creator of Weebl's Stuff.

His movies are known for repetitive melodies and surreal dialogue; The majority feature a catchy tune with silly lyrics, which is paired with a looping flash animation. He does most of the voices in his animations himself, and several feature himself in live action, including "Haricots Verts", "Chutney", "Boogie", "CAMRA", "Stockmarket", "We Are Mature", "Tangerine" the Weebl and Bob episodes "DJ" and "Safety", the fourth On The Moon episode, and "Jazzmas". He has also worked with other animators on YouTube, such as Edd Gould in the video "Nuts [Weebl]".

Picking is a trained sound engineer and artist, and has also worked on 3D visual effects for the movie Resident Evil. In 2003, he made several advertisements for Anchor Butter in the style of his Weebl and Bob animations, but featuring cows. These were broadcast in the UK. The television program Totally Viral on UKTV G2, consisting of video clips and cartoons from the internet, has an animated title sequence and links made by Jonti. Jonti set up his own production company called Sumo Dojo, which he has since left to set up Weebl's Stuff Limited, also known as Weebl Ltd. Picking married Sarah Darling (a radio presenter on the station Xfm) on 31 March 2007. On 23 December 2008, Picking announced his wife's pregnancy on the official Weebl's Stuff forums. On 13 July 2009, Picking's wife gave birth to a baby girl.