REF or Ref may refer to:
Referendum 71 (R-71) was a vote held in 2009 in which the people of Washington state confirmed Senate Bill 5688, a law extending the rights and obligations of domestic partnership in Washington state. The Bill was approved 53% to 47%; this marked the first time in the United States that voters had approved a statewide ballot measure that extended LGBT relationship rights, although Arizona voters had previously rejected a ban on same-sex marriages and civil unions in 2006 (only to pass civil-unions-neutral Proposition 102 two years later). The law went into effect the day the election was certified, December 3, 2009.
Senate Bill 5688 was signed by Governor Christine Gregoire on May 18, 2009. On July 25, 2009, the organization Protect Marriage Washington turned in 137,881 signatures to the Washington Secretary of State's office. 120,577 valid signatures were required to qualify the referendum for the November 2009 ballot. After a complete count of all submitted signatures, 122,007 were officially verified on September 1, 2009.
Referendum 74 (R-74 or Ref 74) was a Washington state referendum to approve or reject the February 2012 bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. On June 12, 2012, state officials announced that enough signatures in favor of the referendum had been submitted and scheduled the referendum to appear on the ballot in the November 6 general election. The law was upheld by voters in the November 6, 2012 election by a final margin of 7.4% (53.7% approve, 46.3% reject) and the result was certified on December 5.
The ballot title read as follows:
The ballot measure was accompanied by the following summary:
Title 26 of the Revised Code of Washington, entitled "domestic relations", governs marriage in Washington state. A 2012 bill, Senate Bill 6239, would legalize same-sex marriage and convert into a marriage on June 30, 2014, any undissolved state registered domestic partnership that does not involve at least one party aged 62 years or older. It also would add language at Section 26.04.010 exempting religious organizations from any requirement to "provide accommodations, facilities, advantages, privileges, services, or goods related to the solemnization or celebration of a marriage". Governor Christine Gregoire signed the engrossed bill on February 13. The bill was scheduled to take effect June 7 – 90 days after the end of the legislative session — but opponents submitted on June 6 the necessary signatures to suspend the bill and require a statewide voter referendum. On June 12, the Washington secretary of state announced that enough signatures had been submitted to place the referendum on the ballot for the November general election.
Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then precipitated—that is, become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides suitable conditions for many types of ecosystems, as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation.
The major cause of rain production is moisture moving along three-dimensional zones of temperature and moisture contrasts known as weather fronts. If enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation falls from convective clouds (those with strong upward vertical motion) such as cumulonimbus (thunder clouds) which can organize into narrow rainbands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation which forces moist air to condense and fall out as rainfall along the sides of mountains. On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by downslope flow which causes heating and drying of the air mass. The movement of the monsoon trough, or intertropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes.
"Rain" is a 1998 single released by the group SWV. The musical backing track is based on Jaco Pastorius's "Portrait of Tracy." First heard in 1997 on the group's third album Release Some Tension, the song was released as a single the next year. It peaked at number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 7 on the US Hot R&B Singles chart. Singer Tyrese appeared in the song's music video. He would later sing the hook on "Pullin' Me Back", a song by rapper Chingy, which sampled "Rain." Smooth Jazz musician Norman Brown covered the song on his 1999 album, Celebration. Toronto based producer duo Team Majestic Music, also sampled "Rain" for their song "Let It Fall."
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Ra:IN (stands for Rock and Inspiration) is a Japanese instrumental rock band. Formed in 2002 by Pata, Michiaki and Tetsu, the group is signed to the Danger Crue label. Former hide with Spread Beaver keyboardist DIE joined the band in May 2007, and drummer Tetsu left in April 2014, being replaced by Ryuichi Nishida. They have released three albums, a single and a two track EP, and have toured extensively, including international shows in China, Taiwan, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Russia.
Ra:IN was formed in October 2002 with Pata on guitar, Michiaki on bass and Tetsu on drums. They were named by Masayoshi Kabe, Michiaki's bandmate in Zoku Zoku Kazoku. They went on their first tour in December, with their debut maxi-single "The Border" released in April of next year. It was followed by their first album The Line in November. They had their first overseas performances in 2004; Shanghai on April 24-25 and one in Taipei in July. RaIN performed three shows in Paris in May 2005, and at the closing of the hide museum on September 9 back in Japan.