mispequeascosas

Sango

2009-04-10T00:21:00.001-07:00

Sango is a demon slayer who hails from a village of professional demon slayers. Naraku wipes out her entire family and village, then causes Sango to blame InuYasha and try to kill him. When the ploy fails, Naraku revives Sango's little brother Kohaku, controlling him as a pawn to manipulate Sango's emotions and attack the rest of InuYasha's group. Sango seeks vengeance against Naraku, but her primary goal is to rescue Kohaku from Naraku's influence and save his life.

Of her broad repertoire of tools and tricks for fighting demons, her most powerful weapon is the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of purified demon bones. She is accompanied by the demon cat Kirara. Sango is often the victim of Miroku's lecherous tendencies and slaps him for it, but she later confesses her love to him and the two get engaged; after they marry, she allows Kirara to join her brother Kohaku and aid him in his demon slaying.

2007-12-05T07:20:00.001-08:00

André-Louis Debierne (July 14, 1874, Paris - August 31, 1949, Paris) was a French chemist and the discoverer of the element actinium (1899).
Debierne, a student of Charles Friedel, was a close friend of Pierre and Marie Curie and was associated with their work. In 1899, he discovered the radioactive element actinium, as a result of continuing the work with pitchblende that the Curies had initiated.
After the death of Pierre Curie in 1906, Debierne helped Marie Curie carry on and worked with her in teaching and research.
In 1910, he and Marie Curie prepared radium in metallic form in visible amounts. They did not keep it metallic, however. Having demonstrated the metal's existence as a matter of scientific curiosity, they reconverted it into compounds with which they might continue their researches. Debierne and Marie curie isolated radium into a pure metal.

2007-12-04T07:26:00.001-08:00

An explanation is a statement which points to causes, context, and consequences of some object, process, state of affairs, etc., together with rules or laws that link these to the object. Some of these elements of the explanation may be implicit.
Explanations can only be given by those with understanding of the object which is explained.
In scientific research, explanation is one of three purposes of research (the other two being exploration and description). Explanation is the discovery and reporting of relationships among different aspects of studied phenomena.
Some different types of explanations:

Deductive-nomological
Functional
Historical
Psychological
Reductive
Teleological
Methodological

2007-12-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806), headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, was the first American overland expedition to the Pacific coast and back.

Earlier European exploration to the Pacific coast
In 1804, the Louisiana Purchase sparked interest in expansion to the west coast. A few weeks after the purchase, President Thomas Jefferson, an advocate of western expansion, had the Congress appropriate $2,500 for an expedition. In a message to Congress, Jefferson wrote

Louisiana Purchase and a western expedition
See also: Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
"Left Pittsburgh this day at 11 o'clock with a party of 11 hands 7 of which are soldiers, a pilot and three young men on trial they having proposed to go with me throughout the voyage." they bought from the Native Americans, plus one that they stole in "retaliation" for a previous theft. Less than a month after leaving Fort Clatsop, they abandoned their canoes because portaging around all the falls proved terribly difficult.
On July 3, after crossing the Continental Divide, the Corps split into two teams so Lewis could explore the Marias River. Lewis' group of four met some Blackfeet Indians. Their meeting was cordial, but during the night, the Blackfeet tried to steal their weapons. In the struggle, two Indians were killed, the only native deaths attributable to the expedition. The group of four: Lewis, Drouillard, and the Field brothers, fled over 100 miles (160 km) in a day before they camped again. Clark, meanwhile, had entered Crow territory. The Crow tribe were known as horse thieves. At night, half of Clark's horses were gone, but not a single Crow was seen. Lewis and Clark stayed separated until they reached the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on August 11. Clark's team had floated down the rivers in bull boats. While reuniting, one of Clark's hunters, Pierre Cruzatte, blind in one eye and nearsighted in the other, mistook Lewis for an elk and fired, injuring Lewis in the thigh. From there, the groups were reunited and able to quickly return home by the Missouri River. They reached St. Louis on September 23, 1806.
The Corps of Discovery returned with important information about the new United States territory and the people who lived in it, as well as its rivers and mountains, plants and animals. The expedition made a major contribution to mapping the North American continent.

Journey
On December 9,

Reaction of the Spanish

The U.S. gained an extensive knowledge of the geography of the American West in the form of maps of major rivers and mountain ranges
Observed and described 178 plants and 122 species and subspecies of animals (see List of species described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition)
Encouraged Euro-American fur trade in the West
Opened Euro-American diplomatic relations with the Indians
Established a precedent for Army exploration of the West
Strengthened the U.S. claim to Oregon Territory
Focused U.S. and media attention on the West
Produced a large body of literature about the West (the Lewis and Clark diaries) Achievements

"Seaman", Lewis' black Newfoundland dog.

Captain Meriwether Lewis — private secretary to President Thomas Jefferson and leader of the Expedition.
Lieutenant William Clark — shared command of the Expedition, although technically second in command.
York — Clark's enslaved black manservant.
Sergeant Charles Floyd — the Expedition's quartermaster; died early in the trip. He was the one person who died during the Expedition.
Sergeant Patrick Gass — chief carpenter, promoted to Sergeant after Floyd's death.
Sergeant John Ordway — responsible for issuing provisions, appointing guard duties, and keeping records for the Expedition.
Sergeant Nathaniel Hale Pryor — leader of the 1st Squad; he presided over the court martial of privates John Collins and Hugh Hall.
Corporal Richard Warfington — conducted the return party to St. Louis in 1805.
Private John Boley — disciplined at Camp Dubois and was assigned to the return party.
Private William E. Bratton — served as hunter and blacksmith.
Private John Collins — had frequent disciplinary problems; he was court-martialed for stealing whiskey which he had been assigned to guard.
Private John Colter — charged with mutiny early in the trip, he later proved useful as a hunter; he earned his fame after the journey.
Private Pierre Cruzatte — a one-eyed French fiddle-player and a skilled boatman.
Private John Dame
Private Joseph Field — a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Reubin.
Private Reubin Field — a woodsman and skilled hunter, brother of Joseph.
Private Robert Frazer — kept a journal that was never published.
Private George Gibson — a fiddle-player and a good hunter; he served as an interpreter (probably via sign language).
Private Silas Goodrich — the main fisherman of the expedition.
Private Hugh Hall — court-martialed with John Collins for stealing whiskey.
Private Thomas Proctor Howard — court-martialed for setting a "pernicious example" to the Indians by showing them that the wall at Fort Mandan was easily scaled.
Private François Labiche — French fur trader who served as an interpreter and boatman.
Private Hugh McNeal — the first white explorer to stand astride the headwaters of the Missouri River on the Continental Divide.
Private John Newman — court-martialed and confined for "having uttered repeated expressions of a highly criminal and mutinous nature."
Private John Potts — German immigrant and a miller.
Private Moses B. Reed — attempted to desert in August 1804; convicted of desertion and expelled from the party.
Private John Robertson — member of the Corps for a very short time.
Private George Shannon — was lost twice during the expedition, once for sixteen days. Youngest member of expedition at 19.
Private John Shields — blacksmith, gunsmith, and a skilled carpenter; with John Colter, he was court-martialed for mutiny.
Private John B. Thompson — may have had some experience as a surveyor.
Private Howard Tunn — hunter and navigator.
Private Ebenezer Tuttle — may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise, he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
Private Peter M. Weiser — had some minor disciplinary problems at River Dubois; he was made a permanent member of the party.
Private William Werner — convicted of being absent without leave at St. Charles, Missouri, at the start of the expedition.
Private Isaac White — may have been the man sent back on June 12, 1804; otherwise, he was with the return party from Fort Mandan in 1805.
Private Joseph Whitehouse — often acted as a tailor for the other men; he kept a journal which extended the Expedition narrative by almost five months.
Private Alexander Hamilton Willard — blacksmith; assisted John Shields. He was convicted on July 12, 1804, of sleeping while on sentry duty and given one hundred lashes.
Private Richard Windsor — often assigned duty as a hunter.
Interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau — Sacagawea's husband; served as a translator and often as a cook.
Interpreter Sacagawea — Charbonneau's wife; translated Shoshone to Hidatsa for Charbonneau and was a valued member of the expedition.
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau — Charbonneau and Sacagawea's son, born February 11, 1805; his presence helped dispel any notion that the expedition was a war party, smoothing the way in Indian lands.
Interpreter George Drouillard — skilled with Indian sign language; the best hunter on the expedition.
"Seaman", Lewis' black Newfoundland dog. In popular culture

Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
History of the United States
USS Lewis and Clark and USNS Lewis and Clark
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Further reading

Lewis and Clark Among the Indians, James P. Ronda, 1984 - ISBN 0-8032-3870-3
Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose, 1997 - ISBN 0-684-82697-6
National Geographic Guide to the Lewis & Clark Trail, Thomas Schmidt, 2002 - ISBN 0-7922-6471-1
The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged), edited by Gary E. Moulton, 2003 - ISBN 0-8032-2950-X
The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 13-Volume Set, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 2002 - ISBN 0-8032-2948-8
The complete text of the Lewis and Clark Journals online, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (in progress)
In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific With Lewis and Clark, Robert B. Betts, 2002 - ISBN 0-87081-714-0
Online text of the Expedition's Journal at Project Gutenberg
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, Ken Burns, 1997 - ISBN 0-679-45450-0
Lewis and Clark: across the divide, Carolyn Gilman, 2003. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1588340996

2007-12-02T10:51:00.001-08:00

United Synagogue is an organisation of London Jews that was founded with the sanction of an act of parliament, in 1870. As of 2007, it remains the largest religious grouping within the British Jewish community, covering 62 Orthodox Jewish communities, and takes its religious authority from the Chief Rabbi of Britain.
The United Synagogue's values stem from the principles of both Torah and Halacha.

History
From 1866, Nathan Marcus Adler was instrumental in bringing together the United Synagogue, a union of the three City of London synagogues — the Great Synagogue, the New Synagogue, and the Hambro Synagogue — and their branch synagogues at Great Portland Street and Bayswater.
Its direct work has always been confined to the metropolis, but it has exercised, indirectly, considerable influence over the Jews of the British Empire and British Commonwealth. It is governed by an elected council representing the constituent congregations. In religious and ritual matters it is under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbi. The president of the United Synagogue in 1910 was Lord Rothschild.
The United Synagogue directs and supports educational and charitable work. The title chief rabbi is not found in the pre-expulsion records, though, before the Jews were banished in 1290, there was an official named presbyter omnium Judaeorum Angliae. The functions of this official cannot be proved to have been ecclesiastical. The title Chief Rabbi became well known through the eminence of occupants of the position such as Adler's immediate predecessor Solomon Hirschell (1762-1842).

2007-12-01T07:43:00.001-08:00

Finance Financial markets Financial market participants Corporate finance Personal finance Public finance Banks and Banking Financial regulation Types of Bank Central bank Advising bank Commercial bank Community development bank Custodian bank Depository bank Investment bank Islamic banking Merchant bank Mutual bank Mutual savings bank National bank Offshore bank Private bank Savings bank Swiss bank Banking terms Anonymous banking Automatic teller machine Deposit Deposit creation multiplier Loan List of banks List of banks in Canada List of banks in Hong Kong List of banks in Singapore The term national bank has several meanings:
In the past, the term "national bank" has been used synonymously with "central bank", but it is no longer used in this sense today. Some central banks may have the words "National Bank" in their name; retrospectively if a bank is named in this way, it is not automatically considered a central bank. Example: National-Bank AG in Essen, Germany is a privately owned commercial bank, just like National Bank of Canada of Montreal, Canada. On the other side, National Bank of Ethiopia is the central bank of Ethiopia and National Bank of Cambodia is the central bank of Cambodia

especially in developing countries, a bank owned by the state
an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) Colombia
National Bank for Rural and Agricultural Development (NABARD) - http://www.nabard.org
NABARD was established on 12th July 1982 to implement the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act 1981. It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
NABARD: (i) serves as an apex financing agency for the institutions providing investment and production credit for promoting the various developmental activities in rural areas; (ii) takes measures towards institution building for improving absorptive capacity of the credit delivery system, including monitoring, formulation of rehabilitation schemes, restructuring of credit institutions, training of personnel, etc. ; (iii) co-ordinates the rural financing activities of all institutions engaged in developmental work at the field level and maintains liaison with Government of India, State Governments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other national level institutions concerned with policy formulation; and (iv) undertakes monitoring and evaluation of projects refinanced by it.
NABARD's refinance is available to State Co-operative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (SCARDBs), State Co-operative Banks (SCBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Commercial Banks (CBs) and other financial institutions approved by RBI. While the ultimate beneficiaries of investment credit can be individuals, partnership concerns, companies, State-owned corporations or co-operative societies, production credit is generally given to individuals.
NABARD operates throughout the country through its 28 Regional Offices and one Sub-office, located in the capitals of all the states/union territories.It has 336 District Offices across the country, one Sub-office at Port Blair and one special Cell at Srinagar. It also has 6 training establishments.

India

New Zealand
New Zealand currently has one state-owned bank, Kiwibank created by Labour-Alliance coalition government.
The New Zealand government formerly owned two other banks in New Zealand: The Bank of New Zealand, from 1945 to 1992 when it was privatized by Bolger's National government, and the Post Office Savings Bank from when it was created by separating New Zealand Post's functions to when it was privatized and sold to ANZ New Zealand in 1989. ANZ became known as ANZ-PostBank before later becoming completely assimilated.

State-owned banks
The National Bank of New Zealand is a private bank corporation which has been purchased by ANZ 2003 from its former owner, Lloyds TSB.

National Bank of New Zealand
National Bank of Pakistan is a major bank in Pakistan.

Serbia
In the United States, the term "national bank" originally referred to the revolutionary era Bank of North America, its successor First Bank of the United States, or its successor the Second Bank of the United States. All are now defunct.
In the modern U.S. the term "national bank" has a precise meaning: a banking institution chartered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC"), an agency in the U.S. Treasury Department, pursuant to the National Bank Act. The inclusion of the word "National" in the bank's name or the designation "National Association" or its abbreviation "N.A." is a required part of the distinguishing legal title of a national bank, as in "Bank of America, N.A." Many "state banks," by contrast, are chartered by the applicable State Government (usually the State's Department of Banking), although the banks are still typically regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), who insures their deposits.
Notwithstanding the name, not all "national banks" have nationwide operations. Some "national banks" have operations in only one state. Further, some state-chartered banks have nationwide operations, but are not properly called "national banks." "National banks" should also be distinguished from federal savings associations (which include federal savings & loans and federal savings banks), which are financial institutions chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision, another agency in the U.S. Treasury Department.

2007-11-30T08:23:00.001-08:00

Marcus Antonius Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus (c. 192 - April 12, 238), known in English as Gordian II, was Roman Emperor during the year 238.
Gordian was the son of Emperor Gordian I. Gordian's mother may be the granddaughter of Greek Sophist, consul and tutor Herodes Atticus. His younger sister was Antonia Gordiana, who was the mother of Emperor Gordian III. The official history of the Roman emperors provides the only account of Gordian's early career. Since his memory was cherished after his death, the information is questionable and remains unproven. According to this source, Gordian served as quaestor in Elagabalus' reign and as praetor and consul suffect with Alexander Severus as emperor. In 237, Gordian went to the Africa Roman province under his father's command as a governor.
Early in 235, emperor Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Avita Mamaea were assassinated by mutinous troops in Germania Inferior. The leader of the rebellion, Maximinus Thrax, became emperor, despite his popular background and the disapproval of the Roman Senate. Pushed by the local politicians, Gordian's father began a revolt against Maximinus in 238 and became Augustus on March 22. Due to Gordian I's advanced age, the younger Gordian was attached to the imperial throne and acclaimed Augustus too. Father and son saw their pretensions ratified both by the senate and most of the other provinces, due to Maximinus' unpopularity.
Opposition would come from the neighbouring province of Numidia. Capelianus, governor of Numidia and a loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax, renewed his alliance to the former emperor and invaded Africa province with the only legion stationing in the region III Augusta, and other veteran units. Gordian II, at the head of a militia army of untrained soldiers, lost the Battle of Carthage and was killed, and Gordian I took his own life. This first rebellion against Maximinus Thrax was unsuccessful but, by the end of 238, Gordian II's nephew would be recognised emperor by the whole Roman world as Gordian III.

2007-11-29T08:41:00.001-08:00

The below is a list of topics related to patents. See list of patent legal concepts for a list of articles on various legal aspects of patents, including special types of patents and patent applications.

Treaties, conventions and other legal texts and frameworks

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement)
American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA)
Budapest Treaty
Community patent (proposed)
EU Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions (proposed, then rejected)
EU Directive on the Patentability of Biotechnological Inventions
European Patent Convention (EPC)
European patent law
European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) (proposed)
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
Japanese patent law
London Agreement (concluded but not in force yet)
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
U.S. Patent Reform Act of 2005
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Patent Law Treaty (PLT)
South African patent system
Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) (proposed)
Statute of Monopolies 1623
Strasbourg Convention
United States patent law

2007-11-28T08:27:00.001-08:00

The Force de frappe (literally Striking Force; meant for dissuasion, i.e. Deterrence) is the designation of what used to be a triad of air-, sea- and land-based French Nuclear Forces, part of the Military of France. France has the third largest nuclear force in the world, after the United States and Russia (see Estimated stockpiles).

History

Present state
France does not have active IRBMs anymore, the IRBM base at the Plateau d'Albion (Vaucluse region) has been deactivated in 1999. All army units equipped with SRBMs as the Pluton and Hadès missiles have been disbanded at the same time.

Land-based component
The French Navy includes a nuclear strategic branch, the Force Océanique Stratégique, composed of a fleet of:
One additional Triomphant-class SSBN, Le Terrible, is under construction and is scheduled for commissioning in 2008 to replace the aging L'Inflexible.
Development of the new Barracuda class of attack submarines is under way to replace all Rubis-class boats. Deliveries are scheduled from 2016 to 2026.

Four nuclear ballistic submarines: one Redoutable-class unit (L'Inflexible) of 1970s design, armed with the M4 SLBM, and three Triomphant-class SSBNs (Le Triomphant, Le Téméraire, and Le Vigilant) of late 1980s design, armed with the more modern M45 SLBM. Starting in 2010, the longer-range M51 SLBM will gradually replace the M45.
Six Rubis-class nuclear attack submarines of late 1970s design, tasked with protecting the SSBN fleet.

2007-11-27T09:43:00.001-08:00

Enlightened absolutism (also known as benevolent or enlightened despotism) is a form of despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment, a historical period. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories. They tended to allow religious toleration, freedom of speech and the press, and the right to hold private property. Most fostered the arts, sciences, and education.
Enlightened absolutists' beliefs about royal power were often similar to those of absolute monarchs, in that many believed that they had the right to govern by birth and generally refused to grant constitutions, seeing even the most pro-monarchy ones as being an inherent check on their power. The difference between an absolutist and an enlightened absolutist is based on a broad analysis of how far they embraced Enlightenment. In particular, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II can be said to have fully embraced the enlightened concept of the social contract. In contrast, Empress Catherine II of Russia entirely rejected the concept of the social contract while taking up many ideas of the Enlightenment, for example by being a great patron of the arts in Imperial Russia and incorporating many ideas of enlightened philosophers, especially Montesquieu, in her Nakaz, to a committee meant to revise Russian law.
In effect, the monarchs ruled with the intent of improving the lives of their subjects in order to strengthen or reinforce their authority. For example, the abolition of serfdom in some regions of Europe was achieved by enlightened rulers. In the spirit of enlightened absolutism, Emperor Joseph II said, "Everything for the people, nothing by the people."
Other enlightened absolutists, such as King Frederick the Great maintained the ideals of the Enlightenment while also permitting the practice of serfdom. The governing political philosophy of "rationalism" under the enlightened ancient regime, permitted these hereditary monarchs to commit hypocritical, yet rationally justifiable actions. Unlike the absolutist King Louis XIV of France, Frederick viewed himself as the "First servant of the State," rather than the state itself.
In modern times, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said of Oman has been characterized as an enlightened absolutist, as while he maintains an absolute monarchy he also seeks to improve his country and rule with a light hand.

2007-11-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Radio Talk-show host on Cape Talk
Mweb columnist
Regular commentator on the Jeff Rense show
Jani Allan (born 11 September 1953) is a South African journalist and top radio commentator. Allan was formerly South Africa's leading columnist during her time at The Sunday Times (South Africa) newspaper. Her personal life has also frequently made the headlines, particularly in 1988 with her association with one of her Sunday Time's interviewees, right-wing AWB leader, Eugène Terre'Blanche. Speculation was intensified, regarding their association in 1992 during Allan's high-profile libel case against British broadcaster, Channel 4. Allan later returned to the mainstream of the South African media with a column and associated forum on Mweb and later as a radio show host on Cape Talk radio. Although Allan currently resides in the USA, and has been operating as a freelance journalist, as well as making several radio show appearance, as a radio show commentator.

Biography
In 1988, a Sunday Times interview for Allan's 'Face to face' column was published between Allan and Eugene Terreblanche , the right-wing AWB leader, Eugène Terre'Blanche.
Both were reported to have had several meetings following the interview as Allan was writing a book on right-wing politics in South Africa, and Terre'Blanche was a subject. Allan also accompanied the AWB to some of their rallies and reported for the Sunday Times.
Speculation regarding their relationship was intensified following the Paardekraal incident, whereby Allan and Terre'Blanche had organised to meet up at the Voortrekker Monument restaurant to discuss Terre'Blanche's inclusion in Allan's book. Following the meeting, Terre'Blanche allegedly crashed into the Voortrekker Monument's gates. The crash prompted police and media appearances and Allan and Terre'Blanche were seen together on the Paardekraal monument steps. Although there was little evidence to suggest an affair, the rumour mills did not hesitate in sensationalising the incident.
Allan herself sought to set the record straight in the same week, with her own version of events in a front-page leading story in The Sunday Times, with the headline ' The REAL story of me and ET and the SAP'. Her story cleared Terre'Blanche's as did his own version of events. Yet a court case of criminal damage (regarding the damage to the Vootrekker monument's gates) as well as crimen injura (regarding Terre'Blanche's expressed disrespectful language towards a police officer). In light of these charges, it was also alleged that the government (then in negotiations with the ANC and anticipating a multi-racial election) had been hoping to capitalize on events, to weaken the AWB and the right-wing challenge which they posed. Despite this, Terre'Blanche was found not-guilty on both charges. The AWB certainly was negatively affected by the court case and affair allegations.
Allan later released recorded telephone-tapes between her and Terre'Blanche to The Sunday Times. Yet in light of the bomb incident (a bomb had recently exploded in Jani's apartment and the planters were unknown, with suspects ranging from the AWB and intelligence sources among others) Allan retreated to London before the tapes were published, for her own safety. Although it would be several years until Allan would permanently return to South Africa.

Association with Eugene Terre'Blanche
In 1992, Allan sued Channel 4, the British broadcaster, for libel, claiming that in their documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife by Nick Broomfield, she was presented as a "woman of easy virtue". The documentary-maker, Broomfield, who was following the AWB and its activities, claimed that Jani Allan had an affair with Eugene Terre'Blanche, accompanying this were photos of Allan, when she worked as a photographic model.
Channel 4 was represented was by the late QC George Carman, and Allan herself admitted to Carman

Libel case against Channel 4
In 1994, during an interview with SABC, Jani Allan revealed that she had become a born again Christian. Despite not being successful in her high-profile libel case against Channel 4, she revealed that the case had served a purpose in that she found God. Having previously held faith in the British justice system and the belief that justic would prevail, if one told the truth, Allan was disillusioned with the outcome of the case and revelaed one could not put too much store in man's judgement. Allan revealed that the bible had brought about a 'dramatic change' in herself and that she had a 'new heart' and that her otlooks had changed. She also highlighted previous things which were important to her such as fame, fashion and fortune were now trasient.

Christianism
In 1997, London's The Independent ran an article

Friendship with Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Prior to becoming a Journalist, Allan had worked as a teacher as well as photographic model. As she began to get involved in the media world, she worked at SAAN (South African Associated Newspapers).

Career

Sunday Times
Allan got her break with the Sunday Times (where she would work for over a decade) when she was appointed gossip columnist with her Just Jani column. She frequently interviewed South Africa's celebrity elite and personalities in the entertainment world. She also interviewed foreign celebrities such as Robert Moore.

Just Jani
With her growing popularity, Allan was appointed the leading columnist and in her new column, Face to Face she would regularly interview political figures. Her guests ranged from Winnie Mandela to far-right political leaders such as Eugene Terre'Blanche.

Face to Face
Following her unsuccessful court case in London, Allan began to work with former SABC journalist, Cliff Saunders, as a domestic worker (yet in a role that was more similar to that of a PA). Yet Allan was unknowingly and allegedly working as a spy for her boss. Allan, a personal friend of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, was unknowingly employed to gather information on the IFP and its actvities as well as it's members. Allegedly Saunders was a previous apartheid spy and was now working for the new ANC regime and the IFP's activities were supposedly of much interest to the ANC.

Unwitting spy
Allan returned to South Africa in 1996, to be with her adoptive-mother who's health was deteriorating. Prior to returning, Allan also became a born-again Christian in 1994.Upon her return she was also interviewed by local Style magazine and appeared on the front cover .
She went on to make several appaearances in popular magazines and published articles in a wide range of publications. Of which included her regular lifestyle column for M-Net website's lifestyle section.

Return to South Africa
Jani Allan was also involved as a columnist for MWeb. As well as writing for the website, she had her own discussion forum. Although controversially Mweb and Jani Allan parted company and her forum site was removed following an article in which Allan questioned today's non-colonial Africa.

Mweb
In 1997 she was announced as a host on Cape Talk Radio, a Cape Town-based popular radio show and launched her show Jani's world which aired on Friday evening's between 9pm to midnight.The show became the station's most popular show, even towards it's cancellation.
Yet her show, she and her guest sparked controversy in September 1999, when she interviewed American right-winger Keith Johnson of the Militia of Montana. Johnson made remarks about abbinical teachings, Israel, Hitler and the Holocaust. As well as outlining global conspiracy theory, he denounced homosexuality, race mixing and former South African President, Nelson Mandela. Allan sparked controversy, as she did not correct Johnson regarding these issues. Although Allan herself did not express that she agreed with the controversial views expressed.The interview[2] gained a considerable negative reaction from viewers and an apology was broadcast two days later.
In a show broadcast with Jan Lamprecht on capetalk, both discussed 'Mugabe's reign of terror and the Zimbabwe land grabs'. Shortly after the show, she was held up at gunpoint with a magnum 44 in an incident which may have been related to the broadcast.
Allan hosted the 3 hour evening show for three years,despite the success of the show, which had high audience figures and was popular across racial boundaries, her contract was terminated in October 2000. It was claimed that 'there is no place for the likes of Jani Allan in the New South Africa." Allan commented that the owners of the station found her style too politically incorrect and controversial.[3]

Cape Talk Radio
In 2001 Allan relocated to the USA, she had previously displayed discontent with the ruling South African government and had recently been held up in a Cape Town hostage drama. Allan also outlined her green card woes and her destructive and short-lived recent marriage on her blog and Jeff Rense's website [4].

Emigration to the USA
Six months after arriving in America in 2001, Allan married an American man. Yet the marriage soon collapsed with Allan citing the increasingly abusive nature of the marriage and physical as well as mental isolation. Soon after her hospitalisation for both physical and psychological effects of the relationship, she fled the marital home.

Second marriage
In her own local state of Pennsylvania, Allan was also providing horoscopes [5] from 2003 in local magazine 'NewHopePennsylvania' , including both human as well as pet horoscopes, Allan herself is a dog lover. Previously, Allan shared a Sandton flat with former friend and colleague, Linda Shaw, The Sunday Time's astrologer, and who also testified in the 1992 libel case.

Astrologer

US Radio appearances
On 17th June 2004, Jani Allan appeared as the guest on the Jeff Rense show. During the show, which had a listenership of 17m, Allan highlighted the plights of many white Afrikaner families and she encouraged Americans to sponsor white Afrikaner refugees. During the interview, Allan also focussed on her own experiences as a victim of crime as well as on the high rate of white farm murders in South Africa.
Jani Allan later became the regular Friday-night weekly guest-commentator. The popularity of her interview with Rense, also resulted in a repeat of the interview.

Jeff Rense Show
In January 2005, Allan appeared on the 'Flipside with Robby Noel', broadcast on Republic radio. Throughout the interview, Allan questioned the gun laws in place in South Africa as well as other South African-related matters, such as media freedom, crime and cruelty to animals.
Ironically just as Allan had been invited as a weekly Friday night guest commentator on the Jeff Rense Show, she was also invited to hold the same position on Robby Noel's show, 'The Flipside with Robby Noel'.

The Flipside with Robby Noel
Jani Allan has also appeared on the Larry Pratt show, discussing gun laws in place in South Africa. She was also a guest on the information corner radio, [6].

Other radio appearance
Jani Allan has also been involved in writing for conservative news website, worldnetdaily. Her articles for the website have covered issues such as Zimbawe and comparisons with animal cruelty in the country as well as traditional African medical practices.

Worldnetdaily
In 2002, Allan was played by an actress in the BBC production, Get Carman: The Trials of George Carman QC. Carman had previously presented Channel 4, during Allan's earlier libel case, and the television production was based upon the libel case among other high-profile court cases that Carman was involved with.
In 2004, Allan was played by Joan Collins in a comedy spoof for SABC.

Screen depictions

Views
In the interview[7] with Jeff Rense on United States Radio. Allan accused Thabo Mbeki's ANC-led government of targeting white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners, with a genocide campaign. The allegations were sparked by the high proportion of white South African farm attacks taking place in rural South Africa, and were reinforced by the forced and violent removals of white farmers in neighbouring Zimbabwe. Allan also asked for American families to start sponsoring Afrikaner families as political refugees.Allan claimed Mbeki 'has a total obsession with race, that he hates the Afrikaner people and that he is obsessed with what he terms 'colonial oppression'. Apart for alleged genocide, another reason which reinforced Allan's decision to depart South Africa was following an incident where she was held up at gunpoint in Cape Town. Allan relocated to Pennsylvania, USA. Allan is regarded as an outspoken critic of the ANC government as well as an ambassador for the Afrikaner cause.

White genocide
In July 2004, in an article [8] Allan questioned the price of free speech, following Jan Lamprecht's decision to take down his website, wwww.AfricanCrisis.org following an intimidation campaign by the ANC. The site (now reinstated) chronicles the high rate of white farm murders and brutality within South Africa. Lamprecht faced problems when he gave Jani a voice on his site and associated forum. The forum and site was inundated with hate-mail and spam (from users allegedly sympathetic the ANC regime) particularly following Allan's appearance on the Jeff Rense show, which attracted millions of domestic listeners as well as international interest. The ANC allegedly employed a Sunday Times journalist and former colleague to publish a report discrediting Allan's expressed opinion in the show.The web site as well as Jani's forum often outlined the barbaric crime situation, the ANC's ineffectiveness as well as their Marxist origins. A friend of Lamprecht's from the TAU (Transvaal Agricultural Union)even wrote to him stating that "By giving Jani a platform you have angered the movers and shakers... WATCH YOUR BACK!". Allegedly, ANC propagandists were assigned to the site to cause trouble.
In related situations regarding apparent oppression of freedom of speech, Jani Allan's apartment was bombed in 1990. Although contrasting theories persist, regarding the observation that it was an AWB bomb or whether South African intelligence or the ANC were involved. At the time, Allan was controversial as being clearly politically-right and often at odds with the NP's negotiations with the ANC at the time. And as the leading columnist of The Sunday Times, which attracted a huge readership, she had an influential role.
Jani Allan's M-Net forum and column immediately lost it's M-WEB sponsorship and was taken down overnight following an article she wrote on the site, which questioned post-colonial Africa.
In 2000, Allan was also held hostage, following an interview discussing the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. (See CapeTalk section.)

Zimbabwe and animal cruelty
In 2004, Allan also published a damning report on communist findings within the ruling ANC government [10]. Allan made many observations, particularly the military training of many ANC members in Soviet Russia.

ANC communism
In 2005, Allan expressed her own feelings [11]regarding the case of the late Terri Schiavo, whose parents fought extensive legal challenges to keep their daughter alive. Following her collapse in 1990, she had been leading a life of institutilzation for 15 years and was declared as being in a persistent vegetative state and was dependant on a feeding tube. The courts eventually ruled that the feeding tube be removed, and Schiavo be left to die. Allan as well as others were outraged and she branded the actions as a 'public execution'.

Terri Schiavo
Allan has also expressed her disapproval [12] of the gun laws in place in South Africa, which has the highest rate of firearms-related murders in the world. The South African gun laws make it more difficult for home-owners to obtain guns and their accompanying licenses. With suburban areas which are characterised by the high level of security, for many South Africans, they are regarded as a form of household protection rather than intimidation. Allan also speculated that the gun laws placed white South Africans, in particular, in a vulnerable position and left the community susceptible to an alleged planned genocide known as operation Uhuru as well as other names.

Gun control
It was widely speculated that in an internet letter by President Mbeki, he was referring to Jani Allan when he wrote that "Having convinced her listeners that she fled from her white suburb in Cape Town, because the black savages were at her door, some editor in our country will then seize on her victory triumphantly to proclaim that 'overseas the perception remains that SA is one of the world's crime capitals'. President Mbeki blamed the unnamed woman's reasoning on "The psychological residue of apartheid has produced a psychosis among some of us such that, to this day, they do not believe that our non-racial democracy will survive and succeed.''
The reaction from the ANC to the interview with Rense according to Allan's msn groups page was : "We knew Jani Allan was a crazy attention seeker, but to tell such blatant lies about genocide being committed against white South Africans to seven million gullible Americans is beyond the pale. She has slandered our President and told lies that surely constitute treason."

Present
She has a degree in English Literature.
She is a trained classical pianist.
She is mentioned in the Jeremy Maggs' book/memoir 'Daze of my life'
She is mentioned in the 2003 Pat Hopkins book 'Cringe the beloved country'.
She used to drive a red Ferrari whilst working for The Sunday Times.

2007-11-25T08:31:00.001-08:00

Overview
History
Statistics
Stations
Trains
Popular Culture
Map
London Transport Portal
The tube map is the schematic diagram that represents the lines, stations, and zones of London's rapid transit rail system, the London Underground.
A schematic diagram rather than a map, it represents not geography but relations. It considerably distorts the actual relative positions of stations, but accurately represents their sequential and connective relations with each other along the lines and their placement within fare zones. The basic design concepts, especially that of mapping topologically rather than geographically, have been widely adopted for other network maps around the world.

History
The first underground line in London, the Metropolitan Railway opened in 1863. However, as different lines on the Underground controlled by different companies, no official unified map was produced until 1906, when Charles Tyson Yerkes unified the railways and operated them under a combined "Underground" brand.
Early Underground maps were laid out on a geographically-correct basis, and indeed at first had maps of the streets and other local features laid on top of them. by which time details such as streets had been removed.
The 1932 edition was the last geographically-based map to be published, before the much more familiar style of map took its place. However, the actual routes are shown as blue lines on the Transport for London bus maps.

Early maps
The first diagrammatic map of the Underground was designed by Harry Beck in 1933.

Beck's maps
Beck had by 1960 fallen out with the Underground's publicity officer, Harold Hutchinson. Hutchinson, though not a designer himself, drafted his own version of the Tube map in 1960; it removed the smoothed corners of Beck's design, lines were less straight and created some highly cramped areas (most notably, around Liverpool Street).

After Beck
Alterations have been made to the map over the years. Recent designs have incorporated changes to the network, such as the Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee Line Extension. In addition, since 2002 the Underground ticket zones have been added, to better help passengers judge the cost of a journey. Nevertheless the map remains true to Beck's original scheme, and many other transport systems use schematic maps to represent their services, undoubtedly inspired by Beck. A facsimile of Beck's original design is on display on the southbound platform at his local station, Finchley Central. The map is currently maintained and updated by Alan Foale, of The LS Company.

Today
The design has become so widely known that it is now instantly recognisable as representing London. It has been featured on T-shirts, postcards, and other memorabilia. In 2006 the design came second in a televised search for the most well known British Design Icon. published a design based on the tube map, purporting to show the relationships between musicians and musical genres in the 20th century. The map is discussed by its creator, Dorian Lynskey, on the Guardian's Culture vulture blog.
On January 11, 2007 Lord Adonis unveiled a depiction of the Tube Map featuring the names of successful schools and students at GCSE level, as part of the London Student Awards 2007.
David Booth's The Tate Gallery by Tube 1986 is one of a series of publicity posters for the Underground. His work showed the lines of the map squeezed out of tubes of paint and has since been used on the cover of the map itself.
In 2003, to coincide with the publication of a book, the London Transport Museum released a "World Metro Map" strongly based on the London diagram and approved by TfL. Technical aspects
The table below shows the changing use of colours since the first Beck map. The current colours are taken from the TfL Colour Standards guide, which defines the precise colours and also a colour naming scheme which is particular to TfL. Earlier maps were limited by the number of colours available that could be clearly distinguished in print. Improvements in colour printing technology have reduced this problem and the map has coped with the identification of new lines without great difficulty.
Service information is indicated by the format:

Solid colour – normal service
Outline colour – limited service
Alternating solid and outline colour – under construction or closed for renovation Line colours
An important symbol that Beck introduced was the 'tick' to indicate stations. This allowed stations to be placed closer together while retaining clarity, because the tick was only on the side of the line nearer the station name (ideally centrally placed, though the arrangement of lines did not always allow this).
From the start, interchange stations were given a special mark to indicate their importance, though its shape changed over the years. In addition, from 1960, marks were used to identify stations that offered convenient interchange with British Railways (now National Rail). The following shapes have been used:
Since 1970 the map has used the British Rail 'double arrow' beside the station name to indicate main-line interchanges. Where the main-line station has a different name from the Underground station that it connects with, since 1977 this has been shown in a box.
In recent years, some maps have marked stations offering step-free access suitable for wheelchair users with a blue circle containing a wheelchair symbol in white.
Some interchanges are more convenient than others and the map designers have repeatedly rearranged the layout of the map to try to indicate where the interchanges are more complex, such as by making the interchange circles more distant and linking them with thin black lines. Sometimes the need for simplicity overrides this goal; the Bakerloo/Northern Lines interchange at Charing Cross is not very convenient and passengers would be better off changing at Embankment, but the need to simplify the inner London area means that the map seems to indicate that Charing Cross is the easier interchange.

Empty circle (one for each line or station, where convenient) - standard default mark
Empty circle (one for each station) - 1938 experimental map
Empty diamond (one for each line) - early 1930s
Empty square - interchange with British Railways, 1960-1964
Circle with dot inside - interchange with British Rail, 1964-1970 Station marks
The map aims to make the complicated network of services easy to understand, but there are occasions when it might be useful to have more information about the services that operate on each line.
The District Line is the classic example; it is shown as one line on the map, but comprises services on the main route between Upminster and Ealing/Richmond/Wimbledon; between Edgware Road and Wimbledon; and the High Street Kensington to Olympia shuttle service. For most of its history the map has not distinguished these services, which could be misleading to an unfamiliar user. Recent maps have tried to tackle this problem by separating the different routes at Earl's Court.
Limited-service routes have sometimes been identified with hatched lines (see above), with some complications added to the map to show where peak-only services ran through to branches, such as that to Chesham on the Metropolitan Line. The number of routes with a limited service has declined in recent years as patronage recovered from its early 1980s' low point. As there are now fewer restrictions to show, and remaining ones are now mainly indicated in the accompanying text rather than by special line markings.

Lines or services
The tube map exists to help people navigate the Underground, and it has been questioned whether it should play a wider role in helping people navigate London itself. The question has been raised as to whether main-line railways should be shown on the map, in particular those in Inner London. The Underground has largely resisted adding additional services to the standard tube map, instead producing separate maps with different information:
The maps showing all the National Rail routes provide useful additional information at the expense of considerably increased complexity, as they contain almost 700 stations. This makes them harder to read, even when A3 size.

Standard tube map. Underground, DLR, zone boundaries and a few National Rail lines.
Central London map. A cropped and enlarged version of the standard map showing only the central area. Some versions show Thameslink and Northern City Line services.
Travelcard Zones map. Underground, DLR, National Rail, Tramlink and zone boundraries.
High Frequency Services map. The same as the Travelcard Zones map except that lines offering services at greater than 15-minute intervals are de-emphasised so that the more frequent routes can be seen easily.
London Connections map. Produced by the Association of Train Operating Companies, this provides the same information as TfL's Travelcard Zones map but extends a little further beyond zone 6. The National Rail lines are emphasised by thicker lines and coloured according to their Train Operating Company.
Tube Access Guide. Indicates stations with full or partial step-free access suitable for wheelchair users.
Bicycle map. Underground and DLR only. Shows in green sections of the network where bicycles are permitted.
Real Time Disruption map. Underground and DLR only. Interactive web-based map with disrupted lines and stations highlighted, others in light grey.
Interactive journey map. Underground and DLR only. Interactive web-based map that can be used to access information about each station (e.g. bus connections and disabled access).

2007-11-24T09:31:00.001-08:00

793,162 0.3% of the US population
Pacific Islander Americans are residents of the United States with original ancestry from the Pacific Islands. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population. They are most concentrated in Hawaii, Alaska and to a lesser extent the West Coast, specifically California.

Definition

In politics
Pacific Islander Americans have media portrayal mostly as professional wrestlers, but are also portrayed as regular people too. The Rock, with a Samoan mother and a Black Canadian father, has been the most notable Pacific Islander American professional wrestler, branching out into movies like the The Scorpion King. Other Pacific Islander American professional wrestlers include Samoa Joe and Solofa Fatu. Lilo Pelekai and Nani Pelekai are Native Hawaiian Americans in the Disney show called "Lilo & Stitch". Pacific Islander Americans portrayed two major supporting characters on the CBS television series Hawaii Five-O—Native Hawaiian Zulu as Kono Kalakaua and Samoan American Al Harrington as Det. Ben Kokua. Also, Hawaiian-American Jason Momoa plays Ronon Dex on the popular science-fiction TV show Stargate Atlantis.
Vili Fualaau is a Samoan-American boy who made headlines with his controversial relationship with Mary Kay Letourneau.
The most famous stage character is Bloody Mary (South Pacific) of the South Pacific musical and movie. She is a souvenir trader to US Sailors stationed in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Though originally cast as Juanita Hall, an African American, she is often also cast as an Asian or Pacific Islander American in newer local productions.

Media
Pacific Islander Americans are well represented in American football: Peter Tuipulotu, Reno Mahe, Vai Sikahema, Nuu Faaola, Jesse Sapolu, Troy Polamalu, Maake Kemoeatu, Mosi Tatupu and his son Lofa, Manu Tuiasosopo and his sons Marques and Zach, and Junior Seau are professional football players.
Many Pacific Islander Americans also play the most popular sport of their homeland, rugby, and have a strong influence in US rugby, with many going on to represent the USA, including Salesi Sika, David Niu, Vahafolau Esikia, Fifita Mounga, Olo Fifita, Thretton Palamo, Albert Tuipolotu, and Vaea Anitoni.
Pacific Islanders are also represented in sumo wrestling. Akebono Taro is a famous sumo-wrestling Yokozuna of Native Hawaiian ancestry.
Diving great Greg Louganis, although often identified with his adoptive Greek-American heritage, is of Samoan and Swedish ancestry.

Sports

Population
Polynesian Americans are Americans of Polynesian descent.
Large subcategories of Polynesian Americans include Native Hawaiians and Samoan Americans. In addition there are smaller communities of Tongan Americans.

Population
A Samoan American is an American who is of ethnic Samoan descent and may be from either the independent nation Samoa or the American territory of American Samoa. Many Samoans live in Los Angeles, Carson, Long Beach, San Jose, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Independence (Missouri), Houston, Seattle and in the state of Hawaii. Since the end of World War II, persons born in American Samoa are United States nationals, but not United States citizens. (This is the only circumstance under which an individual would be one and not the other.) For this reason, Samoans can move to Hawaii or the mainland United States and obtain citizenship comparatively easily.
Samoan American is a subcategory of Polynesian American.

2007-11-23T07:33:00.001-08:00

The fishing industry is the commercial activity aimed at delivery of fish and other seafood products for human consumption or as input factors in other industrial processes. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics the total fish production in the world in 2001 was 130 million tonnes. In addition to the commercial catches, 37.9 million tonnes were produced in aquaculture plants.
The fishing insustry comprises of the following chain:

Commercial fishing (fisheries)
Fish processing
Fish products sales Fishing industry in Canada
The Manitoba commercial fishing industry is comprised of over 3,600 fisherpersons who produce 25 percent of Canada's freshwater catch. Lake Winnipeg is the biggest contributor of commercially landed fish species. Of the 13 fish species commercially harvested, pickerel (walleye), Sauger, lake whitefish, northern pike, yellow perch and lake trout are the most highly valued species. Others include white sucker, tullibee, carp, burbot, lake sturgeon, Goldeye and white bass.

2007-11-22T08:06:00.001-08:00

Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter was a LORAN-C transmitter at Iwo Jima, Japan of Grid 9970 at 24°48′8″N, 141°19′32″E. Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter had a transmission power of 4000 kilowatts, which is more than the most powerful broadcasting stations.
Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter had a 411.5 metre (1350 ft) tall guyed mast, which was built in 1963. It collapsed in 1965 at repair trial of a defective eyebolt of a backstage insulator. The collapsing tower killed 6 people and also destroyed the transmitter building. The tower was later replaced by a tower of same height. On September 29, 1993 the Iwo Jima LORAN-C transmitter was transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Government of Japan. In 1994, the tranmitter was shut down, and its tower was demolished. The service is now provided from LORAN-C transmitter Niijima.

2007-11-21T07:13:00.001-08:00

This is a list of literature, categorized by country, language, or cultural group.
Abkhaz literature
Albanian literature
American literature

see also

African American literature
Native American literature
Southern literature
Arabic literature
Argentine literature
Armenian literature
Australian literature
Austrian literature
Azerbaijani literature
Babylonian literature and science
Basque literature
Belarus literature
Belgian literature
Bengali literature
Bohemian literature
Brazilian literature
Breton literature
British literature
Bulgarian literature
Canadian literature
Catalan literature
Chechen literature
Chinese literature
Cornish literature
Croatian literature
Cuban literature
Cypriot literature
Czech literature
Danish literature
Dutch literature
Egyptian literature
English literature

see also

Anglo-Norman literature
Anglo-Saxon literature
Anglo-Welsh literature
Esperanto literature
Estonian literature
Ethiopian literature
Finnish literature
Flemish literature
Francophone literature
French literature
Frisian literature
Galician literature
Georgian literature
German literature
Greek literature
Hebrew literature
Hindi literature
Literature of Hong Kong
Hungarian literature
Icelandic literature
Ilokano literature
Indian literature
Irish literature
Israeli literature
Italian literature
Japanese literature
Jèrriais literature
Kannada literature
Kashmiri literature
Kurdish literature
Korean literature
Latin literature
Latvian literature
Lithuanian literature
Luxemburger literature
Macedonian literature
Malayalam literature
Maltese literature
Manx literature
Marathi literature
Mexican literature
Moldovan literature
Montenegrin literature
Moroccan literature
Literature of Myanmar
Nepali literature
New Zealand literature
Nigerian literature
Norwegian literature
Occitan literature
Ossetian literature
Pakistani literature
Persian literature
Peruvian literature
Philippine literature
Polish literature
Portuguese literature
Provençal literature
Puerto Rican literature
Quebec literature
Romanian literature
Russian literature
Rwandan literature
Sanskrit literature
Scottish literature
Serbian literature
Singaporean literature
Siraiki literature
Slovak literature
Slovene literature
Somali literature
Sorbian literature
South African literature
Spanish literature

see also

Latin American literature
Swahili literature
Swedish literature
Swiss literature
Syriac literature
Literature of Taiwan
Tamil literature
Telugu literature
Thai literature
Turkish literature
Ukrainian literature
Urdu literature
Venezuelan literature
Vietnamese literature
Waray literature
Welsh literature
Yiddish literature
Yoruba literature
Western literature

2007-11-20T09:07:00.001-08:00

This gallery of flags of Swiss cantons shows the flags of the 26 cantons of Switzerland.
Aargau
Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Appenzell Innerrhoden
Basel-Landschaft
Basel-Stadt
Bern
Fribourg
Geneva
Glarus
Graubünden
Jura
Lucerne
Neuchâtel
Nidwalden
Obwalden
Schaffhausen
Schwyz
Solothurn
St. Gallen
Thurgau
Ticino
Uri
Valais
Vaud
Zug
Zürich

2007-11-19T07:12:00.001-08:00

Sherborne School is an English public school for boys in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England.

History

James Adams, cricketer
Hugh Bonneville, actor
Tom Bradby, TV journalist and author
Rt Hon Sir Christopher Chataway, athlete and politician
Charles Collingwood, actor
David Cornwell, (a.k.a. John le Carré) writer
Charlie Cox, actor
Cecil Day-Lewis, poet
Nigel Dempster, journalist
Jimmy Edwards, comedian
Sir Richard Eyre, film and theatre director, artistic director of the National Theatre 1988-97
Sir Michael Hopkins, architect
Jeremy Irons, actor
Stanley Johnson, politician
Robert Kitson, Rugby Union Correspondent, The Guardian
Anthony Lane, film critic
John Le Mesurier, actor
Colin Lucas, Master of Balliol and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University until 2001.
Chris Martin, member of rock band Coldplay
Ian Messiter, creator of Just a Minute
King Mswati III, king of Swaziland
Keith Muspratt, World War One Flying Ace
George Miller, lawyer
Julius Neave, insurance executive
Alfred North Whitehead, mathematician
Peter Oborne, journalist, author and political commentator
Charles Palmer, engineer and survivor of the siege of Lucknow
Lance Percival, actor
Jon Pertwee, actor
Sir Alastair Pilkington, director of the Bank of England
James Purefoy, actor
Rt Rev Lord Sheppard of Liverpool, former England cricketer and Bishop of Liverpool
Sir David Spedding, head of the SIS
Alan Turing, mathematician
Alec Waugh, novelist
John Weston, diplomat Famous alumni

Military
Five Old Shirburnians have been awarded the Victoria Cross, to whom a memorial plaque was commissioned, the unveiling of which took place in the School Chapel on 19th September 2004.

Rear Admiral Henry James Raby VC; (VC won in the Crimean War and at the time he was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy (Naval Brigade))
Brigadier Charles Edward Hudson VC, CB, DSO & Bar, Military Cross; (VC won in the First World War and at the time he was a Temporary Lieutenant Colonel in the Sherwood Foresters)
Major Edward Bamford VC DSO; (VC won in the First World War and at the time he was a Captain in the Royal Marine Light Infantry)
Colonel Sir Arthur George Hammond VC, KCB, DSO; (VC won in the Second Afghan War and at the time he was a Captain in the Bengal Staff Corps, Indian Army)
Captain John Hollington Grayburn VC; (VC won in the Second World War and at the time he was a Lieutenant in the Parachute Regiment) Victoria Cross holders
Sherborne School is composed of 8 houses, where the pupils (invariably referred to as 'boys') live and work when not in lessons. The names of the houses, their distinctive letter, used in certain circumstances as an abbreviation, and current housemasters are:
Until 1999 there was another house, Westcott (h).
These houses also compete against each other in various sporting, educational and musical competitions.

School House (a) Peter Watts
Abbey House (b) Mark Pryor
The Green (c) Giles Reynolds
Harper House (d) Simon Tremewan
Wallace House (e) (formerly Elmdene) Giles Robinson
Abbeylands (f) Richard Bool
Lyon House (g) Patrick Francis
The Digby (m) (formerly the Digby Hotel) Martin Brooke

2007-11-18T07:38:00.001-08:00

Ubuntu (official IPA pronunciation /ùbúntú/(OO-BOON-TOO), often incorrectly pronounced /u'bʊntu/ in North America) is a predominantly desktop-oriented Linux distribution, based on Debian GNU/Linux but with a stronger focus on usability, regular releases, and ease of installation. Ubuntu is sponsored by Canonical Ltd, owned by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth; the name of the distribution comes from the African concept of ubuntu which may be rendered roughly as "humanity toward others", though other meanings have been suggested.

Features
Ubuntu divides all software into four sections, called components, which is an officially recognised project to backport newer versions of certain software that are available only in unstable versions of Ubuntu. The repository is not comprehensive; it mostly consists of user-requested packages, which are approved if they meet quality guidelines.

Package classification and support
Further information: Linux distribution#Proprietary software
Ubuntu has a certification system for third party software. Ubuntu certified proprietary software should work well in Ubuntu. However, many programs familiar to users of non-free operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, are incompatible and are not Ubuntu certified. Some proprietary software that does not limit distribution is included in Ubuntu's multiverse component.
Some examples of software not distributed by Ubuntu include:

Software that enables the playback of region-locked video DVDs, due to the questionable legal status of the DeCSS open-source DVD-decoding library in some parts of the world. (Note: the library is needed even when watching a DVD in the target region.)
Encoding and decoding libraries for many proprietary media formats such as Windows Media.
Some popular proprietary web-browser plugins, such as Adobe's (formerly Macromedia's) Shockwave (there is no Linux version) and Flash. (One workaround to the specific prohibition against redistribution in the Flash EULA is the multiverse package "flashplugin-nonfree" which automatically downloads the Linux Flash plugin directly from Adobe's site and then installs it.) Availability of proprietary software
Each release has both a code name and a version number. The version number is based on the year and month of release. For example, the very first release of Ubuntu, 4.10, was released on October 20, 2004.

Releases
There are several variants besides Ubuntu, both official and unofficial. Official ones such as Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu are all free by mail order from ShipIt except Xubuntu. Variants
The Ubuntu page on Distrowatch.com has been the most frequently accessed of their comprehensive list of Linux distributions for more than a year,

See also

:Ubuntu addon CD ...Include codecs, plugins, java, xgl, games, brasero.

2007-11-17T07:59:00.001-08:00

This article is about the act of ending a living being's life. For other meanings, see Kill (disambiguation) or Killing (disambiguation)
To kill, killing or to have killed means to cause the death of a living organism.
The act of killing an animal or plant life form can be said to have occurred when an outside force, usually another life form, has done something to cause it to die. This may be a result of several actions:
Prime quality studies about the psychology related to killing can be found on the website of the Killology Research Institute.

a deliberate action such as war
in the case of animals, slaughter; see slaughterhouse
the result of a criminal act, the action or fault of another human being, see homicide and murder
the results of an accident, such as a car crash. See negligent homicide
an organism eating another organism

2007-11-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was an alleged pair of attacks by naval forces of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (commonly referred to as North Vietnam) against two American destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy. The attacks were alleged to have occurred on 2 August and 4 August 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Later research, including a report released in 2005 by the National Security Agency, indicated that the second attack most likely did not occur, but also attempted to dispel the long-standing assumption that members of the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson had knowingly lied about the nature of the incident.[1]
The outcome of the incident was the passage by Congress of the Southeast Asia Resolution (better known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), which granted Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for escalating American involvement in the Vietnam Conflict.

Background
Daniel Ellsberg, who was on duty in the Pentagon that night receiving messages from the ship, reports that the ships were on a secret mission (codenamed Desoto) near North Vietnamese territorial waters. On 31 July 1964, the American destroyer USS Maddox (DD-731) began an electronic intelligence collection mission in the Gulf of Tonkin. Admiral George Stephen Morrison was in command of the local fleet from his flagship USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). The ship was under orders not to approach closer than eight miles (13 km) from the North's coast and four miles (6 km) from Hon Nieu island.

First Attack
On 4 August, another Desoto patrol on the North Vietnam coast was launched by Maddox and the Turner Joy, led by Captain John J. Herrick. This time their orders indicated that the ships were to close no more than 11 miles (18 km) from the coast of North Vietnam.
In 1981, Herrick and journalist Robert Scheer re-examined Herrick's ship's log and determined that the first 4 August torpedo report which Herrick had maintained had occurred -- the "apparent ambush" -- was in fact unfounded (Ellsberg 10).
Although information obtained well after the fact supported Turner Joy Captain Herrick's statements about the inaccuracy of the later torpedo reports as well as the 1981 Herrick/Scheer conclusion about the inaccuracy of the first, indicating that there was no North Vietnamese attack that night, at the time U.S. authorities and all of the Maddox crew said they were convinced that an attack had taken place. As a result, planes from the carriers Ticonderoga and Constellation were sent to hit North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases and fuel facilities (Operation Pierce Arrow).

Alleged Second Attack
There are differing views about whether the 2 August incident was provoked by the U.S. One view is that the actions of the Maddox were provocative to the North Vietnamese because they coincided with the covert South Vietnamese raids. Since the Desoto patrols were conducted in order to gather just the sort of electronic emissions that the SOG 34A raids would provoke, it was a reasonable assumption that the two were "piggybacked." The destroyer's presence also may have been mistaken by the North Vietnamese as a sign that it was also involved directly in the raids.
Others, such as Admiral Sharp, maintained that U.S. actions did not provoke the confirmed 2 August attack. He claimed that DRV radar had tracked Maddox along the coast, thus being aware that the destroyer had not actually attacked North Vietnam. Yet they ordered their patrol boats to engage it anyway. He also noted that orders given to Maddox to stay eight miles (13 km) off the DRV coast put the ship in international waters, as North Vietnam claimed only a five-mile (8 km) nautical limit as its territory. In addition, many nations had previously carried out similar missions all over the world, and the USS John R. Craig had earlier conducted an intelligence-gathering mission in similar circumstances without incident.

Differing views of the Incident
On 4 August 1964, squadron commander James Stockdale was one of the U.S. pilots flying overhead during the second alleged attack; unlike the first attack, this one was believed to have been a false alarm. In the early 1990s, he recounted: "[I] had the best seat in the house to watch that event, and our destroyers were just shooting at phantom targets—there were no PT boats there… There was nothing there but black water and American fire power." Stockdale said his superiors ordered him to keep quiet about this. After he was captured, this knowledge became a heavy burden. He later said he was concerned that his captors would eventually force him to reveal what he knew about this terrible secret.
In 1995, retired Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, meeting with former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, categorically denied that Vietnamese gunboats had attacked American destroyers on 4 August, while admitting to the attack on 2 August.
Reviewing the NSA's archives, Mr. Hanyok concluded that the NSA had initially misinterpreted North Vietnamese intercepts so as to make it appear there was an attack on 4 August. Midlevel NSA officials almost immediately discovered the error, he concluded, but covered it up by altering documents, so as to make it appear the second attack had happened. Robert McNamara, said in October 2005 that he believed intelligence reports regarding the Gulf of Tonkin incident were decisive to the war's expansion.
On 30 November 2005, the NSA released the first installment of previously classified information regarding the Gulf of Tonkin incident, including Mr. Hanyok's article, "Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2–4 August 1964" Cryptologic Quarterly, Winter 2000/Spring 2001 Edition, Vol. 19, No. 4 / Vol. 20, No. 1.
The Hanyok article stated that intelligence information was presented to the Johnson administration "in such a manner as to preclude responsible decisionmakers in the Johnson administration from having the complete and objective narrative of events." Instead, "only information that supported the claim that the communists had attacked the two destroyers was given to Johnson administration officials."

Later statements

Main article: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Southeast Asia Resolution
The "Gulf of Tonkin Incident" defined the beginning of large-scale involvement of U.S. armed forces in Vietnam. Historians have shown that the second incident was, at its best interpretation, an overreaction of eager naval forces, or at its worst, a crafted pretext for making overt the American covert involvement in Vietnam.
Vietnam's Navy Anniversary Day is August 5, the date of the second attack, Vietnamese time, where "one of our torpedo squadrons chased the U.S.S. Maddox from our coastal waters, our first victory over the U.S. Navy".

See also

2007-11-15T09:42:00.001-08:00

A fortnight is a unit of time equal to two weeks: that is 14 days, or literally 14 nights. The term is common in the British Isles and many Commonwealth countries such as Australia where many wages, salaries and most social security benefits are paid on a fortnightly basis.
In many languages, there is no such term to describe a time span of two weeks and the equivalents of "two weeks" or "fourteen days" have to be used. Payroll systems may use the term "bi-weekly" to refer to pay periods every 2 weeks (26 per year). In Spanish, Italian, French and in Portuguese, exist the term "quincena", "quindici giorni", "quinze jours" or "quinzena", all meaning "fifteen days" which are used to roughly name a two-weeks time span.
The fortnight is the base unit of time in the FFF (Furlong/Firkin/Fortnight) System of units.

Unusual usages

It can sometimes be used to describe a unit of time equal to five months in some Dickensian literature.
In the VMS operating system, some configuration parameters are specified in microfortnights (one millionth of a fortnight, or 1.2096 seconds).
Millifortnights (about 20 minutes) and nanofortnights (1.2096 milliseconds) have also been used occasionally in computer science, usually in an attempt to be deliberately over-complex and obscure. The aim is generally to slow users down, allowing them to set parameters only after some thought.
One attoparsec per microfortnight is approximately 1.00432766 inches per second.
The speed unit of one furlong per fortnight is a barely noticeable 0.166 millimetres per second, or roughly 1 centimetre per minute.

2007-11-14T07:15:00.001-08:00

"Decemberists" redirects here. For the 1825 Russian uprising, see Decembrist revolt . Overview
In March 2005, the Decemberists were reportedly the first band to distribute a music video via BitTorrent -- the self-produced "16 Military Wives" (from Picaresque).

History
In November 2006, the band encouraged fans to create a music video for their then-current single "O Valencia!" using footage of the band in front of a green screen. On his Comedy Central program, Stephen Colbert started a mock feud with the band, claiming his "green screen challenge" came first;

Artwork

Members

Colin Meloy (lead singer, songwriter, guitar)
Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist)
Jenny Conlee (hammond organ, accordion, melodica, piano, keyboards)
Nate Query (bass guitar, string bass) - except Her Majesty and Billy Liar single
John Moen (drums, melodica) - The Crane Wife Current

Jesse Emerson (bass guitar) - Her Majesty
Ezra Holbrook - Castaways and Cutouts (drums, backing vocals), The Crane Wife (backing vocals)
Rachel Blumberg (drums, vocals) - Castaways and Cutouts, Her Majesty, Billy Liar single, The Tain, and Picaresque
David Langenes (guitar)
Petra Haden (violin, vocals) - Picaresque, daughter of jazz bassist Charlie Haden, also supporting musician for the Picaresque tour.
Lisa Molinaro (viola, guitar, keyboards, vocals) - supporting musician for The Crane Wife tours Former

Laura Veirs - duet vocals on 'Yankee Bayonet' on The Crane Wife
Eyvind Kang - viola, violin on The Crane Wife
Mavis Staples - vocals, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 2007 singing 'The Weight'
Shara Worden - duet vocals on 'Yankee Bayonet' for live performances on the Spring 2007 tour. Guests

Discography

Studio albums

Singles
"The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook" includes a full concert (filmed in December 2005) in Portland's Roseland Theater and "Paris, Before the War", a documentary about the history of the band and making of the Picaresque album.

The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook Kill Rock Stars 20 March 2007

2007-11-13T07:03:00.001-08:00

Kornelis ("Kees") Antonie Schouhamer Immink is a Dutch scientist, inventor, and entepreneur. For more than 30 years, Kees Schouhamer Immink has been involved in the development of digital recording products. His research has resulted in around 1000 foreign and US patents.

Biography

Foreign associate, National Academy of Engineering, 2007.
SMPTE Progress Medal awarded by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), 2004, For the central role played in research and development of audio and video recording products.
IEEE Consumer Electronics Engineering Excellence Award, 2004.
Heyser Memorial lecturer awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, May 2004. [1]
Technology and Engineering Emmy Award awarded by the National Television Academy 2003, For coding technology for optical recording formats.
Inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, (CEA), 2003.
Knighthood in the Order of Oranje-Nassau awarded by Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands, 2000.
Honorary member, Netherlands Electronics and Radio Society (NERG), 2000.
Millennium Medal awarded by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, (IEEE), 2000.
AES Gold Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, (AES), 1999, For significant contributions to the advancement of consumer audio technology.
IEEE Edison Medal, 1999, For a career of creative contributions to the technologies of digital video, audio, and data recording.
Golden Jubilee Award for Technological Innovation awarded by the IEEE Information Theory Society, 1998, For the invention of constrained codes for commercial recording systems.
AES 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, 1998.
Academician, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, (KNAW) 1996.
Fellow, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE),1996.
Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award awarded by the IEEE, 1996, For pioneering contributions to consumer digital audio and video recording products.
A.M. Poniatoff Gold Medal Award for Technical Excellence awarded by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, 1994, For outstanding contributions to the development of new techniques and/or equipment that have contributed to the advancement of audio or video magnetic recording and reproduction.
Sir J.J. Thomson Medal awarded by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), 1993, For distinguished contributions to electronics.
AES Silver Medal awarded by the Audio Engineering Society, 1992, For major contributions to the development of digital audio recording systems.

2007-11-12T08:40:00.001-08:00

The abbreviation KB or kb can refer to:
kilobyte (kB or KB), equal to 1,000 bytes or 1024 bytes depending on context, or kibibyte (KiB), equal to 1,024 bytes.
kilobit (kbit), equal to 1,000 bits or 1024 bits (depending on context), or kibibit (Kibit), equal to 1,024 bits.
Knowledge base, a collection of knowledge helping users with a given product.
Knowledge Bowl, an interdisciplinary academic competition.
Keyboard, such as:

Alphanumeric keyboard, a data entry device.
Keyboard instrument, a musical instrument.
Base dissociation constant (K_b), the constant which refers to the equilibrium in which a base reacts with H₂O to form a corresponding conjugate acid and OH.
Boltzmann constant (k_b), the physical constant which relates temperature to energy.
Knight of the Bath, a former rank (before 1847) of the Order of the Bath, a part of the British honours system; sometimes also refers to Knight Bachelor.
King's Bench, an ancient English court, or the legal citation denoting a case in such court.
Kilo-base pair (kb or kbp), a unit of measurement of DNA or RNA length used in genetics, equal to 1,000 nucleotides.
KB Home, a major American home builder.
KB Toys, a United States toy retail chain.
K&B, a local drug store in New Orleans, Louisiana, that was bought by Rite Aid.
Swedish Royal Library (Kungliga Biblioteket), the national library of Sweden.
Komercni Banka, a bank in the Czech Republic.
Dutch Royal Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek), the national library of the Netherlands.
Kookmin Bank, the largest bank in South Korea.
KB Banki, a bank in Iceland.
Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, Continental Europe's oldest football club founded April 26, 1876, in Copenhagen.
Druk Air (IATA code: KB), the national airline of Bhutan.
Kobe Bryant, an NBA superstar.
NASCAR driver Kurt Busch or his brother Kyle
ebullioscopic constant (K_b), the constant which relates molality to boiling-point elevation.

2007-11-11T09:29:00.001-08:00

Early Years
After Al Samh ibn Malik was killed at the Battle of Toulouse in 721 (102 A.H.) by the forces of Duke Odo of Aquitaine, Abdul Rahman took over the command of Eastern Andalus. He was briefly relieved of his command, when 'Anbasa ibn Suhaym Al-Kalbi was appointed in 721 (103 A.H.). After 'Anbasa was killed in battle in 726 (107 A.H.) in Gaul, several successive commanders were put in place, none of whom lasted very long.

Invasion of Gaul and Tours
Arab historians unanimously praise Abdul Rahman as a just and able administrator and commander, and bestow on him the honor of being the best governor of Andalus. Also, he did not take sides in the ethnic and tribal divisions that plagued Andalus under other rulers. Evidence of his fairness and importance as a ruler was demonstrated in the aftermath of his death at the Battle of Tours. Without his leadership and guidance, the other commanders were unable to even agree on a commander to lead them back into battle the following morning. The effect of the death of Abdul Rahman on both Islamic and world history was profound.
His son attempted another invasion of Gaul under the Caliph's instructions in 736, this time by sea. This naval invasion landed in Narbonne in 736 and moved at once to reinforce Arles and move inland. Charles again descended on the Provençal strongholds of the Muslims. In 736, he retook Montfrin and Avignon, and Arles and Aix-en-Provence with the help of Liutprand, King of the Lombards. Nîmes, Agde, and Béziers, held by Muslims since 725, fell to him and their fortresses were destroyed. He crushed one Muslim army at Arles, as that force sallied out of the city, and then took the city itself by a direct and brutal frontal attack, and burned it to the ground to prevent its use again as a stronghold for Muslim expansion. He then moved swiftly and defeated a mighty host outside of Narbonnea at the River Berre, but failed to take the city. In five short years, he had incorporated Muslim heavy cavalry equipment and tactics into his forces, and was able to crush the invading armies, and leave the Muslim forces isolated in Narbonne, which his son Pippin would retake in 759.
Both western and eastern historians agree that had Abdul Rahman prevailed at Tours, he would probably have conquered all of Christian Europe, Martel and his Frankish Army being all that stood between Islam and Rome itself, [5] and all history would have been far different. "There were no further Muslim invasions of Frankish territory, and Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization." [6]

2007-11-10T10:06:00.001-08:00

The Ha'penny Bridge (Irish: Droichead na Leathphingine) (known later for a time as the Penny Ha'penny Bridge) is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. Originally called the Wellington Bridge (after the Duke of Wellington), the name of the bridge changed to Liffey Bridge, and somewhat surprisingly, the name remains as so to this day. However, due to its distinct shape as well as the original toll of one halfpenny, (later, one penny, two farthings) the more popular title of Ha'penny Bridge stuck in the minds of the natives. The toll itself was dropped in 1919; before this, turnstiles lay on either side of it.
Before the Ha'penny Bridge had been built there were seven ferries that operated from one side of the Liffey to the other under the watchful eye of William Walsh. The ferries had been said to be in a bad condition and he was told that he had to either fix the ferries or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years.
The bridge was originally built from cast iron, which has a great tendency to decay with age. This was especially evident in the side rails, which had begun to rust badly. From 2001 to 2003 the bridge was closed for repair and renovations, and was reopened sporting a new white colour, and a resupported structure containing as many of the old components of the bridge as possible. The repair work was carried out by Harland and Wolff, makers of the RMS Titanic.

2007-11-09T09:01:00.001-08:00

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi, , gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps. Technically, Latitude is an angular measurement in degrees (marked with °) ranging from 0° at the Equator (low latitude) to 90° at the poles (90° N for the North Pole or 90° S for the South Pole; high latitude). The complementary angle of a latitude is called the colatitude.

Circles of latitude
Besides the equator, four other lines of latitude are named because of the role they play in the geometrical relationship with the Earth and the Sun:
Only at latitudes between the Tropics is it possible for the sun to be at the zenith. Only north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle is the midnight sun possible.
The reason that these lines have the values that they do lies in the axial tilt of the Earth with respect to the sun, which is 23° 26′ 21.41″.
Note that the Arctic Circle and Tropic of Cancer and the Antarctic Circle and Tropic of Capricorn are colatitudes since the sum of their angles is 90°.

Arctic Circle — 66° 33′ 39″ N
Tropic of Cancer — 23° 26′ 21″ N
Tropic of Capricorn — 23° 26′ 21″ S
Antarctic Circle — 66° 33′ 39″ S Important named circles of latitude
As Earth is not a smooth sphere, but slightly oblate, a degree of latitude varies in length from about 111.3195 km at the equator to 110.9462 km at the poles. A degree of arc at a latitude not only varies with latitude, but also with the direction being faced. To simplify calculations where elliptical consideration is not important, the nautical mile was created, equaling exactly 111.12 km per degree of arc or, sub-dividing into minutes, 1852 metres per minute of arc. One minute of latitude can be further divided into 60 seconds. A latitude is thus specified as 13°19'43″ N (for greater precision, a decimal fraction can be added to the seconds). An alternative representation uses only degrees and minutes, where the seconds are expressed as a decimal fraction of minutes, thus the above example is expressed as 13°19.717' N. Degrees can also be expressed singularly, with both the minutes and seconds incorporated as a decimal number and rounded as desired (decimal degree notation): 13.32861° N. Sometimes, the north/south suffix is replaced by a negative sign for south (−90° for the South Pole).

Effect of latitude
Because the Earth is slightly flattened by its rotation, cartographers refer to a variety of auxiliary latitudes to precisely adapt spherical projections according to their purpose. More generally, for other planets such as Mars, geographic and geocentric latitude are called "planetographic" and "planetocentric" latitude, respectively. Most maps of Mars since 2002 use planetocentric coordinates.

Types of latitude
The expressions following assume elliptical polar sections with the angular eccentricity, (which equals , where and are the equatorial and polar radii), and that all sections parallel to the equatorial plane are circular. Geographic latitude (with longitude) then provides a Gauss map.

In common usage, "latitude" refers to geodetic or geographic latitude and is the angle between the equatorial plane and a line that is normal to the reference spheroid, which approximates the shape of the Earth to account for flattening of the poles and bulging of the equator. Common "latitude"

Reduced or parametric latitude, , is the latitude of the same radius on the sphere with the same equator. Reduced latitude

!,quad!!mathrm{where}quad!!!Qleft(phiright)=left|frac{sin(phi)}{1-(sin(phi)sin(o!varepsilon))^2}-frac{lnleft(frac{1-sin(phi)sin(o!varepsilon)}{1+sin(phi)sin(o!varepsilon)}right)}{2sin(o!varepsilon)}right|;,!" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/4/3/c/43c60ac4cec6d41e17b4f8c520bfd42f.png" /]

Authalic latitude, , gives an area-preserving transform to the sphere. Authalic latitude

^frac{3}{2}};,!" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/d/7/1/d716acd51a876e218d335098e9f3afb8.png" /]

Rectifying latitude, , is the surface distance from the equator, scaled so the pole is 90°. Unfortunately, it involves elliptic integration: Rectifying latitude

Conformal latitude, , gives an angle-preserving (conformal) transform to the sphere. Conformal latitude

The geocentric latitude, , is the angle between the equatorial plane and a line from the center of the Earth. Geocentric latitude
The following plot shows the differences between the types of latitude. The data used is found in the table following the plot. Please note that the values in the table are in minutes, not degrees, and the plot reflects this as well. Also note that the conformal symbols are hidden behind the geocentric due to being very close in value.

Approximate difference from geographic latitude ("Lat")
Lat	Reduced	Authalic	Rectifying	Conformal	Geocentric
0°	0.00′	0.00′	0.00′	0.00′	0.00′
5°	1.01′	1.35′	1.52′	2.02′	2.02′
10°	1.99′	2.66′	2.99′	3.98′	3.98′
15°	2.91′	3.89′	4.37′	5.82′	5.82′
20°	3.75′	5.00′	5.62′	7.48′	7.48′
25°	4.47′	5.96′	6.70′	8.92′	8.92′
30°	5.05′	6.73′	7.57′	10.09′	10.09′
35°	5.48′	7.31′	8.22′	10.95′	10.96′
40°	5.75′	7.66′	8.62′	11.48′	11.49′
45°	5.84′	7.78′	8.76′	11.67′	11.67′
50°	5.75′	7.67′	8.63′	11.50′	11.50′
55°	5.49′	7.32′	8.23′	10.97′	10.98′
60°	5.06′	6.75′	7.59′	10.12′	10.13′
65°	4.48′	5.97′	6.72′	8.95′	8.96′
70°	3.76′	5.01′	5.64′	7.52′	7.52′
75°	2.92′	3.90′	4.39′	5.85′	5.85′
80°	2.00′	2.67′	3.00′	4.00′	4.01′
85°	1.02′	1.35′	1.52′	2.03′	2.03′
90°	0.00′	0.00′	0.00′	0.00′	0.00′

Comparison of latitudes
A more obscure measure of latitude is the astronomical latitude, which is the angle between the equatorial plane and the normal to the geoid (ie a plumb line). It originated as the angle between horizon and pole star.
Astronomical latitude is not to be confused with declination, the coordinate astronomers use to describe the locations of stars north/south of the celestial equator (see equatorial coordinates), nor with ecliptic latitude, the coordinate that astronomers use to describe the locations of stars north/south of the ecliptic (see ecliptic coordinates).

Astronomical latitude
Continents move over time, due to continental drift, taking whatever fossils and other features of interest they may have with them. Particularly when discussing fossils, it's often more useful to know where the fossil was when it was laid down, than where it is when it was dug up: this is called the palæolatitude of the fossil. The Palæolatitude can be constrained by palæomagnetic data. If tiny magnetisable grains are present when the rock is being formed, these will align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field like compass needles. A magnetometer can deduce the orientation of these grains by subjecting a sample to a magnetic field, and the declination of the grains can be used to infer the latitude of deposition.

Palæolatitude

John P. Snyder Map Projections: a working manual excerpts See also

2007-11-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

Etymology
Every day, Sol rode through the sky on her chariot, pulled by two horses named Arvak and Alsvid. She was chased during the day by Skoll, a wolf that wanted to devour her. Solar eclipses signified that Skoll had almost caught up to her. It is fated that Skoll will eventually catch Sol and eat her, though she would then be replaced by her daughter. The earth was protected from the full heat of the sun by Svalin, who stood between the earth and Sol. In Norse belief, the sun did not give light; this was caused by the manes of Alsvid and Arvak.
Sol was also called Sunna, Sunne and Frau Sunne, which is a derivation of the words sun and Sunday. The sun itself was called Alfrodull, meaning "glory of elves".

The Goddess
Elder Futhark Sowilo rune, earlier ("Σ") variant.
Elder Futhark Sowilo rune, later ("S") variant.
Anglo-Saxon Sigel / Younger Futhark Sol rune
oblique Sig Rune as used in Nazi mysticism

Sól rune
The Elder Futhark s rune (reconstructed name *Sowilo) is attested in two variants, a Σ shape (four strokes), more prevalent in earlier (3rd to 5th century) inscriptions (e.g. Kylver stone), and an S shape (three strokes), more prevalent in later (5th to 7th century) inscriptions (e.g. Golden horns of Gallehus, Seeland-II-C).
Coincidentially, the Proto-Canaanite letter šin from which the Old Italic s letter ancestral to the rune was derived was itself named after the Sun, shamash, based on the Egyptian uraeus hieroglyph.

Elder Futhark
The Younger Futhark Sol and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc Sigel runes are identical in shape, a rotated version of the later Elder Futhark rune, with the middle stroke slanting upwards, and the initial and final strokes vertical. Anglo-Saxon sigel (siȝel) is phonologically sījel /si:jel/ (from *sæwel), the yogh being only orthographical.
The Anglo-Saxon rune poem:
ᛋ semannum symble biþ on hihte, ðonne hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ, / oþ hi brimhengest bringeþ to lande.
"The Sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers / when they journey away over the fishes' bath, / until the courser of the deep bears them to land."
The Icelandic rune poem:
ᛋ er skýja skjöldr / ok skínandi röðull / ok ísa aldrtregi. / rota siklingr.
"Sun is shield of the clouds / and shining ray /and destroyer of ice."
The Norwegian rune poem:
ᛋ er landa ljóme / lúti ek helgum dóme.
"Sun is the light of the world / I bow to the divine decree."

Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon Futhorc

Modern usage

Main article: Sig Rune Nazi usage
The Sowilo rune is commonly used by Germanic neopagans, often without political implications.

2007-11-07T09:07:00.001-08:00

The The National Museum of Mexican Art (Formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum) is a museum which features Mexican, Latino, and Chicano art and culture. The museum was founded in 1982 by Carlos Tortolero. Located in the neighborhood of Pilsen in Chicago, Illinois, the current building in Harrison Park opened on March 27, 1987. The museum is the only Latino museum accredited by the American Association of Museums. The mission of the museum is to display Mexican culture as one sin fronteras (without borders).

Collections
Every October, the museum has a Día de los Muertos ("Day of the Dead") exhibit which features altars and Día de los Muertos-related art by Chicago-area and international artists. This exhibit is the nation's largest. The 2005 exhibit was dedicated to three Chicago artists, Carlos Cortez, Ed Paschke and Allen Stringfellow.

Annual Día de los Muertos exhibit
The museum also has a program of arts education, performance and community initiatives. In 1994, the museum created two new festivals, Del Corazon: the Mexican Performing Arts Festival and the Sor Juana Festival, dedicated to an important Mexicana scholar. In 1998, the museum created the Yollocalli Youth Museum. It also runs the radio station WRTE 90.5 FM, Radio Arte, a non-profit, community station that serves the Pilsen/Little Village area but is heard throughout the Chicago metro area with a programming ranging from Latin Alternative to community affairs and other eclectic programming run by its GM Silvia Rivera and PD Carlos Mendez.

2007-11-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

South Scots is one of the names given to the dialect (or group of dialects) of Scots spoken in most of the Scottish Borders region, with the notable exception of Berwickshire and Peeblesshire, which are, like Edinburgh, part of the SE Central Scots dialect area. It may also be known as Border Scots, the Border tongue or by the names of the towns inside the South Scots area. Despite its name, it is not spoken in the whole of the south; the area the dialect is spoken in is much smaller and only includes a small part of eastern Dumfriesshire, all of Roxburghshire and most of Selkirkshire.
Towns where South Scots dialects are spoken include:

Galashiels (Gala or Galae)
Hawick
Jedburgh (Jethart)
Kelso (Kelsae)
Langholm
Lockerbie
St. Boswells (Bosells)
Selkirk

2007-11-05T08:13:00.001-08:00

The Rákóczi (older spelling Rákóczy) were a noble family in the Kingdom of Hungary between the 13th century and 18th century. Their name is also spelled Rakoczi and Rakoczy in some foreign (English) sources.
Probably the most famous member of the family was Francis II Rákóczi (1676-1735) who was elected prince (fejedelem) of the Confederated Estates of the Kingdom of Hungary and Prince of Transylvania 1703-1711. He led an anti-Habsburg war during that time.
The mysterious Count of St. Germain is believed by some to have been the son of Prince Francis (Ferenc) II Rákóczi.
Other notable members have included:
The Rákóczi March by John Bihari and (memorably orchestrated by Hector Berlioz) refers to them.

Sigismund Rákóczi (Zsigmond)- elected Prince of Transylvania 1607-1608
George I Rákóczi (György) - elected Prince of Transylvania 1630-1648
George II Rákóczi(György) - Prince of Transylvania 1648-1657

2007-11-04T09:31:00.001-08:00

Electronic waste, "e-waste" or "Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment" ("WEEE") is a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliance. It is a point of concern considering that many components of such equipment are considered toxic and are not biodegradable.

Definition of electronic waste
Electronic waste is a valuable source for secondary raw materials, if treated properly, however if not treated properly it is a major source of toxins and carcinogens. Rapid technology change, low initial cost and even planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast growing problem around the globe. Technical solutions are available but in most cases a legal framework, a collection system, logistics and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied. Electronic waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste. Up to thirty-eight separate chemical elements are incorporated into electronic waste items. The unsustainability of discarding electronics and computer technology is another reason for the need to recycle – or perhaps more practically, reuse – electronic waste.
Electronic waste processing systems have matured in recent years following increased regulatory, public, and commercial scrutiny, and a commensurate increase in entrepreneurial interest. Part of this evolution has involved greater diversion of electronic waste from energy intensive, down-cycling processes (eg. conventional recycling) where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The environmental and social benefits of reuse are several: diminished demand for new products and their commensurate requirement for virgin raw materials (with their own environmental externalities not factored into the cost of the raw materials) and larger quantities of pure water and electricity for associated manufacturing, less packaging per unit, availability of technology to wider swaths of society due to greater affordability of products, and diminished use of landfills.
Challenges remain, when materials cannot or will not be reused, conventional recycling or disposal via landfill often follow. Standards for both approaches vary widely by jurisdiction, whether in developed or developing countries. The complexity of the various items to be disposed of, cost of environmentally sound recycling systems, and the need for concerned and concerted action to collect and systematically process equipment are the resources most lacked -- though this is changing. Many of the plastics used in electronic equipment contain flame retardants. These are generally halogens added to the plastic resin, making the plastics difficult to recycle.

Problems caused by electronic waste
In the 1990s some European countries banned the disposal of electronic waste in landfills. This created an e-waste processing industry in Europe. Early in 2003 the EU presented the WEEE and RoHS directives for implementation in 2005 and 2006.
Some states in the US developed policies banning CRTs from landfills. Some e-waste processing is carried out within the US. The processing may be dismantling into metals, plastics and circuit boards or shredding of whole appliances. From 2004 the state of California introduced a Electronic Waste Recycling Fee on all new monitors and televisions sold to cover the cost of recycling. The amount of the fee depends on the size of the monitor. That amount was adjusted on July 1, 2005 in order to match the real cost of recycling. Canada has also begun to take responsibility for electronics recycling. For example, in August of 2007 a fee similar to the one in California was added to the cost of purchasing new televisions, computers, and computer components in British Columbia. The new legislation made recycling mandatory for all of those products.
A typical electronic waste recycling plant as found in some industrialized countries combines the best of dismantling for component recovery with increased capacity to process large amounts of electronic waste in a cost effective-manner. Material is fed into a hopper, which travels up a conveyor and is dropped into the mechanical separator, which is followed by a number of screening and granulating machines. The entire recycling machinery is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. The European Union, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have already demanded that sellers and manufacturers of electronics be responsible for recycling 75% of them.
Many Asian countries have legislated, or will do so, for electronic waste recycling.
The United States Congress is considering a number of electronic waste bills including the National Computer Recycling Act introduced by Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA). This bill has continually stalled, however.
In the meantime, several states have passed their own laws regarding electronic waste management. California was the first state to enact such legislation, followed by Maryland, Maine, Washington and Minnesota. More recently, legislatures in Oregon and Texas passed their own laws.

List of substances contained in electronic waste
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Substances in bulk
lead, tin, copper, silicon, carbon, iron and aluminium

Elements in bulk
cadmium and mercury,

Elements in small amounts
germanium, gallium, barium, nickel, tantalum, indium, vanadium, terbium, beryllium, gold, europium, titanium, ruthenium, cobalt, palladium, manganese, silver, antimony, bismuth, selenium, niobium, yttrium, rhodium, platinum, arsenic, lithium, boron, americium

List of examples of devices containing the above elements

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
Digger gold
Electronic Waste Recycling Fee
Free Geek - recycling and re-using computer equipment based on the 'Free to all' philosophy.
Green computing
Polychlorinated biphenyls - see Handling Procedures

2007-11-03T08:14:00.001-07:00

Script characteristics
Over the years, numerous decipherments have been proposed, but none has been accepted by the scientific community at large. The following factors are usually regarded as the biggest obstacles for a successful decipherment:

The substrate language has not been identified, nor the language family to which it belongs.
The average length of the inscriptions is less than five signs, the longest being one of only 27 signs.
No bilingual texts have been found. Attempts at decipherment
The Russian scholar Yuri V. Knorozov (or Knorosov), who has edited a multi-volumed corpus of the inscriptions, surmises that the symbols represent a logosyllabic script, with an underlying Dravidian language as the most likely linguistic substrate.

Dravidian hypothesis
If the signs are purely ideographical, they may contain no information about the language spoken by their creators: they would qualify either as a purely logographic script, or as a system of symbols not qualifying as a script in the true sense (pictograms).
Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat, and Michael Witzel

Script vs. ideographical symbols
The topic is popular among amateur researchers, and there have been various (mutually exclusive) decipherment claims. None of these suggestions has found academic recognition to date.
List of decipherment claims:

Clyde Ahmad Winters (Dravidian, 1981[1])
R. Mathivanan (Tamil, 1991, 1995 Decipherment claims
Onshore explorations near Bet Dwarka in Gujarat revealed the presence of late Indus seals depicting a 3-headed animal, earthen vessel inscribed in a late Harappan script, and a large quantity of pottery similar to Lustrous Red Ware bowl and Red Ware dishes, dish-on-stand, perforated jar and incurved bowls which are datable to the 16th century BC in Dwarka, Rangpur and Prabhas. The thermoluminescence date for the pottery in Bet Dwaraka is 1528 BC. This evidence suggests that a late Harappan script was used until around 1500 BC. have revealed Indus symbols being used as late as 1100 BC.

Notes

Bryant, Edwin (2000), The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture : The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate Oxford University Press.
Farmer, Steve et al. (2004) The Collapse of the Indus-Script Thesis: The Myth of a Literate Harappan Civilization, EJVS, vol. 11 (2004), issue 2 (Dec) [5] (PDF).
Knorozov, Yuri V. (ed.) (1965) Predvaritel'noe soobshchenie ob issledovanii protoindiyskikh textov. Moscow.
Mahadevan, Iravatham, Murukan In the Indus Script (1999)
Mahadevan, Iravatham, Aryan or Dravidian or Neither? A Study of Recent Attempts to Decipher the Indus Script (1995-2000) EJVS (ISSN 1084-7561) vol. 8 (2002) issue 1 (March 8).[6]
Parpola, Asko (2005) Study of the Indus Script. 50th ICES Tokyo Session.
Possehl, Gregory L. (1996), Indus Age: The Writing System, University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 081223345X.
Rjabchikov, Sergei V. (2006a). A New Key to the Proto-Indian Writing System. AnthroGlobe Journal, 2006.
Rjabchikov, Sergei V. (2006b). Protoindiyskoe pis'mo i ego rasshifrovka. Krasnodar.
Subramanian, T. S. (2006) "Significance of Mayiladuthurai find" in The Hindu, May 01, 2006.
Wells, B. "An Introduction to Indus Writing" Independence, MO: Early Sites Research Society 1999.

2007-11-02T10:54:00.001-07:00

Marxism Leninism Trotskyism Concepts Bureaucratic collectivism State capitalism
Prominent figures Joseph Carter Hal Draper Michael Harrington Irving Howe Julius Jacobson Sean Matgamna Maryam Namazie Max Shachtman Groups International Socialists Left WP Iraq New Politics WP Iran Workers' Liberty Workers' Party
Irving Howe (June 11, 1920 – May 5, 1993), was American literary and social critic. He was born as Irving Horenstein in New York, as a son of immigrants who ran a small grocery store that went out of business during the Great Depression.
Like many New York Intellectuals, Howe attended City College and graduated in 1940, alongside Daniel Bell and Irving Kristol. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon his return, he began writing literary and cultural criticism for the influential Partisan Review and became a frequent essayist for Commentary, Politics, The Nation, The New Republic, and The New York Review of Books. In 1954, Howe helped found the intellectual quarterly Dissent, which he edited until his death in 1993.
Since his CCNY days, Howe was committed to left-wing politics. He was a member of the Young People's Socialist League and then Max Shachtman's Workers Party, where Shactman made Howe his understudy. After 1948, he joined the Independent Socialist League, where he was a central leader and left the ISL to co-found the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and then the Democratic Socialists of America. He was a voceferous opponent of both Soviet totalitarianism and McCarthyism, called into question standard Marxist doctrine, and came into conflict with the New Left after criticizing their unmitigated radicalism. Later in life, his politics gravitated toward more pragmatic democratic socialism and foreign policy, a position still represented in the idiosyncratic political and social arguments of Dissent.
Known for lucid literary criticism as well social and political activism, Howe wrote seminal studies on Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner, politics and the novel, and a sweeping cultural history of Eastern European Jews in America entitled World of Our Fathers. He also edited and translated many Yiddish stories, and commissioned the first English translation of Isaac Bashevis Singer for the Partisan Review. He also wrote A Margin of Hope, his autobiography, and Socialism and America.
A biography of Howe, entitled Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent, was published by Gerald Sorin.

2007-11-01T11:01:00.001-07:00

Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC–AD 9) was a Roman politician and general under emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

Battle of Teutoburg Forest

I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Vintage International; a novelization based largely on Suetonius, but one which is generally considered to stick scrupulously to the facts.
The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis; fourth book of the mystery series set during the reign of Vespasian, a portion of the novel occurs in the Teutoberger Wald.

2007-10-30T09:11:00.001-07:00

For the Wikipedia policy about articles layout, see Wikipedia:Guide to layout.
Layout may refer to:
Automobile layout
Comprehensive layout
Integrated circuit layout
Keyboard layout
Page layout
Web layout
In gymnastics, a layout is a position in which the gymnast's body is completely stretched, toes pointed and legs straight. A layout in tumbling, vault or balance beam is a salto performed in this position. In some countries, layout saltos are referred to as 'straights.' (ie, "he performed a double straight")
In computer software, a layout is the arrangement of the widgets in a graphical user interface (see Layout manager)
In computer programming language syntax, layout is an alternative name for the off-side rule
In computer graphics, a layout is another name for a scene (computer graphics) used to render 2D/3D graphics/animation
In ultimate (sport), a layout is an attempt to catch the disc involving a jump that results in a horizontal landing
Model railroad layout, model railroads are often referred to as layouts

2007-10-29T10:10:00.001-07:00

The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is India's highest military decoration awarded for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It may be awarded posthumously and, indeed, most of the awards have been posthumous.
Literally, Param Vir means Bravest of the Brave (Sanskrit: Parama = Highest; Vīra (Pronounced veer) = Brave (warrior); Chakra = wheel but it can also mean medal, depending to the context).
The PVC was established on 26 January 1950 (the date of India becoming a republic), by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947 (the date of Indian independence). It can be awarded to officers or enlisted personnel from all branches of the Indian military. It is the second highest award of the government of India after Bharat Ratna (amendment in the statute on 26 January 1980 resulted in this order of wearing). It replaced the former British colonial Victoria Cross (VC), (see List of Indian Victoria Cross recipients).
Provision was made for the award of a bar for second (or subsequent) awards of the Param Vir Chakra. To date, there have been no such awards. Award of the decoration carries with it the right to use P.V.C. as a postnominal abbreviation.
The award also carries a cash allowance for those under the rank of lieutenant (or the appropriate service equivalent) and, in some cases, a cash award. On the death of the recipient, the pension is transferred to the widow until her death or remarriage. The paltry amount of the pension has been a rather controversial issue throughout the life of the decoration. By March 1999, the stipend stood at Rs. 1500 per month. In addition, many states have established individual pension rewards that far exceeds the central government's stipend for the recipients of the decoration.
Subedar Major Bana Singh of the Eighth Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry was the only serving personnel of the Indian defence establishment with a Param Vir Chakra till the Kargil operations.

Decorated personnel

In 1990, a TV Series was aired on the Indian National Channel DD National titled Param Vir Chakra. The tele-series was made by noted film maker Chetan Anand and ran for 15 episodes.
A number of noted celebrities participated in the series. Film actor Farooq Shaikh played Somnath Sharma, Puneet Issar played Nk Jadunath Singh, Vijayendra Ghatge played Lance Naik Karam Singh, Naseeruddin Shah played Abdul Hamid. Anu Kapoor played Albert Ekka.
The serial received full support from the Indian Armed Forces. The Army and the Air Force provided all the equipment for the shooting.
The title track Shaan teri kabhi kam na ho (May your honour never decrease) was a much famous track during those days. Trivia

2007-10-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

National team caps and goals correct as of 22 February 2007. * Appearances (Goals)
Essam El-Hadary (Arabic: عصام الحضري) (born January 15, 1973) is an Egyptian footballer. He is known as "The High Dam" to fans.
He plays the Goalkeeper position for Egypt's African Super Cup Championship club Al-Ahly as well as Egypt's National Football Team. He is considered one of the best African goalkeepers, and he has been chosen the Best Goalkeeper in African Cup of Nations Egypt 2006. He started playing professionly for Egyption club Damietta before transferring to Al-Ahly in 1996.

Best African Goalkeeper
National Team
Club
Individual

Winner of African Cup of Nations Egypt 2006.
Winner of African Cup of Nations Burkina Faso 1998.
Bronze Medalist at FIFA Club World Cup 2006
Winner of CAF Champions League 2006.
Winner of CAF Champions League 2005.
Winner of CAF Champions League 2001.
Winner of Egyptian League(2007-2006).
Winner of Egyptian League(2006-2005).
Winner of Egyptian League(2005-2004).
Winner of Egyptian League(2000-1999).
Winner of Egyptian League(1999-1998).
Winner of Egyptian League(1998-1997).
Winner of Egyptian League(1997-1996).
Winner of CAF Super Cup (2007).
Winner of CAF Super Cup (2006).
Winner of CAF Super Cup (2002).
Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2007).
Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2006).
Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2003).
Winner of Egyptian Soccer Cup (2001).
Winner of Egyptian Super Cup(2006).
Winner of Egyptian Super Cup(2005).
Winner of Egyptian Super Cup(2003).
Best Goalkeeper in African Cup of Nations Egypt 2006.
2006 CAF Best African goalkeeper.

2007-10-27T09:14:00.001-07:00

Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness PC (17 May 1718 – 16 May 1778), known before 1721 as Lord Darcy and Conyers, was a British diplomatist and politician. From 1744 to 1746 he was ambassador at Venice and from 1749 to 1751 he represented his country at The Hague. In 1751 he became Secretary of State for the Southern Department, transferring in 1754 to the Northern Department, and he remained in office until March 1761, when he was dismissed by King George III in favor of Lord Bute, although he had largely been a cipher in that position to the stronger personalities of his colleagues, successively the Duke of Newcastle, Thomas Robinson, Henry Fox, and William Pitt the Elder. From 1771 to 1776 he acted as governor to two of the King's sons, a solemn phantom as Horace Walpole calls him. He left no sons, and all his titles became extinct except the Baronies of Darcy (de Knayth) and Conyers, which were Baronies by Writ. In those peerages he was succeeded by his daughter, Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen.

2007-10-26T08:42:00.001-07:00

The Fox News Channel (FNC) is a United States-based cable and satellite news channel. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, and is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. As of January 2005, it is available to 85 million households in the U.S. and further to viewers internationally, broadcasting primarily out of its New York City studios.
The network was launched on October 7, 1996

History

Outlets

Main article: Fox News Channel programming Television
Like other news networks, Fox News Channel produces a news website featuring the latest coverage of news stories, including video clips from the network's television division, audio clips from Fox News Radio, in addition to columns from the network's assorted television, radio, and online personalities. Introduced in December 1995, the network's website ranks below many other news websites, ranking in the lower teens in the list of top news websites.

Online

Main article: Fox News Radio Radio

Main article: Fox News Channel personalities Personalities
Fox News currently leads the cable news market in the United States, earning higher points ratings than its chief competitors CNN and MSNBC combined by average viewership.

Ratings

Main article: Fox News Channel controversies Controversies
Fox News has been accused of promoting a conservative, right-wing, or Republican point of view at the expense of neutrality.

Accusations of bias
As with many news sources, Fox News executives exert a degree of editorial control over the content of their daily reporting. In the case of Fox News, some of this control comes in the form of daily memos issued by Fox News' Vice President of News, John Moody. Critics of Fox News cite these memos as evidence of a conservative bias in Fox News reporting, and claim that information in these memos duplicates Republican talking points.

Internal memos
In 2003, Penguin Books published Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, by comedian and Democratic writer Al Franken. The book criticized a number of persons and institutions, but singled out Fox with allegations of conservative bias. Before the book was released, Fox brought a lawsuit, alleging that the book's subtitle violated Fox's trademark on the promotional phrase "Fair and Balanced." On that basis, Fox moved for a preliminary injunction to block the publication of the book. The United States District Court Judge hearing the case denied the motion, causing Fox to withdraw the suit.
In December 2003, the Independent Media Institute brought a petition before the United States Patent and Trademark Office seeking the cancellation of Fox's trademark of the phrase "Fair & Balanced," on the grounds that is is "notoriously misdescriptive."

Trademark disputes
The channel is available internationally, though its world programming is identical to its American programming (with the exception of Fox News Extra breakfillers), unlike CNN International, which airs regional programming that is almost entirely independent of its U.S. broadcasts.

International transmission
Until early 2002, Fox News replaced US advertisements with e-mails from viewers around the world who liked Fox News, as well as profiles of Fox News anchors, set to music. These were never updated and consisted of a small number of such segments. They, in turn, were replaced with international weather forecasts. In 2006, they replaced the weather segments with 'Fox News Extra' segments, various narrated reports from FOX Reports on a variety of topics. These reports are generally on lighter issues not related to current news events, and the segments are repeated. The segments are introduced by various Fox News anchors (mostly headline segment anchors), who in addition to introducing the segment, thank viewers from a chosen international location for watching Fox News.
When Fox News Extra segments run short, international weather forecasts are shown for the remaining duration of the break.
The Fox News feed in the United Kingdom does not feature Fox News Extra, and instead features break fillers from sister channel Sky News's International Variant. For a short period in 2001, a still of the Fox News logo replaced this other content.

Fox News Extra
In Australia Fox News Channel is broadcast on the three major Pay-TV providers, Austar, Optus Television and Foxtel. Foxtel is 25% owned by News Corporation, and the other two are just rebroadcasters of Foxtel content. The Australian syndication previously featured some local programming, including a John Laws current affairs program in place of "Fox & Friends". Local advertisements are aired in place of every second 'Fox News Extra' segment.

Brazil
On December 14, 2000, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved Fox News Canada on behalf of the Global Television Network, for broadcast in Canada. Fox News Canada was to be a domestic Canadian version of Fox News. On December 16, 2004, Rogers Communications became the first Canadian cable or satellite provider to broadcast Fox News, with other companies following suit within the next several weeks.

Canada
In New Zealand, Fox News is broadcast on Channel 92 of pay satellite operator Sky TV's digital platform. It is also broadcast overnight on New Zealand TV channel Prime, owned by Sky. Fox News parent corporation News Corp has a stake in both Sky and Prime.

New Zealand
In Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries, Fox News is broadcast on TV8 for some 16 hours a day, since 2003. Fox News Extra segments replace U.S. advertising. However, in September 2006, Fox News was replaced by German news channel Deutsche Welle. This change resulted in Fox News losing all of its coverage in Sweden.

Scandinavia
Fox News is also carried in the United Kingdom and Ireland by the British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) satellite television network (Sky Digital), in which News Corporation (the largest shareholder) holds a 38 percent stake. It is a sister channel to BSkyB's Sky News, which is more popular in the region and does not carry any such controversy. Fox News is usually broadcast as a VideoGuard encrypted channel but during major news stories it may be simulcast on Sky Active, which is free to air. A fault in certain Pace Micro Sky Digibox receivers, notably the DS-430N which was Sky's default issue for some years, has left them able to decrypt the channel with no active subscription card since March 1, 2006; although no reason is known as to why. As of September 2006 the channel has carried UK specific advertising, along with headlines and weather provided by Sky News between its breaks. These run under the brand of Fox News International.

United Kingdom and Ireland
Fox News Channel is also carried in more than 40 countries. Although service to Japan stopped in the summer of 2003, it can still be seen on Americable (distributor for American bases),

Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
Cambodia
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Finland
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Iceland
Indonesia
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Macau
Malaysia
Maldives
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Peru
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Portugal
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Saint Kitts
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Spain
Slovenia
Thailand
Trinidad and Tobago
Tonga
United Arab Emirates
Venezuela Archive and licensing

Collins, Scott. Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN. ISBN 1-59184-029-5.
FNC Ratings Soar as War in Lebanon Rages. MediaWeek.
"Fox's Smith tops cable news ranks in ratings", Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
"Fox Factor", USA Today.
Q2 '06: FNC #9 On All Of Cable TV. Media Bistro.

2007-10-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born June 19, 1944 in Rio de Janeiro), popularly known as Chico Buarque is a Brazilian singer, composer, dramatist and writer. He is best known for his music, which often comments on Brazil's social, economic and cultural reality.

Biography
During Brazil's military coup of 1964, Chico wrote about the situation and avoided censure by using cryptic analogies and word play. For example, in the song "Cálice" (English: "Goblet" or "Chalice" or "Cup" as used by Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane) he takes advantage of the homophony between the Portuguese words for "shut up" (cale-se) and "goblet" (cálice) to disguise criticism of censorship and oppression as a Bible story:
Lyrics (in Portuguese)

Pai, afasta de mim esse cálice
De vinho tinto de sangue.
Como beber dessa bebida amarga
Tragar a dor, engolir a labuta.
Mesmo calada a boca, resta o peito
Silêncio na cidade não se escuta.
De que me vale ser filho da santa
Melhor seria ser filho da outra
Outra realidade menos morta
Tanta mentira, tanta força bruta.
Translation

Father, take from me this cup
of wine tinted red with blood.
How can I drink this bitter drink
Inhale the pain, swallow the drudgery.
Even if the mouth is shut, the heart still remains
Silence isn't heard in the city.
What good is it to me be a son of the saint (Female)
Better to be a son of the other (This breaks the rhyme scheme, after the final "outra" [other] the logical word would be "puta" [bitch/prostitute]).
Another reality less dead
So many lies, so much brute force.

Example of work: Cálice

Caetano Veloso
Elis Regina
Nara Leão
Maria Bethania
Gal Costa
Simone
Gilberto Gil
Tom Jobim
Vinicius de Moraes
Edu Lobo Trivia

"A Banda" ("The Band")
"À Flor da Terra" ("At Earth's surface")
"O que Será ("What will be")
"Apesar de Você" ("Despite You")
"As Vitrines" (The Windows)
"Brejo da Cruz" (Cross` bog)
"Bye Bye, Brasil" (Bye Bye, Brazil)
"Carolina" (Caroline)
"Construção" ("Construction")
"Deus Lhe Pague" ("God Bless You")
"Cotidiano" ("Daily")
"Feijoada Completa" ("Complete Feijoada" - a black bean dish)
"Funeral de um Lavrador" ("Funeral of a tiller")
"Futuros Amantes" ("Future Lovers")
"Homenagem Ao Malandro" ("Tribute to a city slicker")
"Meu Caro Amigo" ("My Dear Friend")
"Morena de Angola" (Dark skinned woman of Angola)
"Mulheres de Atenas" ("Women from Athens")
"Noite dos Mascarados" ("Night of the Masquerade")
"Olhos nos Olhos" (Eyes on the Eyes)
"Paratodos" (Has no meaning, but written as 'Para Todos' means: To All)
"Quem Te Viu, Quem Te Vê" (Who Saw You, Who Sees You)
"Roda Viva" ("In a literal translation to English: 'fuss'")
"Sonho de um Carnaval" ("Dream of a Carnival")
"Tatuagem" ("Tattoo")
"Teresinha" (Little Theresa)
"Vai Levando" ("Carrying on")
"Vai Passar" ("It Will Pass") Selected compositions

1966 - A Banda (Songbook)
1974 - Fazenda Modelo
1979 - Chapeuzinho Amarelo (Children's Literature)
1981 - À Bordo do Rui Barbosa
1991 - Estorvo
1995 - Benjamin
2003 - Budapeste Books

1967/8 - Roda Viva
1973 - Calabar (co-authored with Ruy Guerra)
1975 - Gota d'água
1978 - Ópera do Malandro (Based on John Gay's Beggar's Opera and Bertold Brecht's Threepenny Opera)
1983 - O Grande Circo Místico Cinema
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1993
1995
1997
1998
1999
2001
2002
2003
2005
2006
2007

Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.1
Chico Buarque de Hollanda
Morte e Vida Severina
Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.2
Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.3
Chico Buarque de Hollanda – compacto
Umas e outras - compacto
Chico Buarque de Hollanda – compacto
Chico Buarque na Itália
Apesar de você
Per un pugno di samba
Chico Buarque de Hollanda - vol.4
Construção
Quando o carnaval chegar (When Carnival Comes)
Caetano e Chico juntos e ao vivo(Caetano and Chico Together and it's Live)
Chico canta (Chico Singing)
Sinal fechado (Traffic Light Red)
Chico Buarque & Maria Bethânia ao vivo (Chico Buarque and Maria Bethânia LIVE)
Meus caros amigos (My Dear Friends)
Cio da Terra compacto (Landscapes Rut)
Os saltimbancos (The Jugglers)
Gota d'água (Water Drop)
Chico Buarque (Samambaia)
Ópera do Malandro (A Rogue's Opera)
Vida (Life)
Show 1º de Maio compacto
Almanaque
Saltimbancos trapalhões (The Stooges Jugglers)
Chico Buarque en espanhol (Chico Buarque In Spanish)
Para viver um grande amor (To Live a Great Love)
O grande circo místico (The Huge Mystic Circus)
Chico Buarque (Vermelho) (Chico Buarque - RED)
O Corsário do rei (The Corsair Of The King)
Ópera do malandro (A Rogue's Opera)
Malandro (Rogue)
Melhores momentos de Chico & Caetano (Best Moments of Chico & Caetano)
Francisco
Dança da meia-lua (Half-Moon's Dance)
Chico Buarque
Chico Buarque ao vivo Paris Le Zenith (Chico Buarque Live at Paris Le Zenith)
Para Todos (To All)
Uma palavra (One Word)
Terra (Earth)
As cidades (The Cities
Chico Buarque da Mangueira
Chico ao Vivo (Chico LIVE)
Chico e as cidades (DVD) (Chico And The Cities LIVE)
Cambaio
Chico Buarque – Duetos (Chico Buarque - Duets)
Chico ou o país da delicadeza perdida (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
Meu Caro Amigo (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - My Dear Friend(DVD, direction by Roberto Oliveira)
A Flor da Pele (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira)
Vai passar (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - It Will Go away (Same Above)
Anos Dourados (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - Golden Years (Same Above)
Estação Derradeira (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - Derradeira Station (Same Above)
Bastidores (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - Behind The Scenes (Same Above)
O Futebol (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - The Football (Same Above)
Romance (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - Romance (Same Above)
Uma Palavra (DVD, direção Roberto Oliveira) - One Word (Same Above)
Carioca (CD + DVD com documentário "Desconstrução", direção Bruno Natal)
(CD + DVD with documentary "Wraping It Up", direction By Bruno Natal)
Carioca Ao Vivo (Recorded at "Canecão" in Rio)

2007-10-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Bread - Pasta - Cheese - Rice Sauces - Soups - Desserts Herbs and spices Other ingredients
Architecture Cinema Comic books Cuisine Dances Literature Music Poetry Sculpture Television Theater Visual arts
Peruvian cuisine is considered one of the most diverse in the world and is on par with French, Chinese and Indian cuisine. In January 2004, The Economist said that "Peru can lay claim to one of the world's dozen or so great cuisines" [1], while at the Fourth International Summit of Gastronomy Madrid Fusión 2006, regarded as the world's most important gastronomic forum, held in Spain between January 17th and 19th, Lima was declared the "Gastronomic Capital of the Americas" [2].
Thanks to its pre-Inca and Inca heritage and to Spanish, Basque, African, Sino-Cantonese, Japanese and finally Italian, French and Britain immigration (mainly throughout the 19th century), Peruvian cuisine combines the flavors of four continents. With the eclectic variety of traditional dishes, the Peruvian culinary arts are in constant evolution, and impossible to list in their entirety. Suffice it to mention that along the Peruvian coast alone there are more than two thousand different types of soups, and that there are more than 250 traditional desserts.
There are many restaurants specializing in Peruvian cuisine in many different cities throughout the world.
The great variety in Peruvian cuisine stems from three major influences:

Peru's unique geography, 84 of the 104 possible life zones according to Holdridge
Peru's openness and blending of distinct races and cultures
The incorporation of ancient cuisine into modern Peruvian cuisine Diverse crops
Some plants that were cultivated by the ancient societies of Peru have now been rediscovered by modern Peruvians and are carefully studied by scientists. Due to the characteristics of its land and climate and due to the nutritional quality of its products, some Peruvian plants will play a vital role in the nutrition of the future: this is true for quinoa, which is an excellent source of essential amino acids, and kañiwa which appear to be and are prepared like cereals but are not cereals. Root vegetables such as maca and real cereals like kiwicha are also plants nutritionists are researching today.
For many of Peru's inhabitants, these foodstocks allow for adequate nutrition even though living standards are poor. The abandoning of many of these staples during the Spanish domination and republican eras has brought down nutritional levels in the country.
Some of these foodstocks have been used since 1985 by NASA for astronaut food, like quinoa, kiwicha and maca.
Peruvian cuisine is often made spicy by means of ají pepper, a basic ingredient. Some Peruvian chili peppers are not spicy but serve to give color to dishes. Rice often accompanies dishes in Peruvian cuisine, and the regional sources of foods and traditions give rise to countless varieties of preparation and dishes.
Fine Peruvian cuisine emphasizes the mix of colors and ingredients, in a dynamically growing restaurateur industry and trends lead by young and talented chefs.
The following are just a few of the many dishes which are generally popular with the Peruvians. Some of these originated in other parts of Peru but most are well known and can be found in some part of Lima.

Cultivation of ancient plants
Peru is a country that holds not just a variety of ethnic mixes since times ranging from the Inca Empire, the Viceroyalty and the Republic, but also a climatic variety that sometimes is not believed by outsiders: 28 of a possible 32 world climates. The mixing of cultures and the variety of climates differ from city to city so geography, climate, culture and ethnic mix determine the variety of local cuisine.

Regional differences
The cuisine of the coast can be said to have four strong influences: the Moorish, the African, the Chinese and the local native.
The Pacific Ocean is the principal source of aquatic resources for Peru. Peru is one of the world's top two producers and exporters of unusually high-protein fishmeal for use in livestock/aquaculture feed. Its richness in fish and other aquatic life is enormous, and many oceanic plant and animal species can only be found in Peru. As important as the Pacific is to Peru's biodiversity, freshwater biomes such as the Amazon River and Lake Titicaca also play a large role in the ecological make-up of the country.
Every coastal region, being distinct in flora and fauna populations, adapts its cuisine in accordance to the resources available in its waters.
Ceviche, with its many different variations (pure, combination, or mixed with fish and shellfish) is a good example of this regional adaptation. Ceviche is found in almost all Peruvian restaurants specialized in this country's world renowned fish and seafood. Lima alone holds thousands of them, from the simple to very fancy ones. Typically served with camote, or sweet potato.
The chupe de camarones (shrimp cioppino) is one of the most popular dishes of Peruvian coastal cuisine. It is made from a thick freshwater shrimp (crayfish) stock soup, potatoes, milk and chili pepper. Regarded as typical from Arequipa (a beautiful southern andean city in Peru), Chupe de Camarones is regularly found in Peruvian restaurants specialized in Arequipan cuisine.

The cuisine of the Coast
A center of immigration and centers of the Spanish viceroyalty, Lima and Trujillo have incorporated unique dishes brought from the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors and the receiving of many waves of immigrants: African, European, Chinese, and Japanese. Besides international immigration—a large portion of which happened in Lima—there has been, since the second half of the 20th century, a strong internal flow from rural areas to cities, in particular to Lima. This has strongly influenced Lima's cuisine with the incorporation of the immigrant's ingredients and techniques (for example, the Chinese extensive use of rice or the Japanese approach to preparing raw fish).
Creole cuisine is the most widespread in this cosmopolitan city. Some international cuisines with a large presence include Chinese (known locally as Chifa) and Italian. The city's ubiquitous bakeries are another culinary treasure, where you may find just out of the oven bread from 6 to 9am and from 4 to 6pm. Few coastal cities bakeries produce "bollos", which are loaves of stone and wood-oven baked bread from the Andes, the great Peruvian mountains.
Anticuchos are brochettes made from a beef heart marinated in a various Peruvian spices and grilled, often sided with boiled potatoes and corn. They are commonly sold by street vendors and served shish kabob-style, but you may find them in creole food restaurants.
Also frequently sold by street vendors are tamales: boiled corn with meat or cheese and wrapped in a banana leaf. They are similar to humitas, which consist of corn mixed with spices, sugar, onions, filled with pork and olives and finally wrapped in the leaves of corn husks. Tamales are a common breakfast food, often served with lima and/or "Salsa Criolla."
Another favorite food to be found in many restaurants is Papas a la huancaína (Huancayo-style potatoes), a dish consisting of sliced boiled potatoes, served on a bed of lettuce with a slightly spicy cheese sauce with olives. Even if the name says that it is from Huancayo, it is actually from Chosica, in Lima, made by a "Huancaina" (a person from huancayo)
Ceviche, often spelled "cebiche" in Peru, is the flagship dish of coastal cuisine, and one of Peru's favorites. It is the quintessence of fusion: Andean chili peppers, onions and acidic aromatic lime, of a species imported by the Spanish, though with origins in Northern Africa ("limon" in Spanish). A spicy dish, it consists generally of bite-size pieces of white fish (such as corvina or white sea bass), marinated raw in lime or lemon juice mixed with chilis. Ceviche is served with raw onions, boiled sweet potatoes (camote), toasted corn (cancha), and sometimes a local green seaweed yuyo. Leche de tigre (tiger's milk), is the Peruvian colloquial name for the juice produced from the ingredients of ceviche. It has a light spicy flavor and serves as a good reconstituent. Local custom recommends ceviche as a breakfast for sleepwalkers, a hangover cure and as an aphrodisiac. Unlike ceviche from Mexico and Ecuador, it does not have tomatoes, and unlike that of Tahiti it does not use coconut milk, though both are abundant in Peru. A variation available in Callao replaces mango for fish.
Tiradito is the younger brother of ceviche, and shows more clearly the influence that Japanese cooks have had in Peru's seafood cuisine (though some suggest that it's closer to Italian carpaccio, popularized by Genovese immigrants). The fish is sliced in fine strips (about 6 cm by 2 cm) that are similar to sashimi, and then marinated in a mix of lime juice, ginger and ají limo. Unlike ceviche, tiradito lacks onions, which translates into a subtler taste.
Papa rellena (stuffed potato): mashed potatoes stuffed with ground (minced) meat, eggs, olives and various spices and then deep fried.
Sancochado: A hearty beef and vegetable stew which includes yuca (cassava) and camotes (sweet potatoes).
A local staple found in many cheaper, as well as more up-market, restaurants is lomo saltado, sliced beef (if made from the tenderloin it is "lomo fino") sauteed with onion, tomato, soy sauce, vinegar, chili (aji) and served or mixed with French fried potatoes (aka "chips"), and accompanied with rice.
Lima has an abundance of Peruvian-style Chinese restaurants or "chifas" as they are known locally; indeed, arroz chaufa or Chinese style rice is one of the frequently sampled dishes that has found its way into Peruvian cuisine.
Arroz con pollo, or rice with chicken, is enjoyed for its rich-flavored rice combined with chicken.
Chupe de pescado or fish cioppino is popular in Lima and along the coast.
Lima butter bean (pallares) salad: a salad made with (obviously) Peruvian Lima butter beans (called pallares in Perú), boiled (but still whole) and mixed (when cooled) with a "salsa" of onions, slices of tomatoes, and green ají (chili), marinated in green Peruvian lime juice, oil, salt, and vinegar. Lima butter beans (pallares) have been part of the Peruvian cuisine for at least 6,000 years.
Butifarras: a sandwich in a hamburger-type bread roll and consisting of Peruvian ham with a special spicy sauce.
Causa in its basic form is a mashed yellow potato dumpling mixed with lemon, onion, chili and oil. Varieties can have avocado, chicken, tuna (typically canned) or even shellfish added to the mixture. Also Causa is very popular in Lima which distinguishes this dish by saying Causa Limeña Causa is usually served cold with hard boiled eggs and olives.
Carapulcra is an appetizing stewed dish of pork and chicken, dried potatoes, red chilis, peanuts and cumin. The version from the Afro-Peruvian Ica region uses fresh potatoes.
Empanadas peruanas (Peruvian pastries/meat pies. These are not to be confused with the meat pies found in many northern Western countries. They can be filled either with chicken, beef, cheese or be strictly vegetarian. They have a unique taste due to the addition of olives and sometimes hard boiled eggs and raisins).
Ají de gallina (chili chicken) is thin strips of chicken served with a creamy yellow and spicy sauce, made basically with ají amarillo (yellow chilis), cheese, milk, bread, and walnuts. Traditionally from non-laying hens, but today almost exclusvely made from more tender chickens.
Escabeche criollo (pickled fish): "Escabeche" when the word is used alone normally refers to escabeche of fish. Other varieties can use duck or chicken. The escabeche dishes rely in the cooking on the heavy use of vinegar and onions together with other spices and chili.
Cau cau is a meal consisting of mondongo or tripe stew and accompanied by rice. This to have African and Chinese influence along Italian.
Chicharrones: a dish consisting of deep-fried (in its own fat) and heavily salted pork.

The cuisine of Lima and Central Coast
The cuisine of the northern coast offers a difference in style from the central and southern varieties. This is not only due to the coastal native Indian influence (less Andean), the Moorish and Spanish influence, the African and the Gypsy influence (Hindustani); but also to the warmer coastal seas, hotter climate and immense geographical latitude variety.
The climatical variety that offers regions between Tumbes, Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Cajamarca and San Martin is enormous and it is not uncommom to have variety just 100 km between regions.
Northern Style Dishes:
Chambar
Chinguirito
Pez Guitarra
Seco de Cabrito (goat stew, but goat is often substituted by lamb, chicken, or beef) is ed in a pot after marinating with chicha de jora or beer and other spices including fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) and garlic. This is most popular in the northern coast especially in Cajamarca and Lambayeque.
Seco de Chavelo (typically from Catacaos - Piura is a type of seco that is made of cecina stewed and dried meat that has been clotted and dried along with bananas, yuca, aji panca and the addition of Clarito (from Chicha de Jora the Piurano style).
Majao de Yuca
Pasao al Agua
Cebiche de Conchas Negras (ceviche with black shells) is a dish of Piura and Tumbes is also popular along the southern coast of Ecuador due to Peruvian influence. In this version of ceviche, the seafood used in the dish should be black clams accompanied by popcorn and/or toasted corn.

The cuisine of the Northern Coast

The cuisine of the Southern Coast
In the valleys and plains of the Andes, the locals' diet continues to be based on corn (maize), potatoes, and an assortment of tubers as it has been for many hundreds of years. Meat comes from indigenous animals like alpacas and guinea pigs, but also from imported livestock like sheep and swine.
As with many rural cultures, most of the more elaborate dishes were reserved for festivities, while daily meals were simple affairs. Nowadays, the festive dishes are consumed every day, although they tend to be on the heavy side and demand a large appetite.
The pachamanca is a very special banquet in and of itself. Cooked all over the Andean region of Peru, is made from a variety of meats (including pork and beef), herbs and a variety of vegetables that are slowly cooked underground on a bed of heated stones. It demands skillful cooks to create and a large number of guests to consume. Because of its tedious preparation it is normally only done for celebrations or festivals in the Andes, though recent years have seen the appearance of many "campestre" restaurants outside Lima where urban families can escape to spend an afternoon in the fresh air eating pachamanca. Such as in Cieneguilla.Places for Pachamanca in Lima Surroundings
Andean cooking's main freshwater fish is the trout, raised in fisheries in the region.
Currently, ostrich meat is being raised from farms in Arequipa, although its consumption is not widespread and limited to urban areas.
Cuy chactado: A dish more popular in the highlands is this meal of fried guinea pig. Often the indigenous women of the Peruvian Andes will raise the guinea pigs in their huts where they run around loose on the floors of the dwellings. Prior to consumption they can reach a surprisingly large size. Besides the use of guinea pigs as separate meals, they are often cooked in a Pachamanca with other meats and vegetables.
Olluquito con charqui is another typical Andean dish. Olluco is a yellowish tuber (Ullucus tuberosus) domesticated by pre-Inca populations, and is visually similar to colorful small Andean potatoes, but with a distinct crunchy texture when cooked. Charqui is the technique employed in the Andean highlands to cure meat by salting, then dehydration. The dish is a stew of finely diced ollucos with charqui pieces (traditionally alpacea, or less frequently llama meat, though today it is also very commonly made from sheep), served with white rice.
Rocoto relleno: Arequipa dish made from stuffed rocoto chilis. Rocotos are one of the very hot (spicy) chilis of Peru. In this dish they are stuffed with spiced beef or pork, onions, olives, egg white and then cooked in the oven with potatoes covered with cheese and milk.

The cuisine of the Andes
Naturally, jungle cuisine is made using the products local to the area. Although many animal species are hunted for food in the biologically diverse jungle, two standouts are the paiche (the world's largest freshwater fish) and turtles. Hunting turtles is prohibited in Peru, therefore turtle-based dishes are scarce and expensive and not sold à la carte in restaurants.
Among the fruits of Peru's jungle is the camu camu, which contains 40 times more vitamin C than the kiwifruit. Exotic fruits such as mango and pineapple are also in abundance.
Cebiche de Dorado
Juane
Tacacho

Other regional dishes
Chifa (from the mandarin words 吃飯 "chi1 fan4", meaning "to eat rice") is the Peruvian term for Chinese food (or for a Chinese restaurant). In the 150 years since its arrival in Peru, the Chinese Peruvian culture has revolutionized Peruvian cuisine, gaining international recognition from those who have had the opportunity to sample it while visiting Peru.
Chifa reflects a fusion by Chinese Peruvians of the products that the Chinese brought with them to those that they found in Peru, and later cultivated themselves. Even some creole dishes such as tacu-tacu, lomo saltado, and arroz chaufa were influenced by the Chinese.
In downtown Lima, on Capón Street, is the barrio chino (Chinatown). The great variety of savory and sweet dishes there, with different types of meats, vegetables, and soups, created a new culinary alternative for Peruvians.

El Chifa
Alfajores: a common dessert made in several varieties. The basic recipe makes use of a base mix of flour, lemon rind, margarine, and powdered sugar which is then oven-baked. Alfajores consist of two or more layers of this baked pastry, and is usually filled with either manjar blanco (a caramel-colored, sweet, creamy filling made with milk and sugar) or molasses.
Turrones(or nougat) (similar to fudge) are of several varieties. One common variety to be found in Lima is Turrón de Doña Pepa, an anise and honey nougat that is traditionally prepared for the Señor de los Milagros (or Lord of Miracles) procession, during October. Turrones are most commonly made from almonds, and can be found in Spanish-speaking countries all over the world.
Almost exclusive to Peru is the fruit known as lúcuma. Lucuma juice, ice cream, and corresponding lucuma shakes are very popular throughout Peru. Only lucuma ice cream normally can be found in large US cities (typically in Peruvian restaurants). One popular brand of ice cream in Peru is Donofrio, which is owned by Nestlé.
Helados (ice cream): Peru has the usual assortment of common ice cream flavors but also some more exotic flavors such as camu camu, guaraná and tuna, the latter being the local name for the fruit of the prickly pear cactus, and not to be confused with the fish. Peru is one of few countries in the world where the third most popular ice-cream (after vanilla and chocolate) is not strawberry, it is in fact the "nutty" flavored, orange colored lúcuma, which is an exotic fruit grown in quantity only in its native Peru, and only in recent years being exported in very limited quantities as a gourmet flavor (for ice cream and savory sauces) to the USA, and available in Europe essentially only in food shows.
Mazamorra morada: a jelly-like dessert which takes on the color of one of its main ingredients—purple maize. Mazamorra morada is a dessert typical of Peru. A variety of purple corn (maiz morado) grows in Peru that colors and adds a particular flavor to the water in which it is boiled. When that water is cooled and chopped fruit, lemon and sugar is added, and the mixture is served as a beverage, its name is "chicha morada".
Picarones: a sweet, ring-shaped fritter with a pumpkin base; often served with a molasses syrup.
Picarones are pumpkin fritters that are also eaten as late-afternoon street food during El Señor de los Milagros celebrations. This is another dish that has its origins in the colonial period. Some believe they are a local adaptation of Spanish buñuelos. Picarones are made of squash or pumpkin dough and sweetened with chancaca, raw cane sugar melted into a syrup.
Tejas: candy filled with manjar blanco and coated with a fondant-like shell. Some are also made with a chocolate shell (chocoteja).
Suspiro Limeño: a dessert made of milk. This classic criollo dessert is said to have been named by the famous Peruvian poet and author José Gálvez whose wife doña Amparo Ayarez was famous for her cooking. When asked what inspired the name, he reportedly replied 'because it is soft and sweet like the sigh of a woman'. In this case, it would be a woman from Lima, a Limeña.

Sweet dishes and desserts

Beverages
Well-known soft drinks include:
Less common are:

Chicha Morada: a beverage prepared from a base of boiled purple maize to which are added chunks of pineapple, sugar, and ice as it cools. First-timers compare it to Kool-aid, with a pleasant, almost fruity taste. Not to be confused with the fermented beverage chicha (chicha de jora)
Inca Kola: the brand of a popular fizzy soda drink (gaseosa), which is a cultural icon, served literally on the most humble to the most exclusive tables nationwide, alone or with any type of food. Yellow in color, it is sweet and refreshing. Some compare its flavor to bubble gum. Inca Kola is the only national beverage in the world that beat worldwide Coca-Cola in sales.
Refresco de camu camu: Refrescos are basically non-fizzy type and simple juices of various flavours often served with the set menu of the day at smaller restaurants. Besides camu camu, there are more common flavours such as orange juice.
Té de uña de gato: a tea made from a plant from the Amazon, cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa), known for its healing or medicinal properties. Soft Drinks
Pisco, a kind of brandy, is considered by many to be the national drink of Peru. This distilled beverage made from grapes is produced in various regions of the country. Pisco Sour is a cocktail made from pisco combined with lemon juice, the white of an egg and sugar.
Wines come from many different regions of the country, most notably from the Ica Region.
Beer as in many countries, is popular in all levels of society. Local brands include Pilsen and Cristal. A couple of regional beers are Arequipeña and Cuzqueña (Cusqueña), from Arequipa and Cuzco, respectively; though Cuzqueña is popular nationwide and is exported worldwide. A common beer drinking ritual among many Peruvian men involves a group sharing one glass. The party holding the bottle waits for the prior person to drink from the glass before receiving that glass, filling it and passing the bottle on to the next in line. While this custom is more common among men of lower echelons of society, people of higher social status, particularly youth and occasionally women, take part in this custom.
Chicha or Chicha de Jora is another well-known drink, based on different varieties of fermented maize and different aromatic herbs, depending on the region of the country. Its consumption is mostly limited to the Andes area.
Chicha Norteña and Clarito

See also

This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of 20 June 2005. It was translated by the Spanish Translation of the Week collaboration.
Platos Peruanos - A.B.C. S.A. Lima. Peru

2007-10-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

Shinty (Scottish Gaelic camanachd or iomain) is a team sport played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played almost exclusively in the Highlands of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, reaching as far as England.
The sport was derived from the same root as the Irish game of hurling, and is similar to bandy.
Shinty is one of the forebears of ice hockey, Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia playing a game on ice in 1800 at Windsor. In Canada, informal hockey games are still called shinny. Shinty is often compared to hurling, yet has many different rules and features. Shinty is more commonly compared to the modern day hockey.
In the Scottish Lowlands, it was formerly referred to as common/cammon (caman), cammock (from Scottish Gaelic camag), knotty and various other names.

Game
Gaelic settlers from Ireland brought the sport of hurling to Scotland, where the game was played as such until the 14th century, albeit with a different caman from the Irish one. Shinty appears prominently in the legend of Cúchulainn, the Celtic mythology hero.
The game was traditionally played through the winter months, with New Year's Day being the day when whole villages would gather together to play games featuring teams of up to 80 a side, players often using any piece of wood with a hook as a caman.
In 1887, a historic game was played between Glenurquhart Shinty Club and Strathglass Shinty Club in Inverness. This game was attended by thousands of people and was a major milestone in developing a set of common rules. This fixture was to be repeated on 12th January 2007 in Inverness as the opening centrepiece of the Highland 2007 celebrations in Scotland, but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The modern sport is governed by the Camanachd Association (Scots Gaelic: Comann na Camanachd). The association came into being in the late Victorian era in as a means of formulating common rules to unite the various different codes and rules which even differed between neighbouring glens, in this the sport shares similarities with other sports which became organised around this time. The first meeting of the Camanachd Association was held in Kingussie in 1893.

History
Shinty is traditionally divided into two administrative and playing areas, the North and the South. The geographic divide is at Ballachulish, with all clubs south of here being classified as South teams, although most are still northerly in comparison to most of Scotland. The long distances to travel have meant that the game in the South and in the North habitually have slightly different approaches to the game. The South considered to be more skilful in comparison to the more physical style propagated in the North. The South also has a slightly differing formation which is commonly used than that of the North.
These clubs compete in various competitions, both cup and league, on a national and also North/South basis. Whilst the top two leagues are played on a national basis, the premier competition is the Scottish Cup or the Camanachd Association Challenge Cup (the Camanachd Cup for short) which has been dominated by Kingussie in the last twenty years. The other dominant team in shinty history has been Newtonmore, Kingussie's near neighbours. Strangely these two teams only met in the Camanachd Cup Final for the first time in 1984.
The 2006 final was played, for the first time, in Dunoon between holders Fort William and Kingussie. Kingussie regained the cup after three years due to a majestic performance by Ronald Ross.
In League shinty, Kingussie has been dominant for the past 20 years and, according to the Guinness Book of Records 2005, is world sport's most successful sporting team of all time, winning 20 consecutive league championships and going 4 years without losing a single fixture in the early 1990s. This incredible, unmatched run of dominance was ended on 2nd September by ancient rivals Newtonmore who defeated Oban Camanachd 2-0 to ensure that Kingussie could not catch the team at the top of the league. However, Newtonmore were unable to usurp their neighbours as champions, as the first post-Kingussie champions were confirmed as Fort William who sealed the title on 30th September 2006 having won their games in hand over Newtonmore.

Competitions
In 2003, shinty clubs voted for a trial period of two years of a summer season from March to October, with a view to moving permanently to summer shinty if the experiment was judged to be a success. Despite opposition from the "Big Two", Kingussie and Newtonmore, and other small groups in the game, an EGM in November 2005 voted by an overwhelming majority (well over the required two thirds) to make summer shinty the basis upon which the game would proceed.
Predominantly a Highland game, there are also clubs to found in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth and even London. University Shinty is a popular section of the sport, with almost all Scotland's main universities possessing a team. Historically, Glasgow University, Aberdeen University and Edinburgh University have vied for supremacy but in recent years, Strathclyde University, Robert Gordon's College and Dundee University have risen to prominence. It is also played in the British Army with The Highlanders Shinty Club keeping alive the tradition of the game being played in the Forces.
In recognition of shinty's shared roots with hurling, an annual international between the two codes from Scotland and Ireland is played on a home and away basis using composite rules. In recent years the Irish have had the upper hand but the Scots won the fixture narrowly in 2005 and again in 2006, this time at Croke Park, Dublin albeit with the Irish fielding weaker players from the second tier Christy Ring Cup.
Although Camanachd Cup finals and internationals have been shown over the years, 2006 marked the first ever regular TV deal for shinty with matches being shown on the BBC Sports show Spòrs.
In August 2006, the Camanachd Association decided to move its main offices to Inverness from Banavie near Fort William. This move was met with consternation by many in the sporting community with calls for an extraordinary general meeting. The EGM was held but a vote of no confidence in the Board of Directors was voted down. The Association recently appointed its first female chief executive Gill McDonald.

2007-10-22T10:24:00.001-07:00

Biography
The English Revolution of 1688 divided the people of New York into two ill-defined factions. Past Historians have stressed the generality of the small shopkeepers, small farmers, sailors, poor traders and artisans allied against the patroons, rich fur-traders, merchants, lawyers and crown officers however, recent scholarship has produced a more muddy picture of the true divisions. The former were led by Leisler, the latter by Peter Schuyler (1657-1724), Nicholas Bayard (c. 1644 1707), Stephen van Cortlandt (1643-1700), William Nicolls (1657-1723) and other representatives of the aristocratic Hudson Valley families.
The Leislerians claimed greater loyalty to the Protestant succession. When news of the imprisonment of Gov. Andros in Massachusetts was received, they took possession on May 31, 1689 of Fort James (at the southern end of Manhattan Island), renamed it Fort William and announced their determination to hold it until the arrival of a governor commissioned by the new sovereigns. Thus began Leisler's Rebellion. The aristocrats also favoured the Revolution, but were unsure as to how they should act because of the meddling of Increase Mather in London. This caused a declaration of William and Mary's ascendency to be delayed for quite some time. When news finally reached New York it was uncertain and from a weak source therefore the Lt. Gov. Nicholson decided to suppress the information until a formal declaration made its way across the Atlantic.

The rebellion
Lieutenant-Governor Francis Nicholson sailed for England on June 24, a committee of safety was organized by the popular party, and Leisler was appointed commander-in-chief. Under authority of a letter from the home government addressed to Nicholson, or in his absence, to such as for the time being takes care for preserving the peace and administering the laws in His Majesty's province of New York, he assumed the title of lieutenant-governor in December 1689, appointed a council and took charge of the government of the entire province.
He summoned the first Intercolonial Congress in America, which met in New York on May 1, 1690 to plan concerted action against the French and Native Americans. Colonel Henry Sloughter was commissioned governor of the province on September 3, 1689 but did not reach New York until March 19, 1691.

End of the rebellion

The Life of Jacob Leisler - from the Fales Library, New York University
Statue of Jacob Leisler - in New Rochelle, NY

2007-10-21T10:18:00.001-07:00

An urban university is an institution of higher learning that is socially involved and serves as a resource for educating the citizens of the city in which it is located. That is, the urban university must by "of" the city as well as "in" the city.
An urban university operates with a closely meshed and intertwined mission, milieu, and environment. An operational definition of the urban university would incorporate both its setting and the clientele it serves. Specific criteria applying to such institutions in the United States include:
More than six dozen universities in the United States would qualify as urban universities under these criteria. City University of New York and New York University are examples of urban universities, though each is distinct from the other in purpose and mission.
Historically in the Western world, a tradition existed where universities were associated with great cities, beginning with the University of Paris, founded circa 1200 C.E. The tradition continued into the 17th and 18th centuries with the European universities at Leiden, Geneva, and Edinburgh. These institutions were both civic and municipal. A direct line runs from these universities to contemporary urban institutions such as University of London and New York University.
Location in a socially and economically diverse city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment of a significant number (20% or more) of part-time students.
Inclusion of graduate and professional schools, some of which grant a terminal degree.

2007-10-20T11:22:00.001-07:00

Arthur Clive Heward Bell (September 16, 1881 – September 18, 1964) was an English Art critic, associated with the Bloomsbury group.

Marriage, relationships
Bell was one of the most prominent proponents of formalism in aesthetics. In general formalism (which can be traced back at least to Kant) is the view that it is an object's formal properties which makes something art, or which defines aesthetic experiences. Bell proposed a very strong version of formalism: he claimed that nothing else about an object is in any way relevant to assessing whether it is a work of art, or aesthetically valuable. What a painting represents, for example, is completely irrelevant to evaluating it aesthetically. Consequently, he believed that knowledge of the historical context of a painting, or the intention of the painter is unnecessary for the appreciation of visual art. He wrote: "to appreciate a work of art we need bring with us nothing from life, no knowledge of its ideas and affairs, no familiarity with its emotions"(Bell p27).
Formalist theories differ according to how the notion of 'form' is understood. For Kant, it meant roughly the shape of an object - colour was not an element in the form of an object. For Bell, by contrast, "the distinction between form and colour is an unreal one; you cannot conceive of a colourless space; neither can you conceive a formless relation of colours"(Bell p19). Bell famously coined the term 'significant form' to describe the distinctive type of "combination of lines and colours" which makes an object a work of art.
Bell was also a key proponent of the claim that the value of art lies in its ability to produce a distinctive aesthetic experience in the viewer. Bell called this experience "aesthetic emotion". He defined it as that experience which is aroused by significant form. He also suggested that the reason we experience aesthetic emotion in response to the significant form of a work of art was that we perceive that form as an expression of an experience the artist has. The artist's experience in turn, he suggested, was the experience of seeing ordinary objects in the world as pure form: the experience one has when one sees something not as a means to something else, but as an end in itself (Bell p45).
Bell believed that ultimately the value of anything whatever lies only in its being a means to "good states of mind" (Bell p83). Since he also believed that "there is no state of mind more excellent or more intense than the state of aesthetic contemplation"(Bell p83) he believed that works of visual art were among the most valuable things there could be. Like many in the Bloomsbury group, Bell was heavily influenced in his account of value by the philosopher G.E. Moore.

Key ideas
Bell (1913) Art (London: Chatto and Windus)

2007-10-19T10:42:00.001-07:00

Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was the Governor of New York (1943-1954) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948. As a leader of the liberal faction of the Republican party he fought the conservative faction led by Senator Robert A. Taft, and played a major role in nominating Dwight D. Eisenhower for the presidency in 1952. He represented the Northeastern business and professional community that accepted most of the New Deal after 1944. His successor as leader of the liberal Republicans was Nelson A. Rockefeller, who became governor of New York in 1959.

Early life and family
During the 1930s, Dewey was a New York City prosecutor. He first achieved headlines in the early 1930s, when he prosecuted bootlegger Waxey Gordon while serving as Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Additionally, he relentlessly pursued gangster Dutch Schultz, both as a federal and state prosecutor. Schultz's first trial ended in a deadlock; prior to his second trial, Schultz had the venue moved to Syracuse, then moved there and garnered the sympathy of the townspeople so that when it came time for his trial, the jury found him innocent, liking him too much to convict him. Following that trial, Dewey and Fiorello H. LaGuardia found grounds with which to try Schultz a third time, driving Schultz into hiding in Newark, New Jersey. There, Schultz put into action a plan to assassinate Dewey. Crime boss Lucky Luciano, fearing that if Dewey was murdered, the FBI and federal government would wage all-out war on the Mafia, ordered that Schultz be killed before he had the chance to finalize his plans. Luciano's plan went accordingly, and before Schultz could finish organizing his plot to kill Dewey, Schultz was shot to death by a Mafia hitman in the restroom of a bar in Newark. Shortly thereafter, Dewey focused his attention on prosecuting Luciano, and in the greatest victory of his legal career, he convinced a jury to convict Luciano of being a pimp who ran one of the largest prostitution rings in American history. Thanks to the thorough, methodical research of Dewey and his staff, it was revealed that prostitution in the New York area was almost entirely under Mafia control, and that madams and their prostitutes were required to give a portion of their profits to Luciano's organization, or face beatings and even death. Many of these madams and prostitutes would help Dewey convict Luciano by testifying at the trial; several of these women would testify to beatings and mutilation at the hands of Luciano's henchmen, and that they had seen Luciano personally directing the organization. One particulary dramatic eyewitness was a prostitute who was suffering from heroin withdrawal, she nearly collapsed on the witness stand. The trial of Luciano became front-page news across the United States, and both Dewey and Luciano became household names.
However, Dewey did more than simply prosecute famous Mafia figures. In 1936, while serving as special prosecutor in New York County, Dewey helped indict and convict Richard Whitney, the former president of the New York Stock Exchange, on charges of embezzlement; in the 1920's Whitney had been a prominent New York business tycoon and socialite. Dewey also led law-enforcement efforts to protect dockworkers and poultry farmers and workers from racketeering in New York. In 1936 Dewey received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." In 1939 Dewey prosecuted American Nazi leader Fritz Kuhn for embezzlement, crippling Kuhn's organization and limiting its ability to support Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
Dewey was elected District Attorney of New York County (Manhattan) in 1937. By the late 1930's Dewey's successful efforts against organized crime - and especially his conviction of Lucky Luciano - had turned him into a national celebrity. His nickname, the "Gangbuster", became the name of a popular radio serial based on his fight against the mob. Hollywood film studios even made several movies based on his exploits; one starred Humphrey Bogart as Lucky Luciano and Bette Davis as a prostitute whose testimony helps to put him in prison.

New York prosecutor and District Attorney
In 1938, at age 36, Dewey ran unsuccessfully for Governor of New York against the popular Democratic incumbent, Herbert Lehman, Franklin Roosevelt's successor. He based his campaign on his record as a famous prosecutor of organized-crime figures in New York City. Although he lost, Dewey's strong showing against Lehman (he lost the election by only one percentage point), brought him national political attention and made him a frontrunner for the 1940 Republican presidential nomination. In 1942 he ran for Governor again, and was elected in a landslide. In 1946 he won a second term by the greatest margin in state history to that point, and in 1950 he was elected to a third term.
Dewey was regarded as an honest and highly effective governor. He cut taxes, doubled state aid to education, increased salaries for state employees, and reduced the state's debt by over $100 million. Additionally, he put through the first state law in the country which prohibited racial discrimination in employment. As governor, Dewey also signed legislation that created the State University of New York. He also created a powerful political organization that allowed him to dominate New York state politics and influence national politics.
He also strongly supported the death penalty. During his 12 years as Governor over 90 people were electrocuted (including two women) under New York authority.

Governor of New York

Presidential candidacies
Dewey ran for the 1940 Republican presidential nomination, but lost to Wendell Willkie, who went on to lose to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the general election. For most of the campaign Dewey was considered the favorite for the nomination, but his strength ebbed as Nazi Germany swept through western Europe in the late spring of 1940. Some Republican leaders considered Dewey to be too young (he was only 38) and inexperienced to lead the nation through the Second World War. Furthermore, Dewey's isolationist stance became increasingly difficult for him to defend as the Nazis conquered Holland, Belgium, France, and threatened Britain. As a result, many Republicans switched to supporting Wendell Willkie, who was a decade older and an open advocate of aid to the Allies. Dewey's foreign-policy position evolved during the 1940s; by 1944 he was considered an internationalist and a supporter of groups such as the United Nations. It was in 1940 that Dewey first clashed with Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio. Taft - who would maintain his isolationism and economic conservatism to his death - would become Dewey's great rival for control of the Republican Party in the 1940's and early 1950's. Dewey would be seen as the leader of moderate/liberal Republicans, who were based in the Northeastern and Pacific Coast states, while Taft would become the leader of conservative Republicans who dominated most of the Midwest and parts of the South.

1940
Dewey won the Republican nomination in 1944 but was defeated in the election by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the incumbent. Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt's daughter and a socialite well known for her wit, called Dewey, alluding to his pencil-thin moustache, "the little man on the wedding cake," a bit of ridicule he could not shake. At the 1944 Republican Convention Dewey easily defeated Ohio Senator John Bricker, who was supported by Taft; he then made Bricker his running mate in a bid to win the votes of conservative Republicans. In the general campaign in the fall Dewey crusaded against the alleged inefficiencies, corruption and Communist influences in Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs, but avoided military and foreign policy debates. Although he lost the election, Dewey did better against Roosevelt than any of his four Republican opponents.

1944
He was the Republican candidate in the 1948 presidential election in which, in almost unanimous predictions by pollsters and the press, he was projected as the winner. The Chicago Daily Tribune printed "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN" as its post-election headline, issuing a few hundred copies before the returns showed conclusively that the winner was Harry S. Truman, the incumbent.
Indeed, given Truman's sinking popularity and the Democratic Party's three-way split (between Truman, Henry A. Wallace, and Strom Thurmond), Dewey had seemed unstoppable. Republicans figured that all they had to do was to avoid destroying a certain election victory, and as such, Dewey did not take any risks. He spoke in platitudes, trying to transcend politics. Speech after speech was filled with empty statements of the obvious, such as the famous quote: "You know that your future is still ahead of you." An editorial in the Louisville Courier-Journal summed it up:
No presidential candidate in the future will be so inept that four of his major speeches can be boiled down to these historic four sentences: Agriculture is important. Our rivers are full of fish. You cannot have freedom without liberty. Our future lies ahead.

1948
Dewey did not run for President in 1952, but he did play a major role in securing the Republican nomination for General Dwight Eisenhower, the most popular hero of the Second World War. The 1952 campaign was the climatic moment in the fierce rivalry between Dewey and Taft within the Republican Party. Taft was an announced candidate, and given his age he freely admitted that 1952 was his last chance to win the presidency. Dewey played a key role in convincing Eisenhower to run against Taft, and when Eisenhower became a candidate Dewey used his powerful political machine to win "Ike" the support of delegates in New York and elsewhere. At the Republican Convention Dewey was verbally attacked by pro-Taft delegates and speakers as the real power behind Eisenhower, but Dewey had the satisfaction of seeing Eisenhower win the nomination and end Taft's presidential hopes for the last time. Dewey then played a major role in helping California Senator Richard Nixon become Eisenhower's running mate. When Eisenhower won the Presidency later that year, many of Dewey's closest aides and advisors, such as Herbert Brownell, would become key figures in the Eisenhower Administration.

1952
Dewey's third term as governor of New York expired in 1954, after which he retired from public service and returned to his law practice, Dewey and Ballantine, although he remained a power broker behind the scenes in the Republican Party. In 1956, when Eisenhower mulled not running for a second term, he suggested Dewey as his choice as successor, but party leaders made it plain that they would not entrust the nomination to Dewey yet again, and ultimately Eisenhower decided to run for re-election. Dewey also played a major role that year in convincing Eisenhower to keep Nixon as his running mate; Ike had considered dropping Nixon from the Republican ticket and picking someone he felt would be less partisan and controversial. However, Dewey argued that dropping Nixon from the ticket would only anger Republican voters while winning Ike few votes from the Democrats. Dewey's arguments helped convince Eisenhower to keep Nixon on the ticket. In 1960 Dewey would strongly support Nixon's losing presidential campaign against Democrat John F. Kennedy.
By the 1960s, as the conservative wing assumed more and more power within the GOP, Dewey removed himself further and further from party matters. When the Republicans in 1964 gave Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, Taft's successor as the conservative leader, their presidential nomination, Dewey declined to even attend the Convention; it was the first Republican Convention he had missed since 1936. President Lyndon Johnson offered Dewey positions on several blue ribbon commissions, as well as a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, but Dewey politely declined them all, preferring to remain in political retirement and concentrate on his highly profitable law firm. By the early 1960's Dewey's law practice had made him into a multimillionaire.
In the late 1960's Dewey was saddened by the deaths of his best friends Pat and Marge Hogan, and by his wife's long, painful, and losing battle against cancer. Frances Dewey died in the summer of 1970 after battling cancer for more than three years. In early 1971 Dewey began to date actress Kitty Carlisle Hart, and there was talk of marriage between them. However, he died suddenly of a heart attack on March 16, 1971, while vacationing in Florida. He was 68 years old. Both he and his wife are buried in the town cemetery of Pawling, New York; after his death his farm of Dapplemere was sold and renamed "Dewey Lane Farm" in his honor.

Later career
In 1964, the New York State Legislature officially renamed the New York State Thruway in honor of Dewey. The official designation is, however, rarely used in reference to the road, and the naming was opposed by many Italian Americans, who are a relatively large and important demographic presence in the state. However, signs on Interstate 95 from the end of the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx to the Connecticut state line (and vice-versa) designate the Thruway as being the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway.
Dewey's official papers from his years in politics and public life were given to the University of Rochester; they are housed in the university library and are available to historians and other writers.
In 2005, the New York City Bar Association named an award after Dewey. The Thomas E. Dewey Medal, sponsored by the law firm of Dewey Ballantine LLP, is awarded annually to one outstanding Assistant District Attorney in each of New York City's five counties (New York, Kings, Queens, Bronx, and Richmond). The Medal was first awarded on November 29, 2005.

Bibliography

Thomas E. Dewey Papers, University of Rochester

2007-10-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr. (born 1925) is, with his son Riley, co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation. He is the son of Stephen David Bechtel, Sr. and grandson of Warren A. Bechtel who founded the Bechtel Corporation.
Stephen Bechtel attended Purdue University reciveing a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1946. He earned his Master of Business Administration degree from from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1948.
Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Bechtel to the President's Committee on Urban Housing. Richard Nixon named him to membership on the National Industrial Pollution Control Council, the National Commission on Productivity, the Labor Management Advisory Committee, and the National Commission for Industrial Peace. Gerald Ford asked Bechtel to serve on the President's Labor-Management Committee.
Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr became an Eagle Scout in 1940, and has been recognized by the Boy Scouts of America with both the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and the Silver Buffalo Award. Interestingly, Stephen's uncle Kenneth K. Bechtel was awarded the Silver Buffalo in 1950 and served as National president of the Boy Scouts of America from 1956–1959.

2007-10-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Part of a series on
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Jesus Christ and Christianity Chronology Virgin Birth Ministry • Miracles • Parables Death and resurrection Second Coming Christology Names and titles Relics
Cultural and Historical Background Aramaic • Greek • Race Genealogy of Jesus
Perspectives on Jesus Biblical Jesus Religious perspectives Christian • Jewish • Islamic Historicity • Non-historicity Historical perspective Mythographic perspective Jesus in culture Cultural depictions of Jesus Images Islam holds Jesus (Arabic: عيسى `Īsā) to have been a messenger and a prophet of God who lived roughly between 8–2 BC/BCE to 29–36 AD/CE. The concept of prophecy in Islam is broader than Judaism and Christianity since Muslims distinguish between "messengers" (ar: rasul) and "prophets" (ar: nabi). Unlike prophets, messengers are given a message/scripture (ar: risalah) in book form. All messengers are prophets but not vice versa) cf John Esposito (2002), p. 12, see also Itmam al-hujjah</ref> The Qur'an gives him the unique title of the Messiah., and that he will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment and defeat the "Dajjal" and the enemies of Islam.

Etymology

Life
Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus through Mary, which is recounted throughout several passages in the Qur'an. In the Qur'anic story an angel appears before Mary to announce her the gift of a holy son. Mary is surprised and answers the angel that she is virgin. The angel replies "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed...when He determines a matter, He only says to it, 'Be', and it is." (
Other relevant verses from the Qur'an:
And she (Mary) who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her of Our Spirit and made her and her son a sign for the nations.
Other references in hadith are:
When any human being is born. Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead. Sahih Bukhari 4:54:506

Birth
Muslims believe that God gave a Direct Revelation to Jesus, the Injil (derived from the Greek for Gospel), while also declaring the truth of the previous revelation, the Torah. Muslims believe that they have been misinterpreted, misrepresented, mistranslated, passed over, and/or textually distorted over time, and that even the earliest manuscripts discovered by archaeologists reflect these changes. Muslims believe that the New Testament no longer represents the original revelation, which the Qur'an calls a "Light", guidance, and a divine scripture (

Mission

Main article: Islamic view of Jesus' death Second coming
In the following verses, refuters of Jesus' return translate the verb "mutavafika" (متوفيك) as the physical death of Jesus before ascension of his body while proponents translate it as the termination of Jesus' period on earth. Ali ibn Abu Talha, a Tabi'in, has also reported that `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas said: Mutawaffika connotes Mumayyituka (I am going to give you death). Proponents translate it for future tense and argue that after his second coming, he will be a sign for day of judgement.
And most surely he (Jesus) is a sign of the hour (Judgement day), therefore have no doubt about it and follow me: this is the right path.

Qur'an
Most Muslims believe that Jesus will descend before the Day of Judgment and will slay al-Masīh al-Dajjāl (literally "the Deceiving Messiah," loosely the Antichrist; often referred to simply as "Dajjāl") at the Gate of Ludd in Palestine, They also believe that he will marry, die and be buried in the Masjid al Nabawi. During his life, he will have revealed that Islam is the true religion of God. Most Muslims give these hadith as proof of Jesus' second coming:
However, refuters of Jesus' return question many hadith including those in Sahih Bukhari and argue that as this event (if happens) would be an extra-ordinary event and still not discussed in the first book of hadith, Muwatta by Imam Malik.

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (i.e. Jesus) descends amongst you as a just ruler, he will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as charitable gifts)." Sahih Bukhari 3:43:656
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: "The Last Hour would not come until ... the time of prayer shall come and then Jesus (peace be upon him) son of Mary would descend and would lead them in prayer..." Sahih Muslim 041:6924
Hudhaifa b. Usaid Ghifari reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion). He said: What do you discuss about? They (the Companions) said. We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), the Gog and Magog, and land-slidings in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly. Sahih Muslim 041:6931
Also similar hadith in Sahih Muslim 041:6932,Sahih Muslim 041:6933,Sahih Muslim 041:6934
"...He would then call (that young man) and he will come forward laughing with his face gleaming (with happiness) and it would at this very time that Allah would send Christ, son of Mary, and he will descend at the white minaret in the eastern side of Damscus wearing two garments lightly dyed with saffron and placing his hands on the wings of two Angels..." Sahih Muslim 041:7015
"...and Allah would then send Jesus son of Mary who would resemble 'Urwa b Mas'ud. He (Jesus Christ) would chase him and kill him. ..." Sahih Muslim 041:7023
Narrated Abu Hurairah: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: There is no prophet between me and him, that is, Jesus (peace be upon him). He will descend (to the earth). When you see him, recognise him: a man of medium height, reddish fair, wearing two light yellow garments, looking as if drops were falling down from his head though it will not be wet. He will fight for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill swine and abolish jizyah. Allah will cause all religions except Islam to perish. He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray over him. Sunnan Abu Dawud 37:4310
How will you be when the son of Mary descends amongst you and he will judge people by the Law of the Qur'an and not by the Law of the Gospel. Sahih Bukhari 4:55:658 Hadith
Jesus is described by various means in the Qur'an. The most common reference to Jesus occurs in the form of "Ibn Maryam" (son of Mary), sometimes preceded with another title. Jesus is also recognised as a prophet (nabī) and messenger (rasūl) of God. The terms wadjih ("worthy of esteem in this world and the next"), mubārak ("blessed", or "a source of benefit for others"), `abd-Allāh (servant of God) are all used in the Qur'an in reference to Jesus.

In Islamic thought
Muslim understanding of the Trinity rejects the mainstream Christian view that Jesus was the Son of God, regarding belief in the Trinity as a blasphemous denial of tawhid (monotheism). The Qur'an states repeatedly that Jesus was only a human. Muslims do not believe 'Isa (Jesus) is God (in Arabic: Allah), nor that he was the "begotten" Son of God but rather only a man. The mainstream Christian belief, however, is that Jesus is the begotten, divine Son of God.
The Qur'an asserts that Jesus was a righteous Prophet and that he had a special relationship with God. Also, the Qur'an rejects the use of the word "begotten" when used to describe this special relationship Jesus had with God. "Begetting" is, by definition, having an offspring with characteristics of the parent. The Qur'an view such an act as undignifying to the majesty of God and an act of polytheism. The Qur'an also asserts that Allah is the Judge, that He does not die, thus no son is needed to carry out his work as He will not grow old nor die.
And they say: Allah has taken to himself a son. Glory be to Him; rather, whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His; all are obedient to Him.
The Qur'an asserts that Jesus was only a Prophet of God (not God himself) who worshipped God and taught his followers to do the same.
O followers of the Book! do not exceed the limits in your religion, and do not speak (lies) against Allah, but (speak) the truth; the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary is only a messenger of Allah and His Word which He communicated to Mary and a spirit from Him; believe therefore in Allah and His messengers, and say not, "Trinity". Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only one Allah; far be It from His glory that He should have a son, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His, and Allah is sufficient for a Protector.

Theology
The quotes attributed to Muhammad (Hadith) contain additional information about Jesus.

There were no prophets between Jesus and Muhammad. See also