San Diego is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. As of 2005, the city has a population of 1,256,951. and is the economic center of the San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos metropolitan area, the 17th-largest metro area in the U.S. with a population of 2.9 million as of 2006, and the 21st largest Metropolitan area in the Americas when including Tijuana (See San Diego-Tijuana Metro.).
San Diego County lies just north of the Mexican border—sharing a border with Tijuana—and lies south of Orange County. It is home to miles of beaches, a mild Mediterranean climate and 16 military facilities hosting the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Marine Corps.
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the affiliated UCSD Medical Center combined with nearby research institutes in the Torrey Pines area of La Jolla make the area influential in biotechnology research. San Diego's economy is largely composed of agriculture, biotechnology/biosciences, computer sciences, electronics manufacturing, defense-related manufacturing, financial and business services, ship-repair and construction, software development, telecommunications and tourism.

History
See also: Beaches in San Diego, California
See also: Parks in San Diego, California
The city of San Diego itself has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city. Downtown San Diego is located on San Diego Bay. Balboa Park lies on a mesa to the northeast. It is surrounded by several dense urban communities and abruptly ends in Hillcrest to the north. The Coronado and Point Loma peninsulas separate San Diego Bay from the ocean. Ocean Beach is on the west side of Point Loma. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach lie between the ocean and Mission Bay, a man-made aquatic park. La Jolla, an affluent community, lies north of Pacific Beach. Mount Soledad in La Jolla offers views from northern San Diego County to Mexico. Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas. Cleveland National Forest is a half-hour drive from downtown San Diego. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast and southeast of the city. San Diego County has more endangered plant and animal species (as determined by United States Environmental Protection Agency) than any other county in the United States.

Geography

Main article: Climate of San Diego, California Climate
Northern: Bay Ho, Bay Park, Carmel Valley, Clairemont Mesa East, Clairemont Mesa West, Del Mar Mesa, La Jolla, Mission Beach, North Clairemont, Pacific Beach, Pacific Highlands Ranch, Torrey Highlands, Torrey Hills, Torrey Pines, University City
Northeastern: Black Mountain Ranch, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Miramar, Mira Mesa, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Peñasquitos, Sabre Springs, San Pasqual Valley, Scripps Ranch, Sorrento Valley
Eastern: Allied Gardens, Birdland, Del Cerro, Grantville, Kearny Mesa, Lake Murray, Mission Valley East, San Carlos, Serra Mesa, Tierrasanta
Western: Hillcrest, La Playa, Linda Vista, Loma Portal, Midtown, Midway District, Mission Hills, Mission Valley West, Morena, Ocean Beach, Old Town, Point Loma Heights, Roseville-Fleetridge, Sunset Cliffs, University Heights, Wooded Area
Central: Balboa Park, Bankers Hill, Barrio Logan, Burlingame, City Heights, Downtown (Columbia, Core, Cortez Hill, East Village, Gaslamp Quarter, Horton, Little Italy, Marina), Golden Hill, Grant Hill, Logan Heights(Leva Heights aka Leche), Memorial, North Park, Sherman Heights, South Park, Stockton
Mid-City: City Heights, College Area, Darnall, El Cerrito, Gateway, Kensington, Normal Heights, Oak Park, Rolando, Talmadge, Webster
Southeastern: Alta Vista, Bay Terrace, Broadway Heights, Emerald Hills, Encanto, Jamacha-Lomita, Lincoln Park, Mountain View, Mt. Hope, Paradise Hills, Shelltown, Skyline, Southcrest, Valencia Park
Southern: Egger Highlands, Nestor, Ocean Crest, Otay Mesa, Otay Mesa West, Palm City, San Ysidro, Tijuana River Valley

Communities and neighborhoods
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,223,400 people, 450,691 households, and 271,315 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,771.9 people per square mile (1,456.4/km²).
Population by race/ethnicity (Census 2000 def.) Hispanic/Latino (25.4%)*The majority of Hispanics in San Diego are born in the USA, and are of Mexican ancestry (US Census 2000 confirmed)* non-Hispanic White alone (42.3%) non-Hispanic Black (7.9%) non-Hispanic Other Race alone (0.2%) non-Hispanic Asian, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone (10.4%) non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native alone (0.4%) non-Hispanic Multiracial (3.3%)
There were 451,126 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $45,733, and the median income for a family was $53,060. Males had a median income of $36,984 versus $31,076 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,609. About 10.6% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Demographics
According to estimates on January 1, 2006 by the San Diego Association of Governments, the median household income and population have slightly increased from the year 2000. The population of San Diego is estimated to be 1,311,162, up 7.2% from 2000, and median household income is estimated to be $47,816 (when adjusted for inflation in 1999 dollars), up 5.9% from 2000.
The population as of January 2007 was above 1.3 million.

Current estimates
According to estimates by the San Diego Association of Governments, in the year 2030, San Diego will have a larger population, a larger median household income, and a substantially different ethnic population. The city will have a median household income (when adjusted for inflation in 1999 dollars) of $59,300, up 29% from 2000, and will have a population of 1,656,257, up 35% from 2000. Several large ethnic groups will substantially increase their population, such as the Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population that will increase 339% from 5,311 people in 2000 to 23,342 in 2030, the Hispanic population that will increase 133% from 258,165 in 2000 to 601,906 in 2030, and the Asian population that will increase 73% from 164,895 in 2000 to 285,723 in 2030. Despite the 35% population increase from 2000 to 2030, the population of non-hispanic white people will decrease 8% from 603,892 in 2000 to 553,682 in 2030 and the population of black people will decrease 9% from 92,830 in 2000 to 84,626 in 2030.

Future estimates
San Diego has had a declining crime rate since the early 1990s. in the year 2004, all violent crimes, which includes murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults, were lower than the national average. The total property crimes are lower than the national average; however, while burglaries and larceny/thefts were lower than the national average, vehicle thefts were twice as high as the national average.

Crime
See also: List of companies headquartered in San Diego, California,
See also: List of foreign consulates in San Diego
Several areas of San Diego (in particular La Jolla and surrounding Sorrento Valley areas) are home to offices and research facilities for numerous biotechnology companies. Major biotechnology companies like Neurocrine Biosciences and Nventa Biopharmaceuticals are headquartered in San Diego, while many biotech and pharmaceutical companies, such as BD Biosciences, Biogen Idec, Merck, Pfizer, Élan, Genzyme, Celgene and Vertex, have offices or research facilities in San Diego. There are also several non-profit biotech institutes, such as the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Scripps Research Institute and the Burnham Institute. The presence of University of California, San Diego and other research institutions helped fuel biotechnology growth. In June 2004, San Diego was ranked the top biotech cluster in the U.S. by the Milken Institute.
Due to San Diego's military influence, major national defense contractors, such as General Atomics and Science Applications International Corporation are headquartered in San Diego.
Tourism is also a major industry owing to the city's climate. Major tourist destinations include Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, nearby Wild Animal Park and Legoland, the city's beaches and golf tournaments like the Buick Invitational.

Economy
San Diego has experienced dramatic growth of real estate prices in the last decade, to the extent that the current situation is sometimes described as a "housing affordability crisis". Median house prices more than tripled between 1998 and 2007. According to the California Association of Realtors

Real estate

Education
As of 2006, the San Diego library, based in downtown, has 34 branches throughout the city.

Libraries

Main article: Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California Colleges and universities
San Diego was once a Republican stronghold, and a strong ally for former president Richard Nixon. However, in recent years, San Diego has become a moderate leaning Democratic city with an influx of immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Democrats hold a 5-3 majority in the city council and San Diego voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. The northern and eastern parts of the San Diego metropolitan area still remain conservative.

Politics

Main article: Culture of San Diego, California Culture
San Diego has always been a hotbed for surf and skateboard culture. Headquartered here are some of the industry's biggest names including Sector 9 Skateboards, TransWorld Media, and Rusty Surfboards. Some very well known surf spots include Swamis, Black's Beach,and Windansea. The region even has its own chain of surf shops, Sun Diego. Pro surfers Rob Machado and Taylor Knox, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, and pro snowboarder Shaun White call the San Diego area their home.

San Diego Board Culture
San Diego has several sports venues: Qualcomm Stadium is the home of the NFL San Diego Chargers, NCAA Division I San Diego State Aztecs, as well as local high school football championships. Qualcomm Stadium also hosts international soccer games, Supercross events and formerly hosted Major League Baseball. Three NFL Super Bowl championships and many college football bowl games have been held there. Balboa Stadium is the city's first stadium, constructed in 1914, and former home of the San Diego Chargers. Currently Balboa Stadium hosts soccer, football and track and field.
PETCO Park in downtown San Diego hosts Major League Baseball along with other occasional soccer and rugby events. The San Diego Sports Arena hosts basketball, and has also hosted ice hockey, indoor soccer and boxing. Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl on the campus of San Diego State University hosts the NCAA Division I San Diego State Aztecs men's and women's basketball games and also hosts the San Diego Shockwave of the National Indoor Football League. Torero Stadium at the University of San Diego hosts college football and soccer, and the Jenny Craig Pavilion at USD hosts basketball and volleyball.
The San Diego State Aztecs (MWC) and the San Diego Toreros (WCC) are NCAA Division I teams. The UCSD Tritons (CCAA) are members of NCAA Division II while the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (GSAC) are members of the NAIA.
San Diego has been the home of two NBA franchises, the first of which was called the San Diego Rockets. The Rockets represented the city of San Diego from 1967 until 1971. After the conclusion of the 1970-1971 season, they moved to Texas where they became the Houston Rockets. Seven years later, San Diego received a relocated NBA franchise (the Buffalo Braves), which was renamed the San Diego Clippers. The Clippers played in the San Diego Sports Arena from 1978 until 1984. Prior to the start of the 1984-1985 season, the team was moved to Los Angeles, and is now called the Los Angeles Clippers.
Unfortunately, San Diego has the dubious distinction of being the largest United States city to have not won a Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals or any other Major League sports championship; this is known as the San Diego Sports Curse.
Other sports franchises that represented San Diego include the San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association, the San Diego Sockers (which played in various indoor and outdoor soccer leagues during their existence), the San Diego Flash and the San Diego Gauchos, both playing in different divisions of the United Soccer League, the San Diego Spirit of the Women's United Soccer Association, the San Diego Mariners of the World Hockey Association, and the San Diego Gulls who were in different hockey leagues during each of their three incarnations.
The annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in the city draws 20,000 participants annually. San Diego is also home to Camp La Jolla, the nation's largest fitness camp.
San Diego also hosts the prestigious USA Sevens, an event in the annual IRB Sevens World Series for international teams in rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union with seven players per side instead of 15. The USA Sevens moved from the Los Angeles area to San Diego in 2007.

Sports
See also: List of fiction set in San Diego, California
San Diego is served by The San Diego Daily Transcript, as well as the mainstream daily newspaper, The San Diego Union-Tribune and its online portal, signonsandiego.com, the online newspaper Voiceofsandiego.org, and the alternative newsweeklies, the San Diego City Beat and San Diego Reader. Another newspaper with high readership in the region is the North County Times, which serves San Diego's North County area. Business publications include San Diego Metropolitan magazine, and the San Diego Business Journal.
San Diego's television stations include XETV 6 (FOX), KFMB 8 (CBS), KGTV 10 (ABC), KPBS 15 (PBS), KBNT 17 (Univision), XHAS 33 (Telemundo), K35DG 35 (UCSD-TV), KNSD 39 (NBC), XHDTV 49 (MNTV), KUSI 51 (Independent), and KSWB 69 (CW). Most of the city's stations air on their own cable channel number for each area:
The radio station skyline in San Diego is headed by nationwide broadcaster, Clear Channel Communications, followed up by CBS Radio, Midwest Television, Lincoln Financial Media, Finest City Broadcasting, and many other smaller stations and networks. Stations include: KOGO AM 600, KFMB AM 760, KCEO AM 1000, KCBQ AM 1170, KLSD AM 1360, KFSD 1450 AM, KPBS 89.5, Z 90.3, 91X, Magic 92.5, Channel 933, Star 94.1, FM 94/9, KyXy 96.5, KSON 97.3/92.1, KIFM 98.1, XMOR Blazin 98.9, ESPN Radio 800, XX Sports Radio AM 1090/FM 105.7, Jack-FM 100.7, 101.5 KGB-FM, KPRI 102.1, Rock 105.3, and a number of popular local Spanish language radio stations.

Channel 6: Cable 6
Channel 8: Cable 8
Channel 10: Cable 10
Channel 15: Cable 11
Channel 39: Cable 7
Channel 49: Cable 13
Channel 51: Cable 9
Channel 69: Cable 5 Media

Transportation
With the automobile being the primary means of transportation for over 80 percent of its residents,

Freeways and highways
See also: Public transportation in San Diego County, California
Less than three percent of San Diego residents use mass transit. San Diego is served by the trolley, bus, Coaster, and Amtrak. The trolley (system map) primarily serves downtown and surrounding urban communities, Mission Valley, east county and coastal south bay. A planned Mid-Coast line will operate from Old Town to University City along the 5 Freeway. There are also plans for a Silver Line to expand trolley service downtown.
The Amtrak and Coaster trains currently run along the coastline and connect San Diego with Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura via MetroLink. There are three Amtrak stations in San Diego, in Sorrento Valley, Old Town, and Union Station (downtown).
The bus is available along almost all major routes, however a large number of bus stops are concentrated in central San Diego. Typical wait times vary from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the location and route. Trolleys arrive every 5 to 15 minutes (depending on time of day). Ferries are also available every half hour crossing San Diego Bay to Coronado.

Public transportation
San Diego's roadway system provides an extensive network of routes for travel by bicycle. The dry and mild climate of San Diego makes cycling a convenient and pleasant year-round option. At the same time, the city's hilly, canyoned terrain and significantly long average trip distances—brought about by strict low-density zoning laws—somewhat restrict cycling for utilitarian purposes. Older and denser neighborhoods around the downtown tend to be friendlier to utility cycling. This is partly because of the grid street patterns now absent in newer developments farther from the urban core, where suburban style arterial roads are much more common. As a result, a vast majority of cycling related activities are recreational.
The city has some segregated cycle facilities, particularly in newer developments although the majority of road facilities specifically for bicycles are painted on regular roadways.
Many San Diego cyclists belong to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition which upholds the rights and interests of cyclists throughout the county.
In 2006, Bicycling Magazine rated San Diego as the best city for cycling for U.S. cities with a population over 1 million.

Cycling
San Diego International Airport, also known as Lindbergh International Airport or Lindbergh Field, is the primary commercial airport serving San Diego. It is the busiest single-runway airport in the nation, The military has rejected the proposals for a dual-use airport because the area around Miramar has already been set aside as safety corridors for military aircraft accidents. A shared commercial/military airport would force military aircraft to fly outside of those safety corridors.

Air
The Port of San Diego manages the maritime operations of San Diego harbor. Cruise ships arrive and depart from San Diego's cruise ship terminal at the foot of Broadway downtown. Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Celebrity Cruises have home port cruise ships in San Diego during the Winter season. Popular cruise destinations include Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska and the Caribbean via the Panama Canal. An additional cruise terminal at Embarcadero Circle it set to open in 2010. San Diego's port also manages a significant cargo operation which includes imports from South America, vehicle imports from Germany, Japan and Mexico, and other trade operations.
San Diego is home to General Dynamics' National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), the largest shipyard on the West Coast of the United States. It is capable of building and repairing large ocean-going vessels. The yard constructs commercial cargo ships and auxiliary vessels for the U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command, which it has served since 1960.

Sea
Military bases in San Diego include U.S. Navy ports, Marine Corps bases, and Coast Guard stations. One of the Marine Corps' two Recruit Depots is located in San Diego. San Diego is also known as the "birthplace of naval aviation," although Pensacola, Florida makes a rival claim.
San Diego is the site of the largest naval fleet in the world, and San Diego has become the largest concentration of Naval facilities in the world due to base reductions at Norfolk, Virginia and retrenchment of the Russian naval base in Vladivostok. Two of the U.S. Navy's Nimitz class supercarriers, (the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan), five amphibious assault ships, several Los Angeles-class "fast attack" submarines, carrier and submarine tenders, and many smaller ships are home-ported there. Four Navy vessels have been named USS San Diego in honor of the city.

Military
Marine Corps institutions in San Diego include Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego; north of San Diego is Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The Navy has several institutions in the city, including the Navy Submarine Support Facility, Naval Base Point Loma, Naval Station San Diego (also known as the 32nd Street Naval Station), and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego. Close by San Diego is the Naval Air Station North Island (which operates Naval Auxiliary Landing Facility San Clemente Island and Outlying Field Imperial Beach) and the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, which are consolidated into Naval Base Coronado.

Sister cities

List of notable San Diegans
San Diego Harbor Police

Early life
Lange was one of the original nine castmembers of MADtv when the series debuted in 1995. Unlike some of his fellow castmembers on MADtv, Lange came to the show with limited sketch comedy experience, his background being in stand-up comedy. It was around this time that Artie became heavily involved with drugs, particularly cocaine. He has stated that his lowest point of cocaine use occurred during a shooting of the MADtv sketch "Babewatch", in which Artie played a pig who was a lifeguard. Because the sketch involved Artie going through hours of make up to transform him into a pig, he snorted the cocaine in his car in full pig make up, during a break in the shooting of the sketch. Upon returning from the shoot, Artie passed out in his hotel room, and awoke to find he had defecated in his own bed. The cast and fanbase of The Howard Stern Show now refer to this incident as "The Pig Story". His tenure with MADtv came to a dramatic end when, during a cocaine binge, the police were called to the studio. Lange fled, running through a number of backyards and stores before being arrested. He was charged with cocaine possession, assaulting an officer, and possessing an open alcoholic container in his car, among other charges. Upon Lange's arrest, legendary jazz producer and songwriter Quincy Jones, an executive producer for MADtv, intervened to arrange for Artie to continue on the show for a second season. Lange's sobriety did not last and he was fired after two seasons.
Artie performed as a few recurring characters on the show, such as "That's My White Momma", but was mostly used for impressions. Among the people he imitated were Ed Harris, Ed McMahon, F. Lee Bailey, George Clooney, Joe Pesci, Larry Csonka, Newt Gingrich, Richard Karn, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, Rush Limbaugh, Wayne Knight and Yassir Arafat. Though Artie was on the show for only two seasons, he has become one of the most famous MADtv alums. During the show's tenth season, Artie again appeared on an episode of MADtv.

MADtv
Following a short jail term and successful completion of a drug rehabilitation program, comedian Norm MacDonald contacted Lange to offer him the role of Norm's character's half-brother in the 1998 movie Dirty Work. While promoting the movie, Norm brought Artie to The Howard Stern Show. Artie appeared on the show several times after, and was eventually asked to take over Jackie Martling's chair when Martling left the Stern Show in 2001.
Since Lange joined the show, Stern has often teased Lange for his eating habits, his role in the poorly-received movie Dirty Work and his lack of professionalism, but Stern also makes a point to praise Lange's comedic talents. Stern is especially impressed by Artie's ability to memorize and deliver lines with perfect timing. Artie's almost flawless renditions of scenes from movies such as The Godfather have become a Stern Show favorite. Stern and his staff have commented that Lange's life is a sort of perpetual adolescence; his mother delivers food parcels and cleans his apartment, he continually gorges himself on pizza and other fattening foods, and his frequent drunken binges are legendary among Stern fans.
In early June 2005, Lange began missing work at the Howard Stern Show, prompting concerns of a possible relapse of past substance abuse. The situation climaxed in Lange behaving incoherently and belligerently on-the-air. He infamously sneered at Howard and crew that: "Artie's going to do what Artie's going to do!" Howard later commented that this statement had scared him. Lange missed the entire week of work.
At the time, Lange's absence from the show went largely unmentioned and was written off as stress from doing the radio show and beginning production of his movie Beer League. The real reason for Lange's absence was revealed in a spontaneous revelation on the September 21, 2006 Howard Stern Show, on which Lange acknowledged that he was regularly snorting heroin from February to June 2005. Lange discussed past episodes of heroin use, beginning when he was a stand-up comedian and continuing until Beer League was set to begin shooting. Lange detailed his painful withdrawal, which included common side effects such as cold sweats, shaking and vomiting. Lange recalled disconnecting the telephone to avoid speaking to his mother, who ultimately intervened to help Artie recover. Lange was threatened with legal action by the Beer League producers (whom he later described as having "waste management connections") if he failed to show up for the first day of shooting in June 2005, which led Lange to secure a home visit from a doctor who prescribed Lange with buprenorphine (Subutex) to alleviate his heroin dependency. Since starting the medicine, Artie has claimed to be free of any illegal substances, though he has gained almost 100 pounds since quitting heroin.
In the days leading up to Stern's departure from terrestrial radio, Lange revealed that he and Gary Dell'Abate were approached by Infinity Broadcasting about replacing Howard Stern on terrestrial radio with their own show. Lange claimed he was offered roughly $5 million to defect, but he and Dell'Abate claimed to have never given the offer much thought.
On May 24, 2007 it was revealed during The Howard Stern Show that Artie was upset about a segment of the show from the day before. Stern had brought in a girl who was attracted to Artie, mainly because of his size. Artie took the bit seriously and thought Stern and the rest of the cast were goofing on him, leading Artie to tell Stern he was no longer his "bro", calling Stern a pelican and stating that he was contemplating leaving the show. Stern took this to heart and fired back, saying Artie was no longer a friend, just someone who works on his show. By the end of the argument, however, they had seemingly patched things up, with Stern giving Artie his blessing for whatever he felt he had to do. Artie stated that he was thinking of leaving the show for six months in order to "dry out." Artie claimed he was burnt out from his career and felt he was in a "hurricane." Artie has since changed his mind, stating on the David Letterman show that he is not leaving the show as well as confirming this on the air.
On July 25, 2007 Artie gave out his home phone number on the air wondering how many people will call him and said that he would bring in the funniest messages. He stated he would change his home phone number in three days -- however, the following morning he revealed he had already changed his telephone number.
Artie is known for doing many impressions on the show, among them are Rush Limbaugh, Ted Kennedy, Iron Sheik, Eric the Midget, Don Rickles, Katt Williams, Johnny Fratto, Jeff the Drunk, Brian Johnson, Mark the Bagger, Elliot Offen, Bigfoot, Crazy Alice, Bubba the Love Sponge and others.

The Howard Stern Show
Artie is not shy about sharing his personal life on the Stern Show. Lange lost his virginity October 3, 1985, about a week before his 18th birthday. Because Lange was young for his grade, he had already graduated high school. The act took place in Lange's 1974 AMC Matador.

Personal life
Lange's unhealthy lifestyle of overeating and past drug use has caused concern among family and fans alike. During a Stern show weight loss competition, Artie was the only contestant to actually gain weight. He has also been asked to appear on Celebrity Fit Club for each of four seasons, but has declined every time.
In May 2004, Las Vegas station KLAS-TV reported him dead and many who heard the broadcast actually believed it. The story turned out to be a prank executed by Stern Show regular caller and Wack Packer Captain Janks.
The website artielangedeathwatch.com was started to predict when Artie would die if he continues this lifestyle. Before discontinuing updates, the site projected that Artie would die at age 53.
Since quitting heroin, the portly comedian has gained well over 100 pounds, and on July 26, 2007, it was determined on The Howard Stern Show that he had reached 300 pounds.

Health
Artie also auditioned for the role of Milton in Office Space He lost both roles to Stephen Root.

See also

Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American General and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. As a Republican, he was elected the 34th U.S. President, serving for two terms. As President, he ended the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System.

Early life and family
David Jacob Eisenhower's family arrived in the United States in 1741 when Hans Nicholas Eisenhauer emigrated from Odenwald, Germany. Eisenhower's mother, Ida E. Eisenhower, previously a member of the River Brethren, joined the Watchtower Society (now more commonly known as Jehovah's Witnesses) in 1895, when Eisenhower was 4 or 5 years old. The chapel at his presidential library is intentionally inter-denominational.

Religion
Dwight D. Eisenhower (and his six brothers) attended Abilene High School in Abilene, Kansas; Dwight graduated with the class of 1909.

Education
See also: Military career of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower enrolled at the Military Academy in June 1911. His parents were against militarism, but did not object to his entering West Point as they were strong proponents of education. Eisenhower was a strong athlete. In 1912, a spectacular Eisenhower touchdown won praise from the sports reporter of the New York Herald, and he even managed, with the help of a linebacker partner, to tackle the legendary Jim Thorpe. In the very next week, however, his promising sports career came to a quick and painful end — he injured his knee quite severely when he was tackled around the ankles.
Eisenhower became executive officer to General Fox Conner in the Panama Canal Zone, where he served until 1924. Under Conner's tutelage, he studied military history and theory (including Karl von Clausewitz's On War), and later cited Conner's enormous influence on his military thinking. In 1925-26, he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then served as a battalion commander at Fort Benning, Georgia until 1927.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s Eisenhower's career in the peacetime Army stagnated; many of his friends resigned for high paying business jobs. He was assigned to the American Battle Monuments Commission, directed by General John J. Pershing, then to the Army War College, and then served as executive officer to General George V. Mosely, Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to 1933. He then served as chief military aide to General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff, until 1935, when he accompanied MacArthur to the Philippines, where he served as assistant military adviser to the Philippine government. It is sometimes said that this assignment provided valuable preparation for handling the egos of Winston Churchill, George S. Patton and Bernard Law Montgomery during World War II. Eisenhower was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1936 after sixteen years as a major. He also learned to fly, although he was never rated as a military pilot. He made a solo flight over the Philippines in 1937.
Eisenhower returned to the U.S. in 1939 and held a series of staff positions in Washington, D.C., California and Texas. In June 1941, he was appointed Chief of Staff to General Walter Krueger, Commander of the 3rd Army, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was promoted to brigadier general in September 1941. Although his administrative abilities had been noticed, on the eve of the U.S. entry into World War II he had never held an active command and was far from being considered as a potential commander of major operations.

Early military career
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Eisenhower was assigned to the General Staff in Washington, where he served until June 1942 with responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. He was appointed Deputy Chief in charge of Pacific Defenses under the Chief of War Plans Division, General Leonard T. Gerow, and then succeeded Gerow as Chief of the War Plans Division. Then he was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff in charge of Operations Division under Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall. It was his close association with Marshall which finally brought Eisenhower to senior command positions. Marshall recognized his great organizational and administrative abilities.
In 1942, Eisenhower was appointed Commanding General, European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA) and was based in London. In November, he was also appointed Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force of the North African Theater of Operations (NATOUSA) through the new operational Headquarters A(E)FHQ. The word "expeditionary" was dropped soon after his appointment for security reasons. In February 1943, his authority was extended as commander of AFHQ across the Mediterranean basin to include the British 8th Army, commanded by General Bernard Law Montgomery. The 8th Army had advanced across the Western Desert from the east and was ready for the start of the Tunisia Campaign. Eisenhower gained his fourth star and gave up command of ETOUSA to be commander of NATOUSA. After the capitulation of Axis forces in North Africa, Eisenhower remained in command of the renamed Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), keeping the operational title and continued in command of NATOUSA redesignated MTOUSA. In this position he oversaw the invasion of Sicily and the invasion of the Italian mainland.
In December 1943, it was announced that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944, he resumed command of ETOUSA and the following month was officially designated as the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), serving in a dual role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. In these positions he was charged with planning and carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy in June 1944 under the code name Operation Overlord, the liberation of western Europe and the invasion of Germany. A month after the Normandy D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, the invasion of southern France took place, and control of the forces which took part in the southern invasion passed from the AFHQ to the SHAEF. From then until the end of the War in Europe on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower through SHAEF had supreme command of all operational Allied forces
It was never certain that Operation Overlord would succeed. The seriousness surrounding the entire decision, including the timing and the location of the Normandy invasion, might be summarized by a second shorter speech that Eisenhower wrote in advance, in case he needed it. In it, he states he would take full responsibility for catastrophic failure, should that be the final result. Long after the successful landings on D-Day and the BBC broadcast of Eisenhower's brief speech concerning them, the never-used second speech was found in a shirt pocket by an aide. It read:

World War II
Following the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945, Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone, based in Frankfurt am Main. Germany was divided into four Occupation Zones, one each for the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. Upon full discovery of the death camps that were part of the Final Solution (Holocaust), he ordered camera crews to comprehensively document evidence of the atrocity so as to prevent any doubt of its occurrence. He made the decision to reclassify German prisoners of war (POWs) in U.S. custody as Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEFs). As DEFs, they could be compelled to serve as unfree labor (see Eisenhower and German POWs). Eisenhower was an early supporter of the Morgenthau Plan to permanently remove Germany's industrial capacity to wage future wars. In November 1945 he approved the distribution of 1000 free copies of Morgenthau's book Germany is Our Problem, which promoted and described the plan in detail, to American military officials in occupied Germany. Historian Stephen Ambrose draws the conclusion that, despite Eisenhower's later claims that the act was not an endorsement of the Morgenthau plan, Eisenhower both approved of the plan and had previously given Morgenthau at least some of his ideas on how Germany should be treated.
Eisenhower served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1945-48. In December 1950, he was named Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and given operational command of NATO forces in Europe. Eisenhower retired from active service on May 31, 1952, upon entering politics. He wrote Crusade in Europe, widely regarded as one of the finest U.S. military memoirs. During this period Eisenhower served as President of Columbia University from 1948 until 1953, though he was on leave from the university while he served as NATO commander.
After his many wartime successes, General Eisenhower returned to the U.S. a great hero. He was unusual for a military hero in that he never saw the front line in his life. The nearest that he came to being under enemy fire was in 1944 when a German fighter strafed the ground while he was inspecting troops in Normandy. Eisenhower dived for cover like everyone else and after the plane flew off, a British brigadier helped him up and seemed very relieved that he was not hurt. When Eisenhower thanked him for his solicitude, the brigadier deflated him by explaining that "my concern was that you should not be injured in my sector". This incident formed part of Eisenhower's fund of funny stories that he would tell now and again.
Not long after his return, a "Draft Eisenhower" movement in the Republican party persuaded him to declare his candidacy in the 1952 presidential election to counter the candidacy of isolationist Senator Robert Taft. (Eisenhower had been courted by both parties in 1948 and had declined to run then.) Eisenhower defeated Taft for the nomination but came to an agreement that Taft would stay out of foreign affairs while Eisenhower followed a conservative domestic policy. Eisenhower's campaign was a crusade against the Truman administration's policies regarding "Korea, Communism and Corruption." Eisenhower promised to go to Korea himself and end the war and maintain both a strong NATO abroad against Communism and a corruption-free frugal administration at home. He and his running mate Richard Nixon, whose daughter later married Eisenhower's grandson David, easily defeated Democrats Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman in a landslide, marking the first Republican return to the White House in 20 years. Eisenhower was the only general to serve as President in the 20th century.

Aftermath of World War II

Main article: Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidency 1953-1961

Main article: Interstate Highway System Interstate Highway System
Throughout his presidency, Eisenhower preached a doctrine of Dynamic Conservatism.
Although he maintained a conservative economic policy, he continued all the major New Deal programs still in operation, especially Social Security. He expanded its programs and rolled them into a new cabinet level agency, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, while extending benefits to an additional 10 million workers. His cabinet, consisting of several corporate executives and one labor leader, was dubbed by one journalist, "Eight millionaires and a plumber."
Eisenhower was extremely popular, winning his second term in 1956 with 457 of 531 votes in the Electoral College, and 57.6% of the popular vote.

Dynamic Conservatism
After the Suez Crisis, the United States became the protector of most Western interests in the Middle East. As a result, Eisenhower proclaimed the "Eisenhower Doctrine" in January 1957. In relation to the Middle East, the U.S. would be "prepared to use armed force...[to counter] aggression from any country controlled by international communism." On July 15, 1958, he sent just under 15,000 soldiers to Lebanon (a combined force of Army and Marine Corps) as part of Operation Blue Bat, a non-combat peace keeping mission to stabilize the pro-Western government. They left in the following October.
In addition, Eisenhower explored the option of supporting the French colonial forces in Vietnam who were fighting an independence insurrection there. However, Chief of Staff Matthew Ridgway dissuaded the President from intervening by presenting a comprehensive estimate of the massive military deployment that would be necessary.

Eisenhower Doctrine
Eisenhower supported the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka U.S. Supreme Court decision, in which segregated ("separate but equal") schools were ruled to be unconstitutional. The very next day he told District of Columbia officials to make Washington a model for the rest of the country in integrating black and white public school children. Liberal critics complained Eisenhower was never enthusiastic about civil rights, but he did propose to Congress the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and signed those acts into law, although both Acts were very weak and added little to the total electorate. Nonetheless, they constituted the first significant civil rights acts since the 1870s.
The "Little Rock Nine" incident of 1957 involved state refusal to honor a federal court order to integrate the schools. Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and sent Army troops to escort nine black students into an all-white public school; this integration did not occur without violence, and Eisenhower and Arkansas governor Orval Faubus engaged in tense arguments.

People to People

Alaska – January 3, 1959 49th state
Hawaii – August 21, 1959 50th state States admitted to the Union
In 1961, Eisenhower became the first U.S. president to be "constitutionally forced" from office, having served the maximum two terms allowed by the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (amendment was ratified in 1951---before Eisenhower took office--but the amendment stipulated that the president at that time, Harry Truman, would not be held to the amendment).
In the 1960 election to choose his successor, Eisenhower endorsed his own Vice President, Republican Richard Nixon against Democrat John F. Kennedy. However, he only campaigned for Nixon in the campaign's final days and even did Nixon some harm when asked by reporters on TV to list one of Nixon's policy ideas he had adopted, replying "give me a week, I might think of one, I don't remember". Kennedy's campaign used the quote in one of their campaign commercials. Nixon lost narrowly to Kennedy.
On January 17, 1961, Eisenhower gave his final televised Address to the Nation from the Oval Office. In his farewell speech to the nation, Eisenhower raised the issue of the Cold War and role of the U.S. armed forces. He described the Cold War saying: "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose and insidious in method..." and warned about what he saw as unjustified government spending proposals and continued with a warning that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
After Eisenhower left office, his reputation declined and he was seen as having been a "do-nothing" President. This was partly because of the contrast between Eisenhower and his young activist successor, John F. Kennedy, but also because of his reluctance not only to support the civil rights movement to the degree that more liberal individuals would have preferred, but also to stop McCarthyism, even though he opposed McCarthy's tactics and claims.



Retirement and death
Eisenhower's picture was on the dollar coin from 1971 to 1978. Nearly 700 million of the copper-nickel clad coins were minted for general circulation, and far smaller numbers of uncirculated and proof issues (in both copper-nickel and 40% silver varieties) were produced for collectors. He reappeared on a commemorative silver dollar issued in 1990, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth, which with a double image of him showed his two roles, as both a soldier and a statesman.
He is remembered for ending the Korean War. USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the second Nimitz-class supercarrier, was named in his honor.
The Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290), a 30-mile long expressway in the Chicago area, was renamed after him.
The British A4 class steam locomotive No. 4496 (renumbered 60008) Golden Shuttle was renamed Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1946. It is preserved at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California was named after the President in 1971.
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, located at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Georgia, was named in his honor. In addition, Eisenhower State Park on Lake Texoma near his birthplace of Denison is named in his honor; his actual birthplace is currently operated by the State of Texas as Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site.
Many public high schools and middle schools in the U.S. are named after Eisenhower.
There is a Mount Eisenhower in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

Tributes and memorials

Awards and decorations
In Order of Precedence
He was also an honorary member of the Boy Scouts of America's Tom Kita Chara Lodge #96.

Army Distinguished Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Mexican Border Service Medal
World War I Victory Medal
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver and four bronze service stars
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal with "Germany" clasp
National Defense Service Medal (2 awards) United States awards
In addition, Eisenhower's name was given to a variety of streets, avenues, etc., in cities around the world, including Paris, France.

Argentinian Great Cross of the Order of the Liberator
Belgian Order of Léopold
Belgian Croix de Guerre/Belgisch Oorlogskruis
Brazil Campaign Medal
Brazil War Medal
Brazilian Grand Cross Order of Military Merit
Brazilian Grand Cross Order of Aeronautical Merit
Brazilian National Order of the Southern Cross
British Order of the Bath
British Order of Merit
British African Star with "1" and "8" numerical devices.
Chief Commander of the Chilean Order of Merit
Chinese Grand Cordon of the Order of Yun Hui
Chinese Grand Cordon of the Order of Yun Fei
Czechoslovakian Order of the White Lion
Czechoslovakian Golden Star of Victory
Danish Order of the Elephant
Ecuadorian Star of Abdon Calderon
Egyptian Grand Cordon of the Order of Ismal
Ethiopian Order of Solomon
French Croix de Guerre
French Legion of Honor
French Order of Liberation
French Military Medal
Grand Cross of the Italian Military Order
Greek Order of George I with swords
Guatemalan Cross of Military Merit
Haitian Great Cross of the Order of Honor and Merit
Luxembourg Medal of Merit
Luxembourg War Cross
Medal of Mexican Civic Merit
Mexican Aztec Eagle
Moroccan Order of Ouissam Alaouite
Netherlands Grand Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion
Norwegian Order of St. Olaf
Order of Mexican Military Merit
Polish Cross of Grunwald
Polish Rastituta Chevalier
Polish Virtuti Militari
Soviet Order of Suvorov
Soviet Order of Victory
Tunisian Grand Cordon of the Nishan Iftikar International awards
One circumstance that helped our character development: we were needed. I often think today of what an impact could be made if children believed they were contributing to a family's essential survival and happiness. In the transformation from a rural to an urban society, children are—though they might not agree—robbed of the opportunity to do genuinely responsible work.
—from his memoir, At Ease, Stories I tell to Friends (Doubleday, 1967)
Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity of size and age. Rather we should turn to those inner things--call them what you will--I mean those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess.
To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to provisions that he trespass not upon similar rights of others--a Londoner will fight. So will a citizen of Abilene.
When we consider these things, then the valley of the Thames draws closer to the farms of Kansas and the plains of Texas.
—London Guild Hall Address, June 12, 1945

Quotations
This article contains a trivia section. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

Eisenhower was 5' 10" in height. Trivia

Atoms for Peace, a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in December 1953
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Eisenhower Presidential Center
Historical rankings of United States Presidents
History of the United States (1945–1964)
Kay Summersby
Military-industrial complex, a term made popular by Eisenhower
Mount Eisenhower
People to People Student Ambassador Program
Preventive War, as Eisenhower referred to it several times See also

Footnotes

Bibliography

Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1983);
D'Este, Carlo. Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life (2002), military biography to 1945
Eisenhower, David. Eisenhower at War 1943-1945 (1986), detailed study by his grandson
Irish, Kerry E. "Apt Pupil: Dwight Eisenhower and the 1930 Industrial Mobilization Plan," The Journal of Military History 70.1 (2006) 31-61 online in Project Muse.
Pogue, Forrest C. The Supreme Command (1996) official Army history of SHAEF
Sixsmith, E.K.G. Eisenhower, His Life and Campaigns (1973), military
Russell Weigley. Eisenhower's Lieutenants. Indiana University Press, 1981. Ike's dealings with his key generals in WW2 Military career

Albertson, Dean, ed. Eisenhower as President (1963).
Alexander, Charles C. Holding the Line: The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1961 (1975).
Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (1983); Eisenhower. The President (1984); one volume edition titled Eisenhower: Soldier and President (2003). Standard biography.
Bowie, Robert R. and Richard H. Immerman; Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Damms, Richard V. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953-1961 (2002).
David Paul T. (ed.), Presidential Nominating Politics in 1952. 5 vols., Johns Hopkins Press, 1954.
Divine, Robert A. Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981).
Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader (1991).
Harris, Douglas B. "Dwight Eisenhower and the New Deal: The Politics of Preemption" Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 27, 1997.
Harris, Seymour E. The Economics of the Political Parties, with Special Attention to Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy (1962).
Krieg, Joann P. ed. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier, President, Statesman (1987). 24 essays by scholars.
McAuliffe, Mary S. "Eisenhower, the President", Journal of American History 68 (1981), pp. 625-632.
Medhurst, Martin J. Dwight D. Eisenhower: Strategic Communicator Greenwood Press, 1993.
Pach, Chester J. and Elmo Richardson. Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1991). Standard scholarly survey.
Parmet, Herbert S. Eisenhower and the American Crusades (1972). Scholarly biography of post 1945 years. Primary sources

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