Look up order in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Order may refer to:

Sequencing[link]

• An arrangement of items in sequence
• The result of enumeration of a set of items
• Collation, the sequencing and ordering of text
  • Alphabetical order
• Order of precedence
• A mathematical structure modeling sequenced items, dealt with in order theory

Philosophy[link]

• Natural order (philosophy)
• Implicate and explicate order according to David Bohm

Science and mathematics[link]

• Order (mathematics), various meanings
• Order (biology), a rank between class and family, or a taxon at that rank
• Order (optics), the category number of lighthouse Fresnel lenses, defining size and focal length
• Order and disorder (physics), measured by an order parameter or more generally by entropy
• Ordered system or universe, the cosmos, antithetical concept of chaos
• Order of hierarchical complexity, quantified by the Model of Hierarchical Complexity, the ordinal complexity of tasks that are addressed
• Order of reaction, a concept of chemical kinetics
• Social order in sociology, history and other social sciences, referring to the conduct of society
  • World order (disambiguation), including the concept of a world government
• Topological order in quantum mechanics, an organized quantum state

Computer science[link]

• Order of computation, the computational complexity of an algorithm
• Canonical order (disambiguation), the order of elements that obeys a certain set of rules or specifications
• Z-order, which graphics cover up others on computer screens

Electronics and telecommunications[link]

• First-order hold in signal processing
• Modulation order, the number of different symbols that can be sent using a given modulation
• The polynomial order of a Filter (signal processing) transfer function

Economics and commerce[link]

• Order (business), an instruction from a customer to buy
• Order (exchange), customer's instruction to a stock broker
• Money order
• Work order

Legal, political, and military[link]

• Court order, made by a judge, e.g. a restraining order
• Executive order (disambiguation), issued by the executive branch of government
• General order, a published directive from a commander
  • Standing order (disambiguation), a general order of indefinite duration, and similar ongoing rules in a parliament
• Law and order (politics)
• Military command
• Tactical formation, an arrangement or deployment of moving military forces

Architecture and urban planning[link]

• Architectonic orders: see classical order
• Public order, a concept in urban planning

Honors[link]

• Order (honour), medal or award

Religious, chivalric, fraternal, and ideological[link]

• The Order (group), an underground American neo-Nazi organization active in 1983 and 1984
• Chivalric order, established since the 14th century
• Fraternal order
• Religious order
• Monastic order, established circa 300 AD
• Military order, established in the crusades
• Tariqa or Sufi Order
• Holy Orders, the rite or sacrament in which clergy are ordained
• Order of Mass, the set of texts of the Roman Catholic Church Latin Rite Mass that are generally invariable

Media and entertainment[link]

• Order (album), 2009 album by German band Maroon
• Orders (film), a 1974 film by Canadian filmmaker, Michel Brault

See also[link]

• Collation (disambiguation)
• Coordination (disambiguation)
• Ordinal (disambiguation)
• Ordinate in mathematics, the y element of an ordered pair (x, y)
• Ordination, process by which individuals are consecrated
• Subordinate

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Billy Mays
Mays at Flatiron District in June 2009, a few weeks before his death
Born	William Darrell Mays, Jr. (1958-07-20)July 20, 1958[1] McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	June 28, 2009(2009-06-28) (aged 50) Tampa, Florida, United States
Other names	Billy Mays, King of the Pitch
Occupation	Television direct-response advertisement salesman
Years active	1993–2009
Home town	McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Spouse	Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays[2] Deborah Mays[2]
Children	Billy Mays III Elizabeth Mays
Parents	Billy Mays, Sr. Joyce Palm

William Darrell "Billy" Mays, Jr. (July 20, 1958 – June 28, 2009)^[3] was an American television direct-response advertisement salesperson most notable for promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products on the Home Shopping Network, and through his company, Mays Promotions, Inc. He and his business partner, Anthony Sullivan, were also featured on PitchMen, a TV series that documented their work. His distinctive beard and impassioned sales pitches made him a recognized television presence in the United States and Canada.^[4][5] Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida, home on the morning of June 28, 2009.^[6] He was pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight.^[3][7]

Early life[link]

Mays was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, attended Sto-Rox High School, and was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[1][8] He later attended West Virginia University, where he was a walk-on linebacker on its football team during his two years there.^[9] After dropping out, he worked for his father's hazardous waste company before moving to Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1983.^[1]

Career[link]

On the Atlantic City boardwalk Mays sold the Washmatik portable washing device to passersby,^[10] along with other "As Seen on TV" products.^[1] In Atlantic City, he was taught how to sell by the older salesmen, saying "I was taught to pitch by a lot of old pitchmen. That's the kind of style I have."^[1] Mays then traveled to home shows, auto shows, and state fairs across the United States for a period of twelve years, selling various maintenance products and tools, including cleaning products and food choppers.^[10]

At a Pittsburgh home show in 1993, Mays struck up a friendship with rival salesman Max Appel, founder of Orange Glo International, a Denver-based manufacturer of cleaning products. He was then hired by the company to promote their line of cleaners, OxiClean, Orange Clean, Orange Glo, and Kaboom, on the Home Shopping Network in St. Petersburg, Florida.^[11] Customer response to Mays's sales pitches was enthusiastic, with a sharp increase in sales after his first day on the network, although some reviews were poor. He was very well known for shouting in an abrasive manner during infomercials. For example, Washington Post staff writer Frank Ahrens called him and other similar television salesmen "a full-volume pitchman, amped up like a candidate for a tranquilizer-gun takedown".^[12]

Mays was the CEO and founder of Mays Promotions, Inc., based at his home in Odessa, Florida.^[4] His services as a pitchman became highly sought-after, and he appeared in commercials for many diverse "as seen on TV" products such as Mighty Putty. Mays claimed to be an avid user of the products he promoted.^[13] In December 2008, Mays began appearing in ads for ESPN's online service, ESPN360.^[14] These ads were a slight departure for Mays as they were designed to be parodies of his and other infomercial cliches with Mays appearing to be doing a parody of himself. He also made a live appearance during the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl promoting ESPN's and ABC's January 1, 2009, bowl games.

On April 15, 2009, the Discovery Channel began airing PitchMen, a documentary series that featured Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their jobs in direct-response marketing.^[15] After Mays's death, Discovery Channel aired a special Billy Mays tribute episode of PitchMen called "Pitchman: A Tribute to Billy Mays".

On March 27, 2009, Mays appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He and Sullivan also appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on June 23, 2009.^[16]

Prior to his death, Mays had signed a deal with Taco Bell to film infomercial-style commercials for the chain. Shooting was scheduled to begin in August 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Mays's first marriage to Dolores "Dee Dee" Mays ended in divorce.^[17] He had a son with Dolores named Billy Mays III, who was 22 years old at the time of Mays's death and who worked as a production assistant alongside his father on the PitchMen television show.^[18] Mays had a daughter, Elizabeth, with his second wife, Deborah Mays. His daughter was three years old at the time of his death.^[17][19] Mays's mother is Joyce Palm,^[18] and his father is Billy Mays, Sr.; they both outlived him.

In an interview during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Mays revealed himself to be a Republican.^[20]

Death[link]

Wikinews has related news: American pitchman Billy Mays dies at age 50

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida, home on the morning of June 28, 2009.^[6] He was pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight.^[3][7] The Associated Press reported that there were no indications that the house had been broken into, and that police did not suspect foul play.^[7] Initially, there was wrong speculation that he had a head injury after he was struck on the head by luggage after an airline landing mishap where tires blew out.^[21]

After an initial autopsy on Mays's body on June 29, Dr. Vernard Adams, the Hillsborough County, Florida medical examiner, stated that Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease and that heart disease was the likely cause of his death. According to a toxicology report released August 7, 2009, heart disease was the "primary cause of death" and cocaine was listed as a "contributory cause of death."^[22][23] In response to the release of the toxicology report, the Mays family issued a press release stating, "We are extremely disappointed by the press release released by the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office. We believe it contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension..." and said in the release that they were considering "an independent evaluation of the autopsy results".^[24]

The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release. The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays's cocaine use. Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said. However, in October 2009, the results of a second medical examination, commissioned by Mays' family, concluded that "cocaine was not a significant contributing factor" to his death.^[25]

Longtime friend and colleague A.J. Khubani, founder and CEO of the "As Seen on TV" product company Telebrands, said Mays never exhibited any signs of drug use and was always prepared for his many commercial shoots. "I'm just shocked," Khubani said. "He was the model of a responsible citizen."

According to subsequent news reports^[26] the toxicology tests also showed levels of painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone and tramadol, as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepam. Mays had suffered hip problems and was scheduled for hip replacement surgery the day after he was found dead.

Mays's funeral was held on July 3, 2009 in his hometown of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. The pallbearers for the funeral wore blue shirts and khaki pants at the funeral, much like Mays wore when he advertised his products.^[27]

Fictional representation[link]

In the South Park episode "Dead Celebrities", Mays's ghost appears repeatedly to Ike Broflovski, trying to sell him products from the afterlife with his catchphrase "Hi, Billy Mays here with the...". Mays's son, Billy Mays III, a self-proclaimed South Park fan, said he loved "Dead Celebrities", and found its portrayal of his father to be both tasteful and respectful.^[28]

Notable products pitched[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Billy Mays at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Twitter page
• Billy Mays at Find a Grave

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

Robert Jay Mathews (January 16, 1953 – December 8, 1984) was the leader of The Order, an American white nationalist militant group.

Mathews burned to death during an intense gunfight with approximately seventy-five federal law enforcement agents who surrounded his house on Whidbey Island, near Freeland, Washington.^[1]

Mathews' life was fictionalized in the 1999 television film Brotherhood of Murder.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Robert Mathews was born in Marfa, Texas, January 16, 1953, the youngest of three boys born to Johnny and Una Mathews. His father, of Scottish descent, was mayor of the town, and the Chamber of Commerce's President, as well as a businessman and leader for the local Methodist church. His mother was the town's den mother.

The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Though he was an average student in grade school, history and politics interested him. At age eleven, he joined the John Birch Society. Matthews was baptized into the Mormon faith as a high schooler.

He formed the "Sons of Liberty," an anti-communist militia mostly made up of Mormon survivalists. At its peak, it had approximately thirty members. After filling out his employer's W-4 Form claiming ten dependents (reportedly as an act of tax resistance), he was arrested for tax fraud, tried, and placed on probation for six months. After a falling out between the Mormon and non-Mormon members, the Sons of Liberty became moribund and Mathews withdrew.

After the probation ended in 1974, he decided to move to Metaline Falls, Washington. Mathews and his father purchased sixty wooded acres for their new home.

Mathews and Debbie McGarrity were married in 1976. He raised Scottish Galloway cattle. The couple adopted a son in 1981. Mathews later had a daughter with a woman named Zillah Craig.

The Order[link]

Mathews read history and politics. William Gayley Simpson's book Which Way Western Man? profoundly affected him. Mathews believed that the White race was in danger, and in 1982 he made an effort to attract White families to the Pacific Northwest, or the "White American Bastion." He visited the Aryan Nations compound many times and began to have friends and followers.

In 1983, Mathews made a speech at a National Alliance convention, which was a report on his efforts to recruit on behalf of the National Alliance, especially among "the yeoman farmers and independent truckers," around his "White American Bastion" group, and a call to action to the convention's only standing ovation.^[3] Mathews took to heart the 1978 novel The Turner Diaries written by National Alliance founder William Pierce.^[4]

In late September of that year, at a barracks he constructed on his property in Metaline, Mathews founded, along with eight other men, the group that would be known as The Order, which he thought of as the "Silent Brotherhood." They included his friend and neighbor, Ken Loff, and Aryan Nations men: Dan Bauer, Randy Duey, Denver Parmenter, and Bruce Pierce. David Lane, Richie Kemp and Bill Soderquist, recent recruits, rounded out the group. None had ever committed a violent crime, or had served prison time.

The first order of business, according to Mathews' plan, was to obtain money to support white separatism. They robbed an adult bookstore in Spokane, which netted $369.10. They agreed that was too risky, and turned to robbing armored cars and counterfeiting. They printed up some phony $50 notes and 28-year-old Pierce was quickly arrested after passing a few.

To raise Pierce's bail, Mathews, acting alone, robbed a bank just north of Seattle. He stole around $26,000. Some of The Order's members, along with a new recruit, Gary Yarborough, carried out more robberies and burglaries, which netted them over $43,000. A subsequent robbery yielded several hundred thousand dollars. Another recruit, Tom Martinez, was caught and charged for passing more counterfeit currency. Then in July, 1984, they deployed approximately a dozen men in a successful effort to rob a Brink's truck of $3,600,000.^[5]

The robbers distributed some of the stolen money to the North Carolina-based White Patriot Party and other white nationalist organizations.^[6]

Final days[link]

Prior to his death, Mathews wrote a long letter explaining his life, and justifying his actions.^[7]

Mathews and the other members of the Order were eventually given up by Martinez, who was under pressure after the counterfeiting arrest. After he revealed information regarding Mathews' activities to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, agents moved to capture Mathews and his associates. By the time they could set up the operation, all of Mathews' accomplices and friends had decided to move again to other safe houses. The government's agents surrounded Mathews in a house near Freeland, Washington on Whidbey Island on December 8, 1984. Mathews refused to come out after an intense exchange of gunfire. The FBI then fired dozens of smoke grenades into the house in an attempt to force Mathews out, but were thwarted by his use of a gas mask. They then fired several M-79 Starburst flares inside the house, setting off a box of hand grenades and a stockpile of ammunition. Mathews continued to fire at agents as the house burned, but then suddenly stopped. After the wreckage had cooled enough to be searched, agents found the burned remains of 31 year old Mathews' body next to a charred bathtub, pistol still in hand.

Eventually over 75 people were convicted of crimes connected to The Order in eight trials on charges that included racketeering, conspiracy, counterfeiting, transporting stolen money, armored car robbery, and violation of civil rights. Later, ten people connected to the case, including Butler, Lane, and Pierce, were tried for sedition, but were acquitted by the jury.^[8]

Trivia[link]

• In 1995, the neo-Nazi band RaHoWa released their album Cult of the Holy War on Resistance Records, which included the song "Man Against Time" that praised Robert Mathews and his actions.^{[citation needed]}
• The Neo-Nazi band Skrewdriver wrote a song about Mathews titled "Gone With the Breeze" which in 2004, the white nationalist neo-Nazi music group Prussian Blue covered on their album Fragment of the Future.^{[citation needed]}
• The song "Hail the Order" by the band Nordic Thunder is also about Bob Mathews
• The song "In the The Your Memory Robert Matthews" by the band White Diamond Death is also about Bob Mathews

References[link]

External links[link]

• Robert Mathews at the NNDB
• Brotherhood of Murder - a Hollywood film about The Order, as told from Tom Martinez's view.

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Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt is an American freelance writer who served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education during the first term of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and staff employee of the US State Department (South Africa, Belgium, South Korea).^[1][2][3] She was born circa 1930. Her father and grandfather were Yale University graduates and members of the Skull and Bones secret society.

She is known for writing the book The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America The book claims that changes gradually brought into the American public education system attempt to eliminate the influences of a child's parents (religion, morals, national patriotism), and mold the child into a member of the proletariat in preparation for a socialist-collectivist world of the future.^[3] She alleges that these changes originated from plans formulated primarily by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Education, Rockefeller General Education Board), and details what she says are the psychological methods used to implement and effect the changes.^[3]

In an interview^[2] concerning secret societies and the elite agenda she disclosed that in the early 1980s she had a chance to meet with Norman Dodd who had been the chief investigator for the United States House Select Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations commonly known as the B. Carroll Reece Committee. In the video she claims that Dodd discussed a 'network' of individuals including Carnegie who planned to bring about world peace by means of rapid changes in society. These changes would be brought about by involving the populace in various wars and military conflicts. She further claimed that Dodd had discussions with Rowan Gaither, the president of the Ford Foundation in which he revealed that directives from the President of the United States compelled foundations related to the Ford Foundation to direct their funding into bringing about the merger of the USA with the Soviet Union.^[4][5][6]

Mr. Dodd, all of us here at the policy making level of the foundation have at one time or another served in the OSS (the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA) or the European Economic Administration, operating under directives from the White House. We operate under those same directives… The substance of the directives under which we operate is that we shall use our grant making power to so alter life in the United States that we can be comfortably merged with the Soviet Union.

— Rowan Gaither, President Ford Foundation - 1953, Norman Dodd - friend of Iserbyt^[7]

Filmed interviews of Iserbyt have her detail her story that lead her from school board trustee/administrator to becoming a Ronald Reagan administration staff in the U.S. Department of Education, and discovering further to her complete disbelief how these policies of a socialist-collectivist nature originated all the way to President Reagan, Vice President George H. W. Bush, and their policy advisers.

Up until 1960 Reagan, a leading member of United World Federalists (whose purpose was to merge America into a world government), was a charter member of Americans for Democratic Action. Reagan was also a member of the National Advisory Council of the American Veterans Committee^[8] that was supposedly "under communist influence."

Not listening to warnings provided to her in a book about Ronald Reagan (as California Governor, written by United Republicans of California (UROC)) given to her by friend, Iserbyt dismissed the seemingly outrageous claims made in the book a short time prior to her accepting and leaving for the government position. 1982 Reagan relieved her of her duties after leaking an important technology grant for computerized learning--Project BEST: "Better Education Skills through Technology"^[9] brought about by the scholarly writings and a large study by an education specialist named Dr. John I. Goodlad at the Center for Educational Renewal at the University of Washington originally from British Columbia, Canada.^[10] One book Iserbyt was critical of was "Schooling for a Global Age" edited by Charlotte C. Anderson, James M. Becker, Institute for Development of Educational Activities, New York 1979, that Iserbyt cited as having less to do with fostering learning and mainly to do with psychological manipulation of students possibly against the teaching of the child's parents, for example, in arts classes.^[11]

Parents and the general public must be reached also. Otherwise, children and youth enrolled in globally oriented programs may find themselves in conflict with values assumed in the home. And then the educational institution frequently comes under scrutiny and must pull back.

— Dr. John I. Goodlad, Schooling for a Global Age-1979

And again later...

Enlightened social engineering is required to face situations that demand global action now... Parents and the general public must be reached also, otherwise, children and youth enrolled in globally oriented programs may find themselves in conflict with values assumed in the home. And then the educational institution frequently comes under scrutiny and must pull back.

— Dr. John I. Goodlad, "Guide to Getting Out Your Message," National Education Goals Panel Community Action Toolkit: A Do-It-Yourself Kit for Education Renewal (September 1994); 6.^[12]

Through her father Charlotte Iserbyt was able to gain possession of the complete listings of the members, living and dead, of the Yale University Skull and Bones secret society, fashioned into a three-volume set: living members, deceased members, and complete listing of both^{[citation needed]}. She cooperated in the writing of Dr. Antony C. Sutton's book America's Secret Establishment - The Order of Skull & Bones by providing the list of members obtained from her father.^[13]

Fifteen Yale juniors are invited to join the Skulls each year in a process called "tapping". A couple of thousand Yale graduates have been Skulls--WASP males from wealthy Northeastern families: Bush, Bundy, Cheney, Dodge, Ford, Goodyear, Harriman, Heinz, Kellogg, Phelps, Pillsbury, Rockefeller, Taft, Vanderbilt, Weyerhaeuser and Whitney were among its membership.

Iserbyt believes that the Bavarian Illuminati hid inside the Freemasons, and that the Skull and Bones Secret Society is derived from these Illuminati-degree Freemasons from Bavaria whose goals were documented in an original edition 1798 book Proofs of Conspiracy by John Robison in Iserbyt's possession that she claimed was originally owned by the first president of the United States of America, Freemason, George Washington. The ideas of a ruling elite date back prior to Plato's writings about the hierarchical plutocracy. Among the goals of the Order of the Illuminati were to destroy religions, and governments from within, merge the destroyed countries, and to bring about a one world government, a new world order, in their secret control.^[14][15]

In the secret societies interview she states that virtually all of the Carnegie Foundation agreements with the Russian education system were still in place, as well as the U.S. Department of Education programs that Iserbyt claims brought about the downfall of American prosperity since the turn of the century, especially post World War II.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Norman Dodd
• Antony Sutton
• John Taylor Gatto
• Judith Reisman^[16]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Back to Basics Reform, or OBE: Skinnerian International Curriculum (1985)
• The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America: A Chronological Paper Trail (1999) ISBN 978-0-9667071-0-6