Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is damaging information, may be revealed to family members or associates rather than to the general public, it may involve using threats of physical, mental or emotional harm, or of criminal prosecution, against the victim or someone close to the victim. It is carried out for personal gain, most of position, money, or property. Blackmail may be considered a form of extortion. Although the two are synonymous, extortion is the taking of personal property by threat of future harm. Blackmail is the use of threat to prevent another from engaging in a lawful occupation and writing libelous letters or letters that provoke a breach of the peace, as well as use of intimidation for purposes of collecting an unpaid debt. In many jurisdictions, blackmail is a statutory offense criminal, carrying punitive sanctions for convicted perpetrators.

Blackmail is the name of a statutory offense in the United States and Wales, Australia, has been used as a convenient way of referring to certain other offenses, but was not a term used in English law until 1968. Blackmail meant payments rendered by settlers in the counties of England bordering Scotland in exchange for protection from Scottish thieves and marauders; the "mail" part of blackmail derives from Middle English male meaning "rent or tribute". This tribute was paid in goods or labour. Alternatively, it may be derived from two Scottish Gaelic words blathaich - to protect; the word blackmail is variously derived from the word for tribute paid by English and Scottish border dwellers to Border Reivers in return for immunity from raids and other harassment. The "mail" part of blackmail derives from Middle English male, "rent, tribute"; this tribute was paid in goods or labour. Alternatively, Mackay derives it from two Scottish Gaelic words blathaich pronounced bla-ich and mal, he notes. In Irish Gaelic, the term cíos dubh, meaning "black-rent" has been employed.

The offence of blackmail is created by section 87 of the Crimes Act 1958. Sections 87 and are derived from and identical to sections 21 and of the Theft Act 1968 printed above. Section 87 provides that a person guilty of blackmail is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to level 4 imprisonment; the offence of blackmail is created by Part 6B Section 172 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935. Section 172 provides that a person who menaces another intending to get the other to submit to a demand is guilty of blackmail, may be subject to imprisonment; the offence created by section 17 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994 is described by the marginal note to that section as "blackmail and demanding money with menaces". The offence is derived from the offence under section 21 of the Theft Act 1968. In England and Wales this offence is created by section 21 of the Theft Act 1968. Sections 21 and of that Act provide: A person is guilty of blackmail if, with a view to gain for himself or another or with intent to cause loss to another, he makes any unwarranted demand with menaces.

The nature of the act or omission demanded is immaterial, it is immaterial whether the menaces relate to action to be taken by the person making the demand. The Theft Act 1968 section 21 contains the present-day definition of blackmail in English law, it requires four elements: There must be a "demand". The demand must have been accompanied or reinforced by a "menace". Broadly, a menace is any threat, or implied consequence or action, which would coerce or pressure an unwilling person to accede to the demand; the making of a "demand with menace" must have been "unwarranted". Broadly, a demand with menace is always unwarranted unless both the making of the demand was reasonably justified, its reinforcement with the "menace" was proper, in the belief of the perpetrator. There must have been an intention by the perpetrator to make a gain for himself/herself or someone else, or to cause a loss to someone. Therefore, the requirement for this offence may be paraphrased as: A person makes a demand of someone else, accompanied or reinforced in some way by some consequence if they don't comply, which would coerce an unwilling victim to do what is demanded,and The intent is to make a gain or cause a loss, either The perpetrator did believe that the demand was based on reasonable groundsor The perpetrator did believe that the menace was a proper way to reinforce the demand.

The law considers a "demand with menaces" to always be "unwarranted", unless the perpetrator believed that his/her demand had reasonable grounds, actually believed that the menace was a proper way to reinforce that demand. These tests relate to the actual belief of the perpetrator, not the belief of an ordinary or reasonable person. Therefore

The Exmoor Horn is a white faced, horned breed of sheep. It was developed in Exmoor, Devon, in the 19th century, but is a descendant of sheep that had roamed on the moors for several hundred years. Research by the Exmoor National Park has found that numbers have declined: it estimates that in 1947 over 27% of sheep in the Somerset part of Exmoor were pure bred Exmoor Horns; as the number of sheep in the region has increased, so the percentage has dropped, today breeding Exmoor Horn ewes represent only about 10% of the total on Exmoor. The National Park reports that there are about 19,000 registered breeding ewes today, of which around 15,000 are on Exmoor. Small numbers are found on neighbouring Dartmoor. Exmoors are a hardy breed, so well suited to the high moors, they are ‘dual purpose’ - bred not just for their wool, but for the fact that they are prolific sheep and good mothers, producing quality lamb. Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders’ Society Exmoor Horn, Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Animal Science

Luis Zuloaga was a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher. Born in Valencia, Zuloaga was a left-handed curveball specialist, he started to be known as El Mono when he entered the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season of 1946. It was a moniker. Zuloaga pitched for the Cervecería Caracas of the First Division from 1942 through 1945 moved with the team when it relocated to the new circuit in 1946, he spent his entire career with the franchise, including when it was called the Leones del Caracas, pitching in the league until the 1955–1956 season. In addition, Zuloaga represented the Venezuela national team in the Baseball World Cup in 1944 and 1945, leading his team to win Gold medal at both championships. In 1944 he led all pitchers with a 3–0 record and a 0.94 earned run average, went 4–0 in 1945 to set a tournament all-time record for the most wins setting an all-time mark for most consecutive win decisions with his 7–0 undefeated streak at the event. Zuloaga started with Cervecería in his two first seasons, going 0-2 with a 4.37 ERA and 5-2, 1.91.

His most productive season came in 1947–1948, when he posted a 10-4 record and a 2.51 ERA in 118 innings of work, leading the league in starts while tying with Vargas' Don Newcombe for the most wins and shutouts, ending third in ERA. On the day after Christmas, Zuloaga hurled the first important single game in Venezuelan league history, a one-hit 5–0 masterpiece for Cervecería against Max Surkont and the Patriotas de Venezuela club, during which he permitted a leadoff single, struck out 10, walked two, did not allowed a runner to reach second base. After that he was plagued by an assortment of shoulder and elbow injuries and never recovered his old form, he was used sparingly during the next eight seasons in relief duty, retired in 1956. He finished with a 24-14 record and a 3.94 ERA in 358⅔ innings pitched during his 11 seasons in the league. He went 7-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 21 pitching appearances for Cervecería while playing in First Division. Zuloaga was a member of three Caracas champion teams.

As the league champions, Cervecería represented Venezuela in the inaugural Caribbean Series played in Cuba in 1949. In Game 5, Zuloaga won a complete-game pitching duel against Puerto Rico's Alonzo Perry and the Indios de Mayagüez by a score of 5–3, he returned to the Series in 1952 and 1953 as a reliever for Cervecería and the Leones, respectively. In 1952 he blanked Panama's Carta Vieja Yankees in one inning of work. In 1953 he hurled six innings of shutout ball against Puerto Rico's Cangrejeros de Santurce and Cuba's Leones de la Habana. In four series appearances, Zuloaga went 1–0 with 11 strikeouts and a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings of work. Following his playing retirement, Zuloaga joined forces with fellow Venezuelan shortstop Chico Carrasquel and opened Deportes Carrasquel Zuloaga, which became one of the most successful sporting goods retail store in Venezuela. Besides baseball, Zuloaga participated in numerous activities including soccer, softball and field, basketball and was a member of various multi-cultural clubs and mission groups.

Thanked with the sport that allowed him to have a healthy sporting life, in 1962 Zuloaga founded along with José Del Vecchio and some friends the Criollitos de Venezuela, a local little league corporation that operates not only as a baseball academy but as a means of integral formation of children and adolescents through sport. Former Criollitos ballplayers have played in professional baseball, including big leaguers Bobby Abreu, Cris Colón, Bo Díaz, Andrés Galarraga, Freddy García, Carlos Hernández, Pablo Sandoval, Luis Sojo and Omar Vizquel. In 2009, Zuloaga gained induction into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as part of their 7th class. In 2011 the Criollitos de Venezuela organization was inducted in the Venezuelan Sports Hall of Fame. Luis Zuloaga died in 2013 in Caracas, Venezuela, at the age of 90. Luis Zuloaga autobiography Baseball Reference bullpen Pura Pelota