crimelog

2008-05-02T08:08:00.001-07:00

Parapsychology (from the Greek: παρά para, "alongside" + psychology) is the study of paranormal psychological phenomena, such as extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, and survival of consciousness after death. Parapsychologists call these processes psi, a term non-suggestive of what causes the phenomena or experiences. To date, no evidence has been accepted by the mainstream scientific community as irrefutably supporting paranormal phenomena.

History
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was founded in London in 1882. The SPR was the first systematic effort to organize scientists and scholars for a critical and sustained investigation of paranormal phenomena. The early membership of the SPR included philosophers, scholars, scientists, educators and politicians, such as Henry Sidgwick, Arthur Balfour, William Crookes, and Charles Richet.

Early psychical research
In 1911, Stanford University became the first academic institution in the United States to study extra-sensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) in a laboratory setting. The effort was headed by psychologist John Edgar Coover. In 1930, Duke University became the second major U.S. academic institution to engage in the critical study of ESP and psychokinesis in the laboratory. Under the guidance of psychologist William McDougall, and with the help of others in the department, including psychologists Karl Zener, Joseph B. Rhine and Louisa E. Rhine, laboratory ESP experiments began, using volunteer subjects from the undergraduate student body. As opposed to the approaches of psychical research, which generally sought qualitative evidence for paranormal phenomena, the experiments at Duke University proffered a quantitative, statistical approach using cards and dice. As a consequence of the ESP experiments at Duke, standard laboratory procedures for the testing of ESP developed and came to be adopted by interested researchers throughout the world.

Rhine era
The Parapsychological Association (PA) was created in Durham, North Carolina, on June 19, 1957. Its formation was proposed by J. B. Rhine at a workshop on parapsychology, which was held at the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University. Rhine proposed that the group form itself into the nucleus of an international professional society in parapsychology. The aim of the organization, as stated in its Constitution became "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science".

Decade of increased research (1970s)
Contemporary parapsychological research has waned considerably.

Parapsychology today

Research
Parapsychologists study a number of ostensible paranormal phenomena, including but not limited to:
The definitions for the terms above may not reflect their mainstream usage, nor the opinions of all parapsychologists and their critics. Many critics, for example, feel that parapsychologists are engaged in the study of phenomena that disappear under stringent experimental conditions and are thus normal processes.
According to the Parapsychological Association, parapsychologists do not study all paranormal phenomena, nor are they concerned with astrology, UFOs, Bigfoot, paganism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft.

Telepathy: Transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses.
Precognition: Perception of information about future places or events before they occur.
Clairvoyance: Obtaining information about places or events at remote locations, by means unknown to current science.
Psychokinesis: The ability of the mind to influence matter, time, space, or energy by means unknown to current science.
Reincarnation: The rebirth of a soul or other non-physical aspect of human consciousness in a new physical body after death.
Hauntings: Phenomena often attributed to ghosts and encountered in places a deceased individual is thought to have frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings. Scope
Parapsychologists employ a variety of approaches during the study of apparent paranormal phenomena. These methods include qualitative approaches used in traditional psychology, but also quantitative empirical methodologies. Their more controversial studies involve the use of meta-analyses in examining the statistical evidence for psi.

Methodology

Experimental research

Main article: Ganzfeld experiment Ganzfeld

Main article: Remote viewing Remote viewing

Main article: Psychokinesis Psychokinesis on random number generators
This experimental domain was previously called "bio-PK." More recently, researchers refer to it as 'direct mental interactions with living systems' (DMILS). It studies the effects of one person's intentions on a distant person's psychophysiological state. One type of DMILS experiment looks at the commonly reported "feeling of being stared at." The "starer" and the "staree" are isolated in different locations, and the starer is periodically asked to simply gaze at the staree via closed circuit video links. Meanwhile the staree's nervous system activity is automatically and continuously monitored.
Parapsychologists have interpreted the cumulative data on this and similar DMILS experiments to suggest that one person's attention directed towards a remote, isolated person, can significantly activate or calm that person's nervous system. In a meta-analysis of these experiments published in the British Journal of Psychology in 2004, researchers found that overall there was a small, but significant DMILS effect. However, the study also found that when a small number of the highest quality studies from one laboratory were analyzed, the effect size was not significant. The authors concluded that although the existence of some anomaly related to distant intentions cannot be ruled out, there was also a shortage of independent replications and theoretical concepts.

Direct mental influence on living systems

Main article: Near-death experience Near death experiences
A number of studies conducted in the American, European, and Australasian continents have found that a majority of people surveyed report having had experiences that could be interpreted as telepathy, precognition, and similar phenomena. Variables that have been associated with reports of psi-phenomena include belief in the reality of psi, the tendency to have hypnotic, dissociative, and other alterations of consciousness, and, less reliably so, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience. Although psi-related experiences can occur in the context of such psychopathologies as schizotypal personality, dissociative, and other disorders, most individuals who endorse a belief in psi are well-adjusted, lack serious pathology, and are not intellectually deficient or lacking critical abilities.

Anomalous psychology
Scientists who are critical of parapsychology begin with the assertion that extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. Proponents of hypotheses that contradict centuries of scientific research must provide extraordinary evidence if their hypotheses are to be taken seriously.

Criticism
There have been instances of fraud in the history of parapsychology research. The Soal-Goldney experiments of 1941–43 (suggesting precognitive ability in subjects) were long regarded as some of the best in the field because they relied upon independent checking and witnesses to prevent fraud. However, many years later, suspicions of fraud were confirmed when statistical evidence, uncovered and published by other parapsychologists in the field, indicated that Dr. Soal had cheated by altering the raw data. Such methodological failures have been cited as evidence that most, if not all, extraordinary results in parapsychology derive from error or fraud.

Fraud
Although some critical analysts feel that parapsychological study is scientific, they are not satisfied with its experimental results.

Criticism of experimental results
Selective reporting has been offered by critics as an explanation for the positive results reported by parapsychologists. Selective reporting is sometimes referred to as a "file drawer" problem, which arises when only positive study results are made public, while studies with negative or null results are not made public.

Organizations and publications

2008-05-01T10:26:00.001-07:00

Coordinates: 53°26′33″N 2°59′34″W / 53.4424, -2.9929
Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.
Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's economy has been around the docks and their associated industries for decades.

Geography and administration

History
Bootle derives from Old English botl 'building', although what building referred to exactly is unknown as of now. It was recorded as Boltelai in the Domesday Book in 1086.

Etymology
Bootle was originally a small hamlet built near the 'sand hills' or dunes of the river estuary. The settlement began to grow as a bathing resort for wealthy residents of Liverpool in the early 19th century. Some remaining large villas which housed well-to-do commuters to Liverpool are located in the area known locally as 'Bootle Village'.

Port
The docks made Bootle a target for German bombers during the Liverpool Blitz and approximately 90% of the houses in the town were damaged.
Bootle played an important role in the 'Battle of the Atlantic'. The famous u-boat hunter Captain Frederic John 'Johnny' Walker, would rest in the Mayor's Parlour of Bootle Town Hall. His ship, HMS Starling, sailed out of Bootle and the ship's bell and flags signalling the General Chase can still be seen in Bootle Town Hall's council chamber today.

Second World War
After The Second World War large social housing estates were built inland from the town centre, including the area of Netherton which was built on New Town principles. The Liverpool Overhead Railway and Liverpool Tramways Company closure in the 50s reduced Bootle's connection to Liverpool.
Bootle did share in the postwar boom. The centre of the town was redeveloped and the 'Bootle New Strand' shopping centre was opened in the late 1960s. At the same time new offices and were built in the town centre. The town lost it access to the beach when neighbouring Seaforth Sands was redeveloped in the early 1970s, but the Seaforth Container Port brought new jobs into the area.
The local authority, and other 'social' landlords, saw to it that new housing was built and older stock rennovated. Bootle did not go down the route of massive housing clearance and many local communities remained intact.
The borough celebrated its centenary in 1968 and civic pride was much in evidence.

Post-War
The docks declined in importance in the 1960s and 1970s, and Bootle suffered high unemployment and a declining population. The establishment of large office blocks housing government departments and the National Girobank provided employment, but this was filled largely by middle class people from outside the town.
A further blow came in the early 1970s when local government reorganisation saw Bootle lose its borough status, to be absorbed into the new local authority of Sefton. While in the long run this was to be beneficial, the old borough being too small to support modern local government services, the town was robbed of its identity and few could muster any civic pride for the new creation.
More fundamental that political change was economic change. The very reason for Bootle's existence, the access to the Mersey, became almost irrelevant as the docks closed and the new container port required far fewer workers than the old docks had. This in turn affected practically every other industry in the town. The problems slowly gathered pace until Merseyside hit crisis point in the early 1980s.

Decline
Bootle is undergoing a massive regeneration project, which has already begun with the new HSE buildings and the new-look Strand Road. Many old houses are being demolished to make way for new housing projects and lots of regeneration projects for existing properties and council buildings are to begin shortly.
A number of other development projects have recently been submitted for planning permission and should commence development within Late 2006 or 2007 after being accepted. These include the significant refurbishment of Oriel Road Station, promoted by Merseytravel, the creation of a new block of apartments on the site of the Stella Maris building and a Lidl store on Stanley Road. Walmart stores inc, owners of Asda superstores have invested in building a new superstore on Strand Road.
It is perhaps in this new spirit of optimism, that banners have appeared, adorning the town centre with the Latin motto of the former borough: 'Respice, Aspice, Prospice.'

Regeneration
There are two railway stations served by frequent electric services from Liverpool to Southport. These are Oriel Road near the Victorian civic centre, and New Strand, serving the Shopping Centre. A freight line, the Bootle Branch, is still in use. Sefton has pushed for the reopening of the North Mersey Branch.
The Bus Station is underneath the New Strand Shopping Centre.

Amenities

Tom Baker, of Doctor Who fame, born in Fountains Road, Bootle (1934).
Will Hanrahan, a BBC news and features presenter (Watchdog, Good Morning). Particularly notable for reporting from the Rwandan Civil War. Currently producing an eclectic mix of programmes, factual entertainment programmes for ITV and Sky one (Star Lives, Vorderman's Brain Game), and most recently produced a documentary marking the 10th anniversary of the Dublane massacre. Born in Netherton and schooled at St. Benet's and St. Mary's College in Crosby.
Ste McNally: (born Stephen Patrick McNally, on 4 July 1978, in Bootle) electric guitar and vocals for pop group BBMac
Jamie Carragher (born January 28, 1978 in Knowsley Road, Bootle, Sefton) is an English international footballer. He currently plays his club football, where he is vice-captain, at Liverpool F.C.., where he was taken on as a trainee youngster and wears the number 23 shirt. He plays almost always on the back line, most of the time at centre-half, though he has been featured in a variety of positions.
Steve McManaman (born February 11, 1972 in Bootle, England) was a famous English footballer of the 1990s and early 2000s who played as a midfielder in a career that spanned two of European football's biggest club sides in Liverpool and Manchester City.
Tom O'Connor (born October 31, 1939 in Bootle) is a British comedian. He is best known for presenting game shows such as Crosswits and Gambit. His TV break came when he appeared on The Comedians. During the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the most popular faces on British TV.
George Davies (born 1941, in Bootle) is a British fashion retailer who founded 'Next' in the 1980s and 'George at Asda' in the 1990s. Subsequently, he has also produced the successful Per Una fashion collection, launched in September 2001 at Marks & Spencer stores.
Alvin Martin (born July 29, 1958 in Bootle) is one of West Ham United's all-time greats, a true professional respected by fans and players alike. Alvin was rejected by his local club Everton before joining West Ham United straight from school
Roy Evans (born Bootle, 4th October 1948) was a Liverpool player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.
Craig Charles (born Bootle, July 11, 1964) is a British actor, poet and radio and television presenter. He is best known for playing Dave Lister in Red Dwarf. The character, Lister, lost his virginity at Bootle Municipal Golf Course, and once appeared naked onstage at the Bootle-players' amateur production of "The Importance Of Being Earnest".
Nick Dougherty born in Bootle on 24 May 1982) is an English golfer. He is a protégé of Nick Faldo and had an exceptional amateur career with numerous tournament wins including the 1999 World Boys Championship and three in Faldo Junior Series events. He was a member of the victorious Great Britain and Ireland 2001 Walker Cup team.
Billy J. Kramer was born Billy Ashton the youngest of seven children and lived in Hankey Drive in Bootle. He and his band "The Dakotas" played the Hamburg clubs at the same time as "The Beatles". There first hit was the "Lennon and McCartney" composition "Do You Want To Know A Secret" which reached No2 in May 1963. He had two number one hits with "Bad To Me" and "Little Children"
Mark Ford the poet and intellectual is one of the more famous residents of Bootle; the family home there owing to his father's past manufacturing interests, long since abandoned.

2008-04-30T09:05:00.001-07:00

Cleves is a village located on the Ohio River in western Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2000 census. The village is named for John Cleves Symmes who lived here, laid out the original town site, and sold lots.

Geography
Cleves is located at 39°9′40″N, 84°45′1″W (39.161241, -84.750288).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.

2008-04-29T07:58:00.001-07:00

The plazas de soberanía ("places of sovereignty"), also referred as "África Septentrional Española" (Spanish North Africa) or simply "África Española" (Spanish Africa) are the current Spanish territories in continental North Africa, bordering Morocco.
Since the Reconquista, the Spanish have held numerous emplacements in North Africa. Many of them, such as Oran, have been lost, and nowadays, with an approximate population of 143,000 people, only the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which constitute the two Plazas de Soberanía Mayores (or Large Places of Sovereignty), and the Islas Chafarinas, the Peñón de Alhucemas and the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, which constitute the three Plazas de Soberanía Menores (or Lesser Sovereignty Places), still forming part of Spain.

Demographics
Castile intervened in Northern Africa, competing with the Portuguese Empire, when Henry III of Castile began the colonization of the Canary Islands in 1402, sending Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt.
The coastal villages and towns of Spain, Italy and Mediterranean islands were frequently attacked by Barbary pirates from North Africa, the Formentera was even temporarily left by its population and long stretches of the Spanish and Italian coasts were almost completely abandoned by their inhabitants. In 1514, 1515 and 1521 coasts of the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland were raided by infamous Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa. According to Robert Davis between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by North African pirates and sold as slaves between the 16th and 17th century. Slaves were captured mainly from seaside villages in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
In 1481 the papal Bull Æterni regis had granted all land south of the Canary Islands to Portugal. Only this archipelago and the cities of Sidi Ifni (1476–1524), known then as "Santa Cruz de Mar Pequeña", Melilla (conquered by Pedro de Estopiñán in 1497), Villa Cisneros (founded in 1502 in current Western Sahara), Mazalquivir (1505), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508), Oran (1509–1790), Algiers (1510–29), Bugia (1510–54), Tripoli (1511–51), Tunis (1535–69) and Ceuta (ceded by Portugal in 1668) remained as Spanish territory in Africa.
In 1848, Spanish troops conquered the Islas Chafarinas.
When Spain relinquished its protectorate over the North of Morocco, Spanish Morocco, and recognized Morocco's independence in 1956, it did not give over the plazas de soberanía, since Spain had held them since before its acquiring its protectorate. They are, however, part of the Greater Morocco claimed by nationalist movements in Morocco. Isla Perejil was occupied on July 11, 2002 by the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie and troops, who were evicted without bloodshed by Spanish naval forces.

2008-04-26T08:22:00.001-07:00

The desktop metaphor is a set of unifying concepts currently used in a number of graphical user interfaces in computer operating systems. The monitor of a computer represents the user's desktop upon which documents and folders of documents can be placed. A document can be opened into a window, which represents a paper copy of the document placed on the desktop. Small applications called desk accessories are also available, such as a desk calculator, etc.
The desktop metaphor itself has been extended and stretched with various implementations, since access to features and usability of the computer are usually more important than maintaining the 'purity' of the metaphor. Hence we find trash cans on the desktop, as well as disks and network volumes (which can be thought of as filing cabinets — not something normally found on a desktop). Other features such as menu bars, task bars, or docks have no counterpart on a real-world desktop.
In recent times the filing cabinet and desktop metaphor has become less important, especially since the advent of very large storage media, which can make the easy navigation of large numbers of files and folders problematic. A more user-oriented approach is gaining favour, where the user can organise documents in a manner that facilitates his or her particular needs, rather than being forced to use a file-system view of the system. The addition of 'smart folders' and the like leads to a method of locating files that is based on search criteria important to the user, rather than its physical arrangement on disk, which, according to recent thought, is of no importance to the user.

Paper Paradigm

Interface Metaphor
History of the GUI
Desktop environment
WIMP (computing)
Virtual desktop
Tiling window manager
Operating system
File browser

2008-04-25T09:26:00.001-07:00

Louis Rudolph Franz Schlegelberger (born 23 October 1876 in Königsberg, East Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russia; died 14 December 1970 in Flensburg) was State Secretary in the German Reich Ministry of Justice (RMJ) and served awhile as Justice Minister during the Third Reich. He was the highest-ranking defendant at the Nuremberg Judges' Trial.

In the Nazi Party
At the Nuremberg Judges' Trial Schlegelberger was one of the main accused. He was sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In the reasons given for the judgment, it says:
'…that Schlegelberger supported the pretension of Hitler in his assumption of power to deal with life and death in disregard of even the pretense of judicial process. By his exhortations and directives, Schlegelberger contributed to the destruction of judicial independence. It was his signature on the decree of 7 February 1942 which imposed upon the Ministry of Justice and the courts the burden of the prosecution, trial, and disposal of the victims of Hitler's Night and Fog. For this he must be charged with primary responsibility.
'He was guilty of instituting and supporting procedures for the wholesale persecution of Jews and Poles. Concerning Jews, his ideas were less brutal than those of his associates, but they can scarcely be called humane. When the "final solution of the Jewish question" was under discussion, the question arose as to the disposition of half-Jews. The deportation of full Jews to the East was then in full swing throughout Germany. Schlegelberger was unwilling to extend the system to half-Jews.'
In 1950 the 74-year-old Schlegelberger was released owing to incapacity. For years afterward, he drew a monthly pension of DM 2,894 (for comparison, the average monthly income in Germany at that time was DM 535). Schlegelberger then lived in Flensburg.

Works

Michael Förster, Jurist im Dienst des Unrechts: Leben und Werk des ehemaligen Staatssekretärs im Reichsjustizministerium, Franz Schlegelberger, 1876-1970, Baden-Baden 1995
Eli Nathans, Franz Schlegelberger, Baden-Baden 1990
Arne Wulff, Staatssekretär Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Franz Schlegelberger, 1876-1970, Frankfurt am Main 1991

2008-04-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Keith Gerald "Jerry" Holkins (born February 6, 1976), is the writer of the popular webcomic Penny Arcade. Holkins goes by the pseudonym "Tycho Brahe" online. This is also the name of one of the two main characters of Penny Arcade, who is a cartoonized self-insertion of Holkins. However, as the character of Tycho was not originally meant to represent Holkins, the two have few physical similarities; they are primarily similar in their various interests and attitudes.

2008-04-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is a learned society of artists and an art gallery based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England.

History
The RBSA continues its core activities today as an independent society promoting artists in the Birmingham area and exhibiting their work. The society also has a permanent collection of over 400 works, including pieces from illustrious figures from its past such as David Cox and Edward Burne-Jones.

2008-04-22T09:49:00.001-07:00

A route nationale, or simply nationale, is a trunk road in France. Trunk roads are in France are significantly important roads which cross broad portions of the French territory, in opposition to secondary or communal roads who only serve local areas.
Their use is free, except for crossing of certain structures subjected to toll. They are opened for vehicles, except on certain sections having the status of motorway (autoroute).
France currently counts 30,500 km of nationales and not privately owned motorways. By way of comparison, Routes départementales cover a total distance of 365,000 km. The main trunk road network reflects the centralising tradition of France: the majority of them leave the gates of Paris. Indeed, trunk roads begin on the parvis of Notre-Dame of Paris at Kilometre Zero. To ensure an effective road network, new roads not serving Paris were created.

History

Routes nationales 1 to 25

Routes nationales 26 to 50

Routes nationales 51 to 75

Routes nationales 76 to 100

Routes nationales 101 to 125

Routes nationales 126 to 150

Routes nationales 176 to 200

2008-04-21T09:02:00.001-07:00

About the work
The work is divided into the prologue and 15 books (book summaries below are, of course, modern interpretations).

Prologue The difficulties of writing history, reasons to write this work, mourning for her husband
Book 1 : Alexius becomes general and Domestikos ton Scholon (Alexius youth - Urselius' revolt - Nicephorus Bryennios revolt - Normans prepare invasion)
Book 2 : The Komnenian revolt (Envy against the family - Causes of uprising - The escape - Rebels proclaim Alexius as emperor - Melissenos revolts - Komnenians seize Constantinople - Emperor Nikephoros III Votaneiates abdicates)
Book 3 : Alexius as Emperor (1081) and the internal problems with Doukas family (Maria of Alania and her son Constantine - Dismissal of her rumoured relationship with Alexius - About Alexius and his wife Irene - Alexius invents new ranks - Alexius publicly regrets for his soldiers crimes - Anna Dalassena (Alexius mother) is given imperial authority - About Anna Dalassena - Alexius' military preparations and alliances - Turks spread in Asia Minor - Normans cross Adriatic Sea).
Book 4 : War against Normans (1081-1082) (Robert Guiscard besieges Dyrrhachium - Venetian allies defeat Normans - Alexius arrives with his army - Normans win the Battle of Dyrrhachium, Alexius hardly escapes)
Book 5 : War against Normans (1082-1083) and first clash with the heretics (Financial collapse - Seizure of church property - Bohemund against Alexius - Alexius finally wins with a strategem - Prosecution of John Italus)
Book 6 : End of war against Normans (1085), death of Robert Guiscard, the Turks (Alexius recaptures Kastoria - Persecution of Manicheans (Paulicians)- Alexius in front of the Church Court - Conspiracy and revolt - The alliance with Venice - Death of Guiscard - Persecution of wizards and astrologers - Births of porphyrogenitoi - Alexius against the Turks - The Scythian threat (Pechenegs))
Book 7 : War against Scythians (1087-1090) (Beginning of hostilities - Crushing defeat of the imperial army - Cumans defeat Scythians, truce - Scythians violate truce - Activity of Turkish pirate Tzachas in western Anatolia - Expedition against Scythians)
Book 8 : End of Scythian war (1091), plots against the Emperor (Hostilities continuing - Crushing of Scythians at Levunium - Final success - Conspiracies and revolts)
Book 9 : Operations against Tzachas and Dalmatians (1092-1094), conspiracy of Nicephorus Diogenes (1094) (Operations against Tzachas - Operation in Crete and Cyprus - Elimination of Tzachas - Conspiracy of Nicephorus Diogenes - Capitulation of Dalmatians - Complementary to Diogenes)
Book 10 : One more heresy, war against Cumans, Beginning of 1st Crusade (1094-1097) (Neilos and Vlahernites - War against Cumans - Operations against Turks - Arrival of the first Crusaders - Crushing of Crusaders under Koukoupetros (Peter the Hermit) - Hugh of France - Sea surveillance by the Romans - Godfrey of Bouillon - Count Raul - Crusade leaders make homage to the Emperor - Bohemund)
Book 11 : 1st Crusade (1097-1104) (Crusaders besiege Nicaea - Liberation of Nicaea - Crusaders' successful operations - siege of Antioch - Successful Roman operations in Asia Minor - Capture of Antioch and Jerusalem - Operations in Asia - Massacre of Normans (Lombards) Crusaders by the Turks - Bohemund refuses to return Antioch to the Empire - Operations in Cilicia - Pisan fleet invades islands - Naval war with Genoans -Operations against Bohemund - Bohemund pretends to be dead)
Book 12 : Domestic conflicts, Norman preparations for the 2nd invasion (1105-1107) (Bohemond prepares landing to Illyrian coast - Operations of Tancred in Cilicia against the Empire - Queen Irene - Alexius organizes defense in the west - Conspiracy of Anemades - Georgios Taronites revolts in Trapezous - Isaacius Kontostefanos fails to guard the coast against Norman fleet - Beginning of Norman invasion)
Book 13 : Aaron's conspiracy, second Norman invasion (1107-1108) (Aaron's conspiracy - Siege of Dyrrhachium - Alexius tricks - Operations in mainland - Naval operations - Bohemund asks for peace - Peace negotiations - Bohemund's profile - Negotiations between Alexius and Bohemund - The Treaty of Devol)
Book 14 : Turks, Franks, Cumans and Manicheans (1108-1115) (Roman successes against the Turks - Problems with the Franks - Naval and land operations - Emperor's health problems - Operations against the Turks - Anna speaks for her methods in writing history - Prevention of a Cuman raid - Alexius fights manichaeism by persuasion or persecution)
Book 15 : Last expeditions, the Bogomils, death of Alexius (1116-1118) (War against the Turks and the new battle tactics - Victorious battle - Peace with the Turks - Sultan is murdered by his brother - Alexius builds the Orphanage - Suppression of Bogomils, burning of their leader Basil - last Illness and death of Alexius)

2008-04-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

Ratification is the act of giving official sanction to a formal document such as a treaty or constitution. It includes the process of adopting an international treaty by the legislature, a constitution, or another nationally binding document (such as an amendment to a constitution) by the agreement of multiple sub-national entities. The process of ratifying a constitution is most commonly observed in federations such as the United States, confederations or international organisations sui generis such as the European Union. A good example would be George Read ratifying the United States Constitution.
In unionized workplaces, during negotiations, a contract proposal by an employer, that may be acceptable to the collective bargaining committee, will be brought back for ratification, or a vote by the general membership, before the union can either accept or decline such a contract proposal. A ratified proposal means a "Yes" vote and will form the basis for the new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) for that workplace.
Different organizations have different rules for how a constitutional change is ratified. Federations usually require the support of both the federal government and a certain percentage of the subsidiary entities. Some ratification processes also require a supermajority within legislatures.
The ratification of international treaties follows the same rules as the passing of laws in most democracies. Important exceptions are the United Kingdom, where treaty making is still a royal prerogative exercised by Her Majesty's Government, and the United States, where treaty ratification must be advised and consented to by a two-thirds majority in the U.S. Senate. The Senate does not actually ratify treaties. Once the Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification, the President ratifies the treaty by signing an instrument of ratification. While the United States House of Representatives does not vote on it at all, the requirement for Senate advice and consent to ratification makes it considerably more difficult in the US than in other democracies to rally enough political support for international treaties.
The application of the treaty or legislation is not possible until it has been ratified, so we think. Usually this must be done first by both parties (in July 2006 British bankers contested their extradition to the US in application of a treaty not yet ratified in America), or in a multilateral agreement it may be provided that a quorum (e.g. half) of the signatories must have ratified it.

Ireland
The ratification of the current Contitución was achieved by plebiscite

2008-04-19T08:10:00.001-07:00

Ciudad Rodrigo (Rodrigo City) is a small cathedral city in Salamanca Province in western Spain (approximately a population of 14000 inhabitants, and head of the judicial district).
The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right bank of the River Águeda, has been occupied since the Neolithic Age.
Known as Mirobriga to the Celtic people known as the Vettones, the town was conquered by the Romans and renamed Augustobriga in honor of Caesar Augustus.
In 1110, Count Rodrigo González Girón repopulated the site and gave it his name: Civitas Roderici (Latin 'City of Roderick'; translates in Spanish to the present name).
King Ferdinand II of León completed the repopulation of the city, walled it and reconstructed the old Roman bridge spanning the River Águeda.
Ferdinand also re-established the bishopric as suffragan of the Diocese of Santiago de Compostella; comprises the greater part of the province of Salamanca, and a portion of the province of Cáceres, an act confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1175. This led to the construction of the city's cathedral, an architectural hybrid of the Gothic and late Romanesque styles. The see finally succeeded that of Caliabria, which dated from the Visigothic era, and existed from 621 to 693. King Alfonso VIII gave the city of Caliabria to the Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo in 1191. The first bishop of whom anything certain is known was called Pedro (1165); the most celebrated was the learned jurist Don Diego de Covarruvias y Leyva (1560).
Its position as a fortified town on the main road from Portugal to Salamanca made it militarily important in the middle years of the Napoleonic Peninsular War. The French marshal Michel Ney took Ciudad Rodrigo in 1810 after a 24-day siege. The British general Wellington began his 1812 campaign by taking Ciudad Rodrigo by storm on the night of January 19 - January 20, 1812 after preparatory operations lasting about 10 days. Allied losses were relatively light (about 600 casualties; 125 dead), although amongst the dead was General Mackinnon. Wellington then moved on Badajoz, whose taking was a much more bloody affair. There were two cannons embedded in the wall of the breach that caused most casualties. The 88th (an Irish regiment) took one of the guns while the 45th (Nottinghamshire Regiment) took the other.
In 1812, the then Viscount Wellington (later created a Duke) was rewarded for his victorious liberation of Spain with the hereditary Spanish ducal victory title of Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo.
Ciudad Rodrigo is also the birthplace of Siglo de Oro writer Feliciano de Silva.

2008-04-18T10:08:00.001-07:00

Ayrton Senna da Silva (pronounced /aˈiɾtõ ˈsenɐ dɐ ˈsiwvɐ (help•info/, March 21, 1960 – May 1, 1994) was a Brazilian three-times Formula One world champion. Many aspects of Senna's talent marked him out as a remarkable driver: particularly his qualifying skill that yielded 65 pole positions in 162 races, and his wet-weather ability. But he also attracted criticism for his uncompromising race craft, a number of controversial incidents, and his bitter rivalry with Frenchman Alain Prost. He is also the last Formula 1 driver to have been killed in a race, while leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in Italy. In 2000, Senna was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Early life

Racing career
Senna entered karting competition at the age of 13.

Formula One
Senna scored his first World Championship point in his second Grand Prix at Kyalami in South Africa. He repeated the same finish two weeks later at the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder.
But his performance in the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix brought him a lot of attention. He qualified 13th on the grid and made rapid progress through the soaking streets of Monte Carlo. By Lap 19, he passed second place man Niki Lauda and began to cut the gap to race leader Prost. But before he could pass Prost the race was stopped on lap 31 for safety reasons as the rain grew even heavier.
He also entered an exhibition race to celebrate the opening of the new Nürburgring. Several top F1 drivers took part in the event, driving identical Mercedes 190E 2.3-16. Senna won from Lauda and Carlos Reutemann.

1984: Toleman
At Lotus in 1985 he was partnered by Italian driver Elio de Angelis. He set his first pole position at the season opener in Brazil at the Jacarepaguá Circuit in Rio de Janeiro, but retired with an electrical problem.
At the second round, held at the Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal on April 21, 1985, he scored his first Grand Prix victory, winning from pole position in heavy rain which even saw second-place man Prost spin off into the wall.

1985-7: Lotus
In 1988, thanks to the relationship he had built up with Honda throughout the 1987 season with Lotus, and with the approval of McLaren's number one driver and then-double world champion, Alain Prost, Senna joined the McLaren team. [4] The foundation for a fierce competition between Senna and Prost was laid, culminating in a number of dramatic race incidents between the two.

1988-93: McLaren
Senna had tried to join Williams in 1993 but was balked by Alain Prost who vetoed the move. Senna had even offered to drive for nothing such was the desire to be in the team of the early nineties, but a clause in Prosts contact meant that 1993 was out of the question. The clause in Prosts contract didn't extend to 1994 however and instead of taking on his greatest rival, Prost retired with a year on his contract left. For 1994, Senna finally signed with the Williams-Renault team. Given this was the same team that had won the previous two World Championships with vastly superior cars, Senna was a natural and presumptive pre-season title favorite, with second-year driver Damon Hill intended to play the supporting role. Pre-season testing showed the car had speed but now electronic drivers aids were banned and the car proved difficult to drive. The surprise of testing was the Benetton, it was more nimble than the Williams but had less power. The first race of the season was in Brazil, where Senna took Pole. In the race Senna took an early lead but the nimble Benetton was never far behind. After the pit stops Schumacher got lead the race after passing Senna in the pits. Second wasn't enough of a reward for the Brazilian crowd and Senna refused to settle instead opting to push for a win. Senna pushed too hard, spun the car which then stalled, the race over.
The second race was the Pacific Grand Prix at Aida where Senna again placed the car on Pole. However Senna was involved in a collision at the first corner. He was hit from behind by Mika Häkkinen and his race came to a definitive end when a Ferrari driven by Nicola Larini also crashed into his Williams. No points scored from a possible twenty made this his worst start to an F1 season.
At the third race of the season, the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Senna declared this was where his season would start, fourteen races as opposed to sixteen in which to win the title. Senna again placed the car on what would be his final Pole but the weekend had not been smooth. Roland Ratzenberger lost his life in a horrific crash during qualifying, Senna visited the scene to see for himself what had happened for which he was later chastised for commandeering a marshals car to get to the scene of the accident. Senna and the other drivers all opted to start the Grand Prix and the race set off only for a huge accident at the start line. Instead of the race being stopped a safety car was deployed and the drivers followed it for several laps. On the restart Senna immediately set a quick pace with the third quickest lap of the race, followed by Schumacher. Senna started what was to be his final lap, the car passed the start line towards Tamburello where the car appeared to not attempt to take the corner. Senna scrubbed the speed from around 195mph down to around 135mph before it hit the concrete retaining wall. The car bounced back on to the run off area and came to rest. Course officials arrived at the scene quickly but none approached the car until the medical team arrived suggesting the accident was not going to be one from which Senna would simply walk away from. For a moment Senna's head twitched but and the world thought he might be okay, however the twitch was a sign off a massive brain injury. Senna was removed from the car by Sid Watkins and his medical team and treated by the side of the car before being airlifted to Bologna hospital where Senna was later declared dead.
The suspension of the detached front right wheel had pierced his helmet, causing a fatal injury. Senna was kept alive despite his heart stopping twice but the situation was hopeless. Formula One lost its most controversial and brilliant driver. To this day, the cause of the accident has still not been fully determined.

1994: Williams
Senna was renowned for his qualifying skill, a discipline he mastered like none before to produce a record 65 pole positions from 161 races. This record stood for 12 years after his death, before it was surpassed by Michael Schumacher after taking pole position for the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix, his 236th race.
"Magic" Senna, as he was known to his fans, also won the Monaco Grand Prix six times, a record which stands today and a tribute to his skills which earned him the title "Master of Monaco".
Ayrton described in detail an odd feeling that he got during his qualifying laps. His experience when qualifying for the 1988 Monaco GP for example he described as being in a tunnel or dreamlike state:
Then suddenly something just kicked me. I kind of woke up and realised that I was in a different atmosphere than you normally are. My immediate reaction was to back off, slow down. I drove slowly back to the pits and I didn't want to go out any more that day. It frightened me because I was well beyond my conscious understanding. It happens rarely but I keep these experiences very much alive inside me because it is something that is important for self-preservation.
In that session, lap after lap he broke his own pole position time, until he felt ill at ease, backed off and returned to the pits.
During the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix ten year anniversary remembrance of Ayrton Senna in a series of interviews, Gerhard Berger, Senna's team mate at McLaren from 1990-1992 and a very close friend, expressed a memory of what it was like qualifying with Senna:
This competition could perhaps be attributed to not only Senna's determination and desire to be first (including qualifying), but Senna and Berger's close friendship and horseplay, as the two were always playing practical jokes on each other in attempt to outdo each other.
Berger is quoted as saying "He taught me a lot about our sport, I taught him to laugh".

Qualifying
In F1, wet weather racing is considered to be a great equaliser of cars; that is, the driver makes more of a difference. Speeds must be reduced and car superiority in power or grip is greatly reduced. The rain demands great driver car control, ability and driving finesse. Senna had some of his best performances in such conditions.
One of his tactics was not to change into the rain tyres at the start of the rain but to keep racing using slick tyres. Although it made racing much more difficult Senna often gained several seconds of time ahead of his competitors because most of them were driving into pitstop to change into rain tyres.
The 1984 season was Senna's first in F1. He came into a field of competitors from whose ranks 16 world championships would be reaped. Participating as a rookie in a relatively uncompetitive car, the Toleman TG184, Senna had racked up three race retirements, a 6th and a 7th place from his first 5 races.
He started the first wet race of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix in 13th place. The race was stopped for safety reasons after only 31 laps due to monsoon conditions. At the time the race was stopped, Senna was classified in 2nd place, and catching up to race leader Alain Prost, at 4 seconds per lap. Senna's performance in this race, on a track on which it is notoriously difficult to pass other competitors, should be contrasted with the events of recent races at Monaco in which passing has been the exception rather than the norm, especially in dry conditions.
In 1993, at the European GP at Donington Park, Senna drove for the McLaren team. The MP4/8, although one of the front running cars, was considered inferior to the leading Williams FW15C of Prost and Hill, and the Benetton B193 - which used a factory-supplied Ford engine - driven by Michael Schumacher and Riccardo Patrese.

Wet weather driving
Beyond his exceptional driving skills Senna was one of the sport's most compelling personalities.

Character

Main article: Death of Ayrton Senna The fatal accident at Imola in 1994
To take advantage of the close relationship Honda had with the Brazilian prodigy during his tenure as #1 driver for the McLaren/Honda F1 Team, Ayrton Senna was called in to fine-tune the Honda NSX's suspension setting during its final development stages. The tests were conducted at Suzuka Circuit with chief NSX engineer Shigeru Uehara and his engineering team present to gather Senna's direct input. As a result of his suspension tuning, Senna subsequently found the prototype NSX initially lacked chassis stiffness to the level he was accustomed to, so the final production version was further reinforced to his satisfaction.

Senna and the NSX

Senna's personal sponsor associated with him through his career was Banco Nacional, a now defunct Brazilian Insurance and Banking Co.
In 1992, he endorsed Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II, a video game by Sega.
MV Agusta have a special edition of their F4 model called the F4 1000 senna, which is produced in limited numbers every year in his honour.
Ayrton Senna was a very passionate Sport Club Corinthians Paulista supporter.
Bernie Ecclestone revealed that he still believed Ayrton Senna was and remained the best F1 driver he'd ever seen. Trivia

"Winning is like a drug, I cannot justify in any circumstances coming second or third."
"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose."
"On a given day, a given circumstance, you think you have a limit. And you then go for this limit and you touch this limit, and you think, 'Okay, this is the limit'. And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high."
"One particular thing that Formula-1 can provide you, is that you know you're always exposed to danger. Danger of getting hurt, danger of dying. This is part of your life, and you either face it in a professional, in a cool manner, or you just drop it, just leave it and don't do it anymore really. And I happen to like too much what I do to just drop it, I can't drop it."
"Racing, competing, it's in my blood. It's part of me, it's part of my life; I have been doing it all my life and it stands out above everything else."
"There are no small accidents on this circuit." - talking about the Imola circuit before the fatal 1994 race.
"It's going to be a season with lots of accidents, and I'll risk saying that we'll be lucky if something really serious doesn't happen." - pre-season 1994.
"I continuously go further and further learning about my own limitations, my body limitation, psychological limitations. It's a way of life for me."
"Of course there are moments that you wonder how long you should be doing it because there are other aspects which are not nice, of this lifestyle. But I just love winning."
"If you have a target in your life, a real target, doesn't matter if you are very poor or rich people, if you work hard and believe in God, you can get the success, success in the life."
"I know that it is impossible to win always. I just hope that defeat doesn't come this weekend."
"I don't know driving in another way which isn't risky. Each one has to improve himself. Each driver has its limit. My limit is a little bit further than other's."
"If I ever happen to have an accident that eventually costs me my life, I hope it is in one go. I would not like to be in a wheelchair. I would not like to be in a hospital suffering from whatever injury it was. If I'm going to live, I want to live fully. Very intensely, because I am an intense person. It would ruin my life if I had to live partially." (January 1994, 4 months prior to his death) Notable quotations
During his quite long career Senna was involved in several incidents which caused considerable controversy. Senna was vilified in the British media for his involvement in title-deciding collisions in 1989 and 1990. German and Italian newspapers widely condemned his actions in 1990.

Controversies and criticism
Going into the penultimate race, the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix, the Brazilian needed to win again to keep the World Championship open. Senna duly took pole position from the World Championship leader Alain Prost. At the start Prost made a good start and took the lead and for the first half of the race he chipped away to build up a lead of five seconds. Then Senna began to come back at him and by lap 40 they were only a second apart. Prost had the advantage on the straights, Senna was better in the corners. Senna was desperate to get past Prost and at the end of lap 46 Senna made his move at the chicane. Prost was already turning into the corner when Senna drove halfway alongside on the inside. The two interlocked McLarens slid up the chicane escape road. Prost, thinking the World Championship was over, climbed out. To separate the cars the marshals pushed Senna backwards on to the track. They put the car into a dangerous position and so had to push it forwards again. As they did so Senna bump-started the engine. He drove through the chicane and rejoined. The nose of his car was damaged and he had to pit but he rejoined only five seconds behind leader Alessandro Nannini. Senna's chase was furious and merciless. On lap 50 Ayrton sliced past Nannini at the chicane to retake the lead and win the race. But it was Nannini who appeared on the podium as the winner. Senna had been excluded for missing the chicane and creating a serious accident. McLaren appealed the decision but the FIA Court of Appeal not only upheld the decision but fined Senna $100,000 and gave him a suspended six-month ban.
Going into the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix Senna was the Championship leader. After qualifying there was a huge a political battle going on over pole position. McLaren wanted it to be changed so that Senna would be on a clean piece of track but the request was blocked. Senna saw it as collusion between Prost and the officials and it helped to decide him on a frightening deliberate course of action at the start. If his position proved to be a disadvantage Senna was not going to back off in the first corner. Prost made the better start as expected and as they went into the first corner he was half a car length ahead. Senna did not lift off. The two cars collided with enough force to remove Prost's rear wing and spun into the sand trap. Senna was the World Champion. With one race left, Prost was no longer able to get the necessary points to beat Senna. There was lots of controversy after the collision between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. FISA announced plans for a special enquiry into safety after Ferrari threatened to withdraw from F1 unless sanctions were taken against Senna's dangerous driving. Senna, however, only emerged with a warning and a fine. Surprisingly at a press conference following the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix, Senna admitted his part in the first corner accident of the year before claiming it had been done in frustration at the FISA decision not to move pole position to the clean side of the track. Another surprising feature of the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix was that Senna moved over on the last corner of the last lap to let his team mate Gerhard Berger of Austria through to win.

Championship-deciding collisions
Senna took the pole position during the qualifying for the 1985 Monaco Grand Prix, but was accused of deliberately baulking other drivers during the final qualifying session by running more laps than necessary. Niki Lauda and Michele Alboreto were most upset by events; Alboreto going so far as to force Senna up an escape road during the session. Senna pointed out that even on the 13th of his 16 qualifying laps he nearly equalled his pole position time.
At the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix Prost discovered that winning meant everything to Senna when he was almost forced into the pit wall at Estoril at more than 180 mph. Prost got away slightly faster than Senna at the start but the Brazilian dived into the first corner ahead. Prost responded and went to pass Senna at the end of the first lap. Senna swerved to block Prost, forcing the Frenchman nearly to run into the pitwall. Prost kept his foot down and soon edged Senna into the first corner and started pulling away fast. After the race Prost was not happy with Senna's maneuver. Senna got away with a warning from the FIA.

Complete Formula One Results

2008-04-17T09:49:00.001-07:00

A haplotype (Greek haploos = simple) is a combination of alleles at multiple linked loci that are transmitted together. Haplotype may refer to as few as two loci or to an entire chromosome depending on the number of recombination events that have occurred between a given set of loci. The term haplotype is a portmanteau of "haploid genotype."
In a second meaning, haplotype is a set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on a single chromatid that are statistically associated. It is thought that these associations, and the identification of a few alleles of a haplotype block, can unambiguously identify all other polymorphic sites in its region. Such information is very valuable for investigating the genetics behind common diseases, and is collected by the International HapMap Project.

Haplotype Resolution

Main article: Genealogical DNA test UEP results (SNP results)
The other possible part of the genetic results is the Y-STR haplotype, the set of results from the Y-STR markers tested.
Unlike the UEPs, the Y-STRs mutate much more easily, which gives them much more resolution to distinguish recent genealogy. But it also means that, rather than the population of descendents of a genetic event all sharing the same result, the Y-STR haplotypes are likely to have spread apart, to form a cluster of more or less similar results. Typically, this cluster will have a definite most probable center, the modal haplotype (presumably close to the haplotype of the original founding event), and also a haplotype diversity - the degree to which it has become spread out. The further in the past the defining event occurred, and the more that subsequent population growth occurred early, the greater the haplotype diversity for a particular number of descendents will be. On the other hand, if the haplotype diversity is smaller for a particular number of descendents, this may indicate a more recent common ancestor, or that a population expansion has occurred more recently.
It is important to note that, unlike for UEPs, there is no guarantee that two individuals with a similar Y-STR haplotype will necessarily share a similar ancestry. There is no uniqueness about Y-STR events. Instead, the clusters of Y-STR haplotype results inheriting from different events and different histories all tend to overlap.
Thus, although sometimes a Y-STR haplotype may be directly indicative of a particular Y-DNA haplogoup, it is in most cases a long time since the haplogoups' defining events, so typically the cluster of Y-STR haplotype results associated with descendents of that event has become rather broad, and will tend to significantly overlap the (similarly broad) clusters of Y-STR haplotypes associated with other haplogroups, making it impossible to predict with absolute certainty to which Y-DNA haplogroup a Y-STR haplotype would point. All that can be done from the Y-STRs, if the UEPs are not actually tested, is to predict probabilities for haplogroup ancestry (as this online program does), but not certainties.
A similar scenario exists for surnames. A cluster of similar Y-STR haplotypes may indicate a shared common ancestor, with an identifiable modal haplotype, but only if the cluster is sufficiently distinct from what may have arisen by chance from different individuals historically having adopted the same name independently. This may require the typing of quite an extensive haplotype to establish, which has fuelled DNA testing companies to offer ever-larger sets of markers - 24 then 37 then 67, and perhaps soon even more.
Plausibly establishing relatedness between different surnames data-mined from a database is significantly harder, because now it must be established not that a randomly-selected member of the population is unlikely to have such a close match by accident, but rather that the very nearest member of the population in question, chosen purposely from the population for that very reason, would even under those circumstances be unlikely to match by accident. This is for the foreseeable future likely to be impossible, except in special cases where there is further information to drastically limit the size of that population of candidates under consideration.

See also
The following software is available for estimating hapltoypes
The following software is available for testing haplotypes for disease associations

snphap — EM based software for estimating haplotype frequencies from unphased genotypes.
Haploview — haplotype based association analysis.

2008-04-16T08:47:00.001-07:00

John (died 1147) was an early 12th century tironensian cleric. He was the chaplain and close confident of King David I of Scotland, before becoming bishop of Glasgow and founder of Glasgow Cathedral. He was one of the most significant religious reformers in the history of Scotland. His later nickname Achaius, a latinization of Eochaid would indicate that he was a native Scot, but the name is probably not authentic. He was in fact a Tironensian monk, of probable French origin, probably being taken to Scotland from David's lands in the Cotentin Peninsula.
While David was in the custody of King Henry I of England, he spent some time in northern France. David came to cultivate strong relations with the new Tironensian monastic order, and in 1113 established a Tironensian monastery at Selkirk Abbey. John may have either been the cause of this relationship, or perhaps its product. John was serving as David's chaplain until about 1116, and was appointed bishop of Glasgow sometime thereafter. John was involved in a dispute with the archbishop of York, a dipsute general to the David's kingdom. After the accession of Thurstan to the archbishopric of York, John received several letters from Pope Callixtus II ordering him to render homage to this archbishop as his metropolitan. In 1122 Thurstan suspended John, an action which was obviously serious enough for John to travel to Rome to appeal. Afterwards, John travelled on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but in 1123 was ordered by the pope to return to his diocese. John travelled to Rome again in 1125 in order to secure a pallium, which would have elevated St Andrews to an archbishopric. Thurstan soon arrived in Rome himself. This was probably enough to prevent Pope Honorius II granting the pallium, and the year 1127 was set to continue discussion about the archbishop's rights, effectively stalling Thurstan's claims.
Nevertheless, York's claims continued to be pressed. In 1134, there was renewed papal pressure from Pope Innocent II to make submission. Perhaps it was for this reason that John gave his allegiance to the Antipope Anacletus II. The political situation had changed by 1135, and John's move had put him out of favour. In either 1136 or 1137 John abandoned his see to become a monk at Tiron. However, in 1138, the papal legate Alberic, bishop of Ostia recalled him to his see. John died in 1147, and was buried in Jedburgh Abbey. He was succeeded by another Tironensian, Herbert, Abbot of Selkirk/Kelso.
John's legacy was vast. His impact as a confident of David was crucial to the growth of reformed monastic orders in the kingdom of Scotland. Moreover, John himself presided over the monastic foundations of Selkirk (later Kelso Abbey, Kelso), Jedburgh and Lesmahagow. John's episcopate saw the beginnings of Glasgow cathedral.

2008-04-15T10:38:00.001-07:00

A parochial school (also known as a faith school or a sect school) is a type of school which engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. Parochial schools are typically grammar schools or high schools run by churches or parishes.

United States

Charter school
Christian school
Catholic school
Jewish day school
Madrasah

2008-04-14T09:12:00.001-07:00

Climbing Mount Improbable is a 1996 popular science book by Richard Dawkins. The book is about probability and how it applies to the theory of evolution, and specifically is designed to debunk claims by creationists about the probability of naturalistic mechanisms like natural selection producing complex organisms.
The main metaphorical treatment is of a geographical landscape, upon which evolution can only ascend in a gradual way, not being able to climb cliffs. In the book he gives various ideas about a seemingly complex mechanism coming about from many different gradual steps, that were previously unseen.
The book grew out of the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures which Dawkins delivered in 1991. It is illustrated by Dawkins' wife, Lalla Ward.
The book is divided into ten chapters as follows:

Facing Mount Rushmore
Silken Fetters
The Message From the Mountain
Getting Off the Ground
The Forty-fold Path to Enlightenment
The Museum of All Shells
Kaleidoscopic Embryos
Pollen Grains and Magic Bullets
The Robot Repeater
"A Garden Inclosed"

2008-04-13T08:10:00.001-07:00

Friedrich Robert Volkmann (April 6, 1815–October 30, 1883) was a German composer.
He was born in Lommatzsch, Saxony, Germany. His father was music director for a church, so the father trained the son in music to prepare him as a successor. Thus Volkmann learned to play the organ and the piano with his father, as well as violin and cello, and by age 12, he was playing the cello part in String Quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. In 1832, Robert Volkmann entered the Freiberg Gymnasium and studied music with Anacker, going on to Leipzig in 1836 to study with C.F. Becker. There, in Leipzig, Volkmann met Robert Schumann, who encouraged Volkmann. They met again several times after that.
When he finished his studies, he began working as voice teacher at a music school in Prague. He didn't stay there long, and in 1841, he moved to Budapest, where he was employed as a piano teacher and a reporter for the Allgemeine Wiener Musik-Zeitung. He pretty much composed in obscurity until 1852, when his Piano Trio in B-flat minor caught the ears of Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow, who proceeded to play it several times all over Europe. In 1854, Volkmann moved to Vienna, only to return to Budapest in 1858.
Thanks to the publisher Gustav Heckenast, who in 1857 bought the rights to publish all Volkmann's works in exchange for regular income regardless of sales, Volkmann was able to fully dedicate himself to composition, until Heckenast closed down his Budapest publishing house in the early 1870s.
While visiting Vienna in 1864, Volkmann became acquainted with Johannes Brahms, and they became close friends. In letters they addressed each other as "lieber Freund" ("dear friend").
In the 1870s Volkmann began winding down on his life, composing very little. From 1875 until his death, Volkmann was professor of harmony and counterpoint at the National Academy of Music in Budapest. (Franz Liszt was the director there). Volkmann died on October 30, 1883.
Most of Volkmann's compositions are either for solo piano or ensembles including piano. It was his Piano Trio in B flat minor that first brought him renown. During his 4-year stay in Vienna, Volkmann composed his Variations on a Theme of Handel, String Quartets No. 3 and No. 4 in E minor, and the Cello Concerto in A minor.
Almost all of Volkmann's orchestral works date to the time of his association with Heckenast. (They are few enough to fit on two CDs.). These include an Overture for William Shakespeare's play "Richard III", an Overture in C major, the Symphony No. 1 in D minor (which was a major success when premiered in Moscow) and the Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, dedicated to the Russian Musical Society.
Volkmann believed that a composer should be satisfied with creating in the listeners' minds the desired mood and impression by purely musical means; if the contours of the action and the plot are recognized by the listener, this should be considered a happy coincidence.
When Volkmann's Symphony No. 1 was played on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio Two request show, in early 1998, announcer Shelagh Rogers remarked that "It sounds almost like a forgotten work by Brahms... almost."
Unlike the serious No. 1, the Symphony No. 2 is rather cheerful. Robert Volkmann's grandson, Hans Volkmann, remarks: "After Haydn, naïve cheerfulness was only extremely rarely chosen as the basic mood of an entire Symphony."

2008-04-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

Ashikaga Yoshinori (Jp. 足利義教) (July 12, 1394 – July 12, 1441) was the 6th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1429 to 1441 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshinori was the son of the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.
After the death of the fifth shogun Ashikaga Yoshikazu in 1425, the fourth shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi would not decide a successor. After Yoshimochi's death in 1428, Yoshinori became Seii Taishogun the year after by pulling lots in front of Iwashimizu Shrine in Kyoto to solve the long undecided matter of succession.
Yoshinori strengthened the power of the shogunate after defeating Ashikaga Mochiuji in the Eikyo Rebellion of 1438. Like most shoguns, he practiced the shudo tradition, taking Akamatsu Sadamura as his wakashu. A number of Ashikaga shoguns chose their beloveds from the Akamatsu family.
Yoshinori was assassinated in 1441, on his 47th birthday by Akamatsu Mitsusuke in the Kakitsu Rebellion. This is thought to have been precipitated by his attempt to take Mitsusuke's lands in order to grant them to his beloved Sadamura. ("The Love of the Samurai: A Thousand Years of Japanese Homosexuality by Tsuneo Watanabe and Jun'ichi Iwata)
He was succeeded by his son, the seventh shogun Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, in the next year but the power of the shogunate fell into decline.

Eras of Yoshinori's bakufu

2008-04-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hilton or Hylton may refer to:

People with the surname Hilton

Hilton Armstrong (born 1984), American Basketball Player People with the given name Hilton

Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management — an academic college at the University of Houston
Hilton College in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Hilton Central High School in Hilton, New York
Hilton Tri in Hilton, Endeavour Hills
C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Virginia Schools

Hilton, Aberdeen (Scotland)
Hilton, Berwickshire (Scotland)
Hilton, Cambridgeshire (England)
Hilton, Derbyshire (England)
Hilton, Dorset (England)
Hilton, County Durham (England)
Hilton, Huntingdonshire (England)
Hilton, Inverness-shire (Scotland)
Hilton, North Yorkshire (England)
Hilton, Ross-shire (Scotland)
Hilton, Shropshire (England)
Hilton, Staffordshire (England)
Hilton, Westmorland (England)
South Hylton in Sunderland (England)
Hylton Castle in Hylton district of Sunderland (England) Places in the UK

Hilton, New York, a village
Hilton Head, South Carolina, an island Places in the US

Hilton, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
Hilton, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth Places in Australia

Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal, a town next to Pietermaritzburg
Hilton, Bloemfontein, a suburb of Bloemfontein

2008-04-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

The City of Dallas (pronounced [ˈdæl.əs] or [ˈdæl.ʊs]) is the second-largest (according to 2000 census) city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest city in the United States. The city covers 385 square miles (997 km²) and is the county seat of Dallas County.

History
Dallas is the county seat of Dallas County. Portions of the city extend into neighboring Collin, Denton, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 385 square miles (997.1 km²)—342.5 square miles (887.1 km²) of it is land and 42.5 square miles (110.1 km²) of it (11.03%) is water. Dallas makes up one-fifth of the much larger urbanized area known as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex—about a quarter of all Texans live in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington metropolitan area.

Geography

Main article: Geology of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Topography

Main article: Climate of Dallas, Texas Climate

Cityscape
Dallas's skyline contains several buildings over 700 feet (210 m) in height and the city is considered the fifteenth-tallest city on earth while Houston, its intra-state rival is ranked 7th in the world.
Tallest structures in Dallas
See also: List of tallest buildings and structures in Dallas

Bank of America Plaza 921 feet (281 m)
Renaissance Tower 886 feet (270 m)
Comerica Bank Tower 787 feet (240 m)
JPMorgan Chase Tower 738 feet (225 m)
Fountain Place 720 feet (219 m)
Bank of America Plaza 921 feet (281 m)
Comerica Bank Tower 787 feet (240 m)
JPMorgan Chase Tower 738 feet (225 m)
Fountain Place 720 feet (219 m)
Renaissance Tower 710 feet (216 m) Architecture
The City of Dallas has many communities and neighborhoods. Major areas in the city include:
Central Dallas is anchored by Downtown, the center of the city and the epicenter of urban revival, coupled with Oak Lawn and Uptown Dallas, new urbanist areas anchored by dense retail, restaurants, and nightlife. Downtown Dallas has a variety of neighborhoods, including the West End Historic District, the Arts District, the Main Street District, Farmers Market District, the City Center business district, the Convention Center District, the Reunion District and Victory Park. North of downtown is Oak Lawn, a densely-populated area that contains parks along Turtle Creek and the popular Uptown area with LoMac, Cityplace and the West Village.
The east side of Dallas contains the community of east Dallas, home to Deep Ellum, a trendy arts area close to downtown, homey Lakewood, the historic Vickery Place, Bryan Place, and historically and architecturally significant homes on Swiss Avenue. Above the Park Cities is north Dallas, home to mansions as palatial as Versailles in Preston Hollow, strong middle and upper-class communities north into Bent Tree and Far North Dallas, and high-powered shopping at Galleria Dallas, NorthPark Center, and Preston Center. East of north Dallas and north of east Dallas is Lake Highlands, one of the most unified middle-class areas in the city, with the strongest definition—it is in the northeastern part of the city above White Rock Lake and east Dallas. Further east, above (north and east of) the Trinity River, is Pleasant Grove—once an independent city, it is a predominantly black collection of neighborhoods stretching to Seagoville to the southeast.
The city is further surrounded by many suburbs and encloses the following enclaves: Cockrell Hill, Highland Park, and University Park.

See also: List of neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas

Neighborhoods

Main article: Culture of Dallas, Texas Culture
Present-day Dallas as a singular entity can be seen as fairly moderate, exceptionally so relative to its position in what is seen as an extremely conservative area (The nearby suburb of Plano was ranked as the 5th most conservative city in America by The Bay Area Center for Voting Research). In 2004, only 25% of votes cast in the City of Dallas were cast for conservative candidates, while they narrowly won Dallas County as a whole.
In 2006, Republican Tom Leppert defeated Ed Oakley by a margin of 58% to 42% to become the Mayor of Dallas, though the city's elections are non-partisan.

Politics
Dallas is renowned for barbecue, authentic Mexican, and Tex-Mex cuisine. Famous products of the Dallas culinary scene include the frozen margarita and the restaurants La Calle Doce, Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse, Enchilada's, Mi Cocina, Bone Daddy's Barbecue, and The Mansion on Turtle Creek.

Cuisine
The Arts District in downtown is home to several arts venues, both existing and proposed. Notable venues in the district include the Dallas Museum of Art, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, The Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center,The Dallas Contemporary, The Dallas Children's Theatre. Venues under construction or planned include the Winspear Opera House and the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.

Arts
See also: U.S. cities with teams from four major sports
Dallas is home to the Dallas Desperados (Arena Football League), Dallas Mavericks (National Basketball Association), and Dallas Stars (National Hockey League). All three teams play at the American Airlines Center. The Major League Soccer team FC Dallas, formerly the Dallas Burn, used to play in the Cotton Bowl but moved to Pizza Hut Park in Frisco upon the stadium's opening in 2005.

Sports
The City of Dallas maintains and operates 406 parks on 21,000 acres (85 km²) of parkland. Its flagship park is the 260 acre (1.05 km²) Fair Park which was originally developed to host the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. The city is also home to Texas's first and largest zoo at 95 acres (0.38 km²) — the Dallas Zoo, which opened in 1888.
To the west of Dallas in Arlington is Six Flags Over Texas. Hurricane Harbor, a large water park, is also in Arlington.

Recreation
Dallas has numerous local newspapers, magazines, television stations and radio stations that serve the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as a whole, which is the 5th-largest media market in the United States.
See also: Newspapers of Dallas, Texas, List of radio stations in Texas, List of television stations in Texas#Dallas/Fort Worth, and List of movies set in Dallas, Texas

Media
There is a large Protestant Christian influence in the Dallas community as the city is deep within the Bible Belt—Methodist and Baptist churches are prominent in many neighborhoods and anchor the city's two major private universities. The Cathedral of Hope, an LGBT Protestant church, is the largest congregation of its kind in the world. as well as in Irving and other suburbs.

Religion
The most notable event held in Dallas is the State Fair of Texas which has been held annually at Fair Park since 1886. The fair is a massive event for the state of Texas and brings an estimated US$350 million to the city's economy annually. The Red River Shootout (UT-OU) game at the Cotton Bowl and other Cotton Bowl games also bring significant crowds to the city.
Other festivals in the area include Cinco de Mayo festivities hosted by the city's large Mexican population, Saint Patrick's Day parades in Irish communities especially along east Dallas's Lower Greenville Avenue, Juneteenth festivities, the Greek Food Festival of Dallas, and an annual Halloween parade on Cedar Springs Road.

Events
In its beginnings, Dallas relied on farming, neighboring Fort Worth's cattle market, and its prime location on trade routes with Indians to sustain itself. Dallas's real key to growth came in 1873 though with the building of multiple rail lines through the city. As Dallas grew and technology developed, cotton became its boon—by 1900 Dallas was the largest inland cotton market on Earth and led the world in cotton gin machinery manufacturing. By the early 1900s, Dallas was a hub for economic activity all over the Southwestern United States and was selected in 1914 as the seat of the Eleventh Federal Reserve District; by 1925, Texas churned out more than ⅓ of the nation's cotton crop, and 31% of Texas cotton was produced within a 100 mile (161 km) radius of Dallas. In the 1930s, oil was discovered east of Dallas near Kilgore, Texas, and Dallas's proximity to the discovery put it at the center of the nation's oil market. Oil discoveries in the Permian Basin, the Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and Oklahoma in the following years further solidified Dallas's position as the hub of the market as it was roughly the geographic center of all 5 regions. When combined with the 8 billionaires who live in Dallas's neighboring city of Fort Worth, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is one of the greatest concentrations of billionaires in the world.
See also: List of companies in Dallas, Texas
See also: List of foreign consulates in Dallas
See also: List of shopping malls in Dallas, Texas

Economy

Main article: Law and government of Dallas, Texas Law and government
Policing in Dallas is provided predominantly by the Dallas Police Department, which has 2,977 officers. The central police station is located in the Cedars, a south Dallas neighborhood near downtown.
According to the FBI, a city to city comparison of crime rates is not meaningful, because recording practices vary from city to city, citizens report different percentages of crimes from one city to the next, and the actual number of people physically present in a city is unknown. [9] Also, most of the violent crime in a city is concentrated in a few bad neighborhoods. With that in mind, however, Dallas's violent crime rate (12.06) is lower than such major cities as St Louis (24.81 per thousand), Detroit (24.22), Baltimore (16.96), Philadelphia (15.62), Atlanta (15.54), Cleveland (15.47), Miami (15.09), Washington DC (14.48), Kansas City (14.44) and Boston (13.39). Dallas's violent crime rate trails such cities as Houston (11.69), Los Angeles (7.87) and New York City (6.38). [10]

Fire protection

Main article: Demographics of Dallas, Texas Demographics

Main article: Education in Dallas, Texas Education
Further information: List of colleges and universities in Dallas, Texas
Dallas is a major center of education for much of the South Central United States. The city itself contains several universities, colleges, trade schools, and educational institutes. Several major Universities also lie in enclaves, satellite cities, and suburbs of Dallas.
The University of Texas at Dallas, part of the public UT system, is located in the city of Richardson, adjacent to Dallas in an area known as the Telecom Corridor. UT Dallas, or UTD as longtime residents refer to it, is renowned for its work in combining the arts and technology, as well as for its programs in engineering, computer science, economics, international political economy, neuroscience, speech and hearing, pre-health, pre-law and management. UT Dallas has many collaborative research relationships with UT Southwestern (see below). UT Dallas is home to approximately 15,000 students.
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a private, coeducational university in University Park, an enclave of Dallas. It was founded in 1911 by the Southern Methodist Church and now enrolls 6,500 undergraduates, 1,200 professional students in the law and theology departments, and 3,500 postgraduates.
The University of Dallas in the adjacent suburb of Irving, Texas is an enclave of traditional Roman Catholicism in the Protestant landscape of Dallas. St. Albert the Great Dominican Priory and Holy Trinity Seminary are located on campus. The Cistercian Monastary and Cistercian Preparatory School are located just to the southeast, and The Highlands School, a PK-12 Legionary school, is connected to the east by jogging trails. The Cistercian Monastery continues to be notable in scholastic developments in theology.
Also in the nearby suburbs and neighboring cities are the University of North Texas in Denton and the University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington.

Colleges and universities

Primary and secondary schools
The city of Dallas is mostly within the Dallas Independent School District, the twelfth-largest school district in the United States.

Public schools
There are also private schools in Dallas, most notably St. Mark's School of Texas, Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Episcopal School of Dallas, Bishop Dunne Catholic School, Bishop Lynch High School, First Baptist Academy, and The Hockaday School . Many Dallas residents also attend Cistercian Preparatory School and The Highlands School in adjacent Irving and Greenhill School in adjacent Addison. Ursuline Academy of Dallas, founded by a group of Ursuline nuns in 1874, is credited with being the oldest school in the city.

Private schools
The city is served by the Dallas Public Library system. The system was originally created by the Dallas Federation of Women's Clubs with efforts spearheaded by then-president Mrs. Henry (May Dickson) Exall. Her work raising money led to a grant from philanthropist and steel baron Andrew Carnegie, which enabled the construction of the first branch in 1901.

Libraries

Infrastructure
The city of Dallas has many hospitals within its bounds and a number of medical research facilities. One major research center is UT Southwestern Medical Center in the Stemmons Corridor, along with its affiliate medical school, UT Southwestern Medical School. The system includes Parkland Memorial Hospital and Children's Medical Center Dallas.
The city also has a VA hospital in south Dallas, the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dallas is the home of a Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP), part of an initiative by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide mail order prescriptions to veterans using computerization at strategic locations throughout the United States.
Other hospitals include Baylor University Medical Center in east Dallas, Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Oak Cliff, Methodist Charlton Medical Center near Duncanville, Medical City Dallas Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital in north Dallas, and the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Oak Lawn.

Health systems

Main article: Transportation in Dallas, Texas Utilities

2008-04-09T10:03:00.001-07:00

Walter Anton Berger (October 10, 1905 – November 30, 1988) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for four National League teams, primarily the Boston Braves. One of the league's top sluggers of the early 1930s, in his initial 1930 season he hit 38 home runs, a record for rookies which stood until 1987. He still holds a share of the NL record. He also led the league in home runs and runs batted in in 1935, and went on to become the seventh NL player to hit 200 career home runs.
Born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in San Francisco, California, Berger played third base in high school, sharing the infield with future Hall of Fame shortstop and American League president Joe Cronin, who manned second base.
Berger's 38 home runs as a 1930 rookie established a major league record that would stand for 57 years until eclipsed by Mark McGwire's 49 in 1987; his NL record was tied by Frank Robinson in 1956, but has not been broken. Berger still shares the major league record for home runs by a first-year player (no prior major league games). Berger batted .310 that season, and his 119 runs batted in were also an NL rookie record, since topped by Albert Pujols 2001.
Berger made the NL All-Star team in the first four years the game was held (1933-36), starting in the first two. In 1933 he finished third in the Most Valuable Player voting, behind Carl Hubbell and Chuck Klein, after hitting 27 home runs (half the Braves team total), second in the league behind Klein's 28. In 1935, he led NL outfielders in putouts with 458. Eddie Mathews broke his Braves franchise record of 38 home runs in 1953, the team's first year in Milwaukee, and surpassed his mark of 199 career home runs in 1957.
After a 1936 shoulder injury, Berger was traded to the New York Giants in June 1937; his first home run for the team was the 200th of his career. In the 1937 World Series, he made only three pinch-hitting appearances, going hitless. In June 1938 he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, where he would remain until 1940; his 1939 World Series performance was even more dismal than in 1937, going 0 for 15. He ended his career in 1940 with the Philadelphia Phillies. In an 11-season career Berger posted a .300 batting average with 242 home runs and 898 RBI in 1350 games played. Following his retirement as a player, he was a scout for the New York Yankees and managed their Manchester, N.H. minor league team in 1949.
Berger died of a stroke in Redondo Beach, California at age 83.

Boston Braves/Bees (1930-1937)
New York Giants (1937-1938)
Cincinnati Reds (1938-1940)
Philadelphia Phillies (1940)
National League pennant: 1937, 1939
4-time National League All-Star
National League home run champion: 1935
National League RBI champion: 1935
4 seasons with a .300+ batting average
4 seasons with 100+ RBI Fact
The section could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

In 1933, when Babe Ruth was asked once again to make his annual selection of the game's best, he named Berger as his center fielder.
Of the eighteen players who started the 1934 All-Star Game, Berger is the only one who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2008-04-08T10:21:00.001-07:00

Saints Cosmas and Damian (Κοσμάς και Δαμιανός) (died ca. 303) were twins and early Christian martyrs, born in Cilicia, or in Arabia (CE), who practiced the art of healing in the seaport of Ægea (modern Ayash) in the Gulf of Iskanderun, then in the Roman province of Syria. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, they accepted no payment for their services, which led them to be nicknamed anargyroi or The Silverless. It is said that by this, they led many to the Christian faith. Cosmas' name is rendered as Côme in French, as Cosimo in Italian, as Cosme in Portuguese, as Козма (Kozma) in Serbian and Bulgarian or as Kozman in Coptic.
During the persecution under Diocletian, Cosmas and Damian were arrested by order of the Prefect of Cilicia, one Lysias who is otherwise unknown, who ordered them under torture to recant. However, according to legend they stayed true to their faith through a series of gruesome tortures that did not harm them, and finally suffered execution by beheading. Anthimus, Leontius and Euprepius, their younger brothers, who were inseparable from them throughout life, shared in their martyrdom.
Their most famous miraculous exploit was the grafting of a leg from a recently deceased Ethiopian to replace a patient's ulcered leg, and was the subject of many paintings and illuminations.
As early as the 4th century, churches dedicated to the twin saints were established at Jerusalem, in Egypt and in Mesopotamia. Theodoret records the division of their relics. Their relics, deemed miraculous, were buried in the city of Cyrus in Syria (CE). Churches were built in their honor by Archbishop Proclus and by Emperor Justinian I (527-565), who sumptuously restored the city of Cyrus and dedicated it to the twins, but brought their relics to Constantinople; there, following his cure, ascribed to the intercession of Cosmas and Damian, Justinian, in gratitude also built and adorned their church at Constantinople, and it became a celebrated place of pilgrimage. At Rome Pope Felix IV (526-530) rededicated the Library of Peace (Bibliotheca Pacis) as a basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano in the Forum of Vespasian in their honour. The church is much rebuilt but still famed for its sixth-century mosaics illustrating the saints.
Their skulls are venerated in the convent of the Clares in Madrid, where they have been since 1581, the gift of Maria, daughter of Emperor Charles V. They had previously been removed from Rome to Bremen in the tenth century, and thence to Bamberg (Matthews). Their skulls are also enshrined in the church St. Michael in Munich. According to the inscription, the shrine was manufactured in Bremen around 1400 and brought with the relics to St. Michael in 1649 by Maximilian I of Bavaria (born about 100 years later in 1756).
Their feast day in the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints was 27 September but has been moved to 26 September as an optional commemoration. The Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate the feast of Saints Kosmas and Damian on 1 July, 17 October, and 1 November, and venerates three pairs of saints of the same name and profession. Cosmas and Damian are regarded as the patrons of physicians and surgeons and are sometimes represented with medical emblems. Little is known of the non-Roman Kosmas and Damian except that they lived similar lives to those in Rome or Cilicia.
In Brazil, the twin saints are regarded as protectors of children, and 27 September is commemorated by giving children bags of candy with the saints' effigy printed on them. In Isernia, near Naples, they served as phallic saints and were invoked for fertility.

See also

Saint Cosmas of Maiuma, an eighth-century Greek hymnist.
Saint Cosmas and Damian Church, Brazil's oldest church (1535), in Igarassu, Pernambuco.

2008-04-07T08:39:00.001-07:00

The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is located downtown on a nine-acre site along the east bank of the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida. As the largest performing arts complex south of the Kennedy Center, the 290,000 square foot (27,000 m²) Center opened in 1987 and provides an environment for a wide variety of world-class events. It features one of the nation's leading Broadway series and is regarded nationally for producing grand opera, as well as presenting a wide variety of concerts, performances and events. More than 600,000 patrons attended more than 850 performances, classes and other events at The Center in 2006.
The performing arts complex consists of five distinct theaters, a rehearsal hall, retail shops, on-site restaurants and banquet facilities.
With the recent addition of the new Patel Conservatory, The Center has added 45,000 square feet (4,200 m²) for its extensive education programs. The Conservatory features 20 studios, including two dance studios with sprung floors, a sound/lighting laboratory, technical theater workshop, rehearsal hall, costume shop, isolation/sound booth, state-of-the-art black box theater and media arts/TV studio.
The building is owned by the City of Tampa, and is run by Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The annual budget is $30 million.
VENUES AND FACILITIES
The five individual theaters at The Center are Carol Morsani Hall (2,600+ seats), Ferguson Hall (1,042 seats), the Jaeb Theater (292 seats), the TECO Energy Foundation Theater (250 seats) and the Shimberg Playhouse (130 seats).
EVENTS, RESIDENT COMPANIES AND CONSTITUENTS
The Center's annual events include the Broadway Ball, Best of Tampa Bay, Eggstravaganza and a facility-wide Open House in the fall. The Center is also the annual host of the Broadway Theater Project and International Thespian Society's Florida State Thespian Festival.
The Center is the home to these resident companies:
The Center houses a number of constituent organizations, including:
Carol Morsani Hall - The centerpiece of the complex which seats 2,552. The hall's proscenium is 60 feet high with a playing depth of 55 feet and a total stage width of 120 feet. When combined with an 11-story high backstage area, the enormous Carol Morsani Hall onstage and backstage areas easily accommodate major productions of Broadway musicals, operas, ballets and orchestral concerts. A 42-ton concert wall can be lowered for the orchestra and choral performances. The traditional horseshoe-shaped opera house has continental seating on four levels: orchestra, mezzanine, balcony and gallery. Excellent sight lines combine with impeccable acoustics to create a magnificent venue that rivals the great classical theaters of the world!
Ferguson Hall - Ideally suited for plays, musical concerts and dance events, the elegant 1,042-seat Louise Lykes Ferguson Hall boasts comfortable orchestra seating and two tiers of curving balconies, creating a unique blend of intimacy and spaciousness. With a 40 foot wide by 30 foot high proscenium, a total playing depth of 50 feet and a total stage width of 80 feet, plus orchestra pit and concert wall, the Ferguson Hall offers flexibility that also suits corporate meetings, lectures and seminars.
Jaeb Theater - The 292-seat Robert and Lorena Jaeb Theater is named for the Jaebs, whose gift to the Capitol Fund Drive in 1985 helped establish the endowment fund for the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. The Jaeb Theater's stage is 40 feet wide by 20 feet deep. The audience area can be configured to stadium or cabaret seating for plays or cabaret shows, as well as recording sessions, television productions, seminars and business meetings.
TECO Energy Foundation Theater - The 3,500 square foot (330 m²) TECO Energy Foundation Theater dominates the west end of the first floor of the Patel Conservatory. The room is two stories of open space with glass walls and windows on two sides. Blackout curtains convert the rehearsal space into a performance space. There is no permanent stage and all furnishings are portable for maximum flexibility.
Shimberg Playhouse - The 130-seat Hinks and Elaine Shimberg Playhouse, located between The Center Store and the Jaeb Theater, is an intimate venue for local and national artists, such as poets, musicians, dancers, comedians, performance artists and small theater companies. This specially-designed, flexible "black-box" theater allows for varied configurations of traditional or three quarter seating, as required by the production.
Opera Tampa
Jobsite Theater
Crescendo
The Florida Orchestra
GMI Music
Gulf Coast Youth Choirs
Heralds of Harmony
Lyric Opera Theatre
Master Chorale
Spanish Lyric Theater
Tampa Bay Gay Men's Chorus
Tampa Bay Children's Chorus
Tampa Bay Symphony
Tampa Bay Youth Orchestras
Tampa Oratorio Singers
Toast of Tampa

2008-04-06T08:55:00.001-07:00

A faceoff is the method used to begin play in ice hockey. The two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the opposing centres attempt to gain control of the puck after it is dropped between their sticks by an official.
Faceoffs are typically conducted at designated places marked on the ice called faceoff spots or dots. There are nine such spots: two in each attacking zone, two on each end of the neutral zone, and one in the centre of the rink. Faceoffs do not always take place at the marked faceoff spots. If a puck leaves the playing surface, for example, the faceoff will take place wherever the puck was last played. However, all faceoffs other than those centre ice take place on one of the two imaginary lines parallel to the side boards extending from one end zone faceoff spot to the other. On June 20, 2007, the NHL Board of Governors approved a change to NHL Rule 76 which governs faceoffs. This change now requires all faceoffs to take place at one of the nine faceoff spots on the ice, regardless of what caused the stoppage of play.
An official may wave off a centre from the faceoff if he or any of the players on his team violates the rules in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage during the faceoff. In this case, one of his teammates that is on the ice must switch positions with the centre and take the faceoff. Common faceoff violations include moving the stick before the puck is dropped or not placing the body square to the faceoff spot. In the NHL, a visiting team's centre's hockey stick must touch the ice before the home team's centre does.

Historical Alignment
In the first organized ice hockey (see Amateur Hockey Association of Canada(AHAC)) rules, both centres faced the centre line of the ice rink, like the wingers do today. At that time, another forward position existed, the rover, who faced forward like centres did today, but a few feet away.

2008-04-05T09:03:00.001-07:00

Medieval 16th century - 17th century 18th century -19th century 20th century - Contemporary
Chronological list Writers by category Novelists - Playwrights Poets - Essayists Short story writers
The Pléiade is the name given to a group of 16th-century French Renaissance poets whose principal members were Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf. The name was a reference to another literary group, the original Alexandrian Pleiad of seven Alexandrian poets and tragedians (3rd century B.C.), corresponding to the seven stars of the Pleiades star cluster. The name "Pléiade" was also adopted in 1323 by a group of fourteen poets (seven men and seven women) in Toulouse.

The 14th century Toulouse Pléiade
The core group of the Renaissance "Pléiade" -- Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jean-Antoine de Baïf -- came together at the Collège de Coqueret under the tutelege of the famous Hellenist and Latinist Jean Dorat and were generally called the "Brigade". Ronsard was regarded as the leader of the "Brigade", but their 'manifesto' was penned by Du Bellay ('La Défense et illustration de la langue française' 1549). In it, Du Bellay detailed a literary program of renewal and revolution. The group aimed to break with earlier traditions of French poetry (especially Marot and the grands rhétoriqueurs), and, maintaining that French (like the Tuscan of Petrarch and Dante) was a worthy language for literary expression, to attempt to ennoble the French language by imitating the Ancients.
To this end Du Bellay recommended vernacular innovation of Greek and Roman poetic forms, emulation of specific models, and the creation of neologisms based on Greek and Latin. Among the models favoured by the Pléiade were Pindar, Anacreon, Alcaeus and other poets of the Greek Anthology, as well as Virgil, Horace and Ovid. The ideal was not one of slavish imitation, but of a poet so well-versed in the entire corpus of Ancient literature (Du Bellay uses the metaphor of 'digestion') that he would be able to convert it into an entirely new and rich poetic language in the vernacular. For some of the members of the Pléiade, the act of the poety itself was seen as a form of divine inspiration (see Pontus de Tyard for example), a possession by the muses akin to romantic passion, prophetic fervor or alcoholic delirium.
The forms that dominate the poetic production of these poets are the Petrarchan sonnet cycle (developed around an amorous encounter or an idealized woman) and the Horatian/Anacreontic ode (of the 'wine, women and song' variety, often making use of the Horatian "carpe diem" topos - life is short, seize the day). Ronsard also tried early on to adapt the Pindaric ode into French and, later, to write a nationalist verse epic modelled on Homer and Virgil (entitled the Franciade), which he never completed. Throughout the period, the use of mythology is frequent, but so too is a depiction of the natural world (woods, rivers).
The use of the term "Pléiade" to refer to the group the French poets around Ronsard and Du Bellay is much criticized. In his poems, Ronsard frequently made lists of those he considered the best poets of his generation, but these lists changed several times. These lists always included Ronsard, Du Bellay, de Baïf, Pontus de Tyard and Étienne Jodelle; the last two positions were taken by Rémy Belleau, Jacques Peletier du Mans, Jean de la Péruse, or Guillaume des Autels. In a poem in 1556 Ronsard announced that the "Brigade" had become the "Pléiade", but apparently no one in Ronsard's literary circle used the expression to refer to himself, and use of the term stems principally from Huguenot poets critical of Ronsard's pretensions (Ronsard was a polemicist for the royal Catholic policy). This use was finally consecrated by Ronsard's biographer Claude Binet, shortly after the poet's death. Some modern literary historians reject the use of the term, as it gives precedence to Ronsard's poetic ideas and minimizes the diversity of poetic production in the French Renaissance.

2008-04-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

John Davy can refer to:
John Davy (chemist), British chemist and younger brother of Sir Humphy Davy
John Davy (cricketer), Irish cricketer
John M. Davy (1835–1909), U.S. Representative from New York

2008-04-03T09:45:00.001-07:00

Zinc is a town in Boone County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 76 at the 2000 census.

Geography
Zinc is located at 36°17′7″N, 92°54′56″W (36.285384, -92.915419).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.9 km² (0.8 mi²), all land.

2008-04-02T08:14:00.001-07:00

Order of Australia
Appointments to this class of the Order were stopped on 3 March 1986. The following are the 12 men and 2 women who were made Knights or Dames of the Order:
Appointments are made for eminent achievement and merit of the highest degree in service to Australia or to humanity at large. Excluding honorary appointments, no more than 25 Companions shall be appointed in any calendar year.
Appointments made for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or to humanity at large. Excluding honorary appointments, no more than 100 Officers shall be appointed in any calendar year.
Appointment made for service in a particular locality or field of activity or to a particular group. Excluding honorary appointment s no more than 225 Members shall be appointed in any calendar year.
Awarded for service worthy of particular recognition. There is no quota limit on awards of the Medal of the Order.

Sir Garfield Barwick - 8 June 1981
Sir MacFarlane Burnet - 26 January 1978
HRH Charles Prince of Wales - 14 March 1981
Sir Charles Court - 14 June 1982
Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor-General - 8 December 1977
Sir Roden Cutler - 7 April 1981
Dame Alexandra Hasluck - 6 June 1978
Sir Gordon Jackson - 13 June 1983
Sir John Kerr, Governor-General - 24 May 1976
Dame Enid Lyons - 26 January 1980
Sir Robert Menzies - 7 June 1976
Sir Ninian Stephen, Governor-General - 29 July 1982
Sir Colin Syme - 6 June 1977
Sir Roy Wright - 26 January 1983. Classes

Victoria Cross for Australia (VC)
Star of Gallantry (SG)
Medal for Gallantry (MG)
Commendation for Gallantry Military Gallantry Decorations

Cross of Valour (CV)
Star of Courage (SC)
Bravery Medal (BM)
Commendation for Brave Conduct
Group Bravery Citation Australian Bravery Decorations
Distinguished Service Decorations
Conspicuous Service Decorations
Nursing

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC)
Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)
Commendation for Distinguished Service
Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC)
Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM)
Nursing Service Cross (NSC) Distinguished/Conspicuous/Nursing

Public Service Medal (PSM)
Australian Police Medal (APM)
Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM)
Ambulance Service Medal (ASM)
Emergency Services Medal (ESM)
Australian Antarctic Medal (AAM) Meritorious

Australia Service Medal 1939-45
Civilian Service Medal 1939-1945
Australian Active Service Medal 1945-1975
Australian Service Medal 1945-1975
Vietnam Medal
Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal
Australian Active Service Medal
International Force East Timor Medal
Australian Service Medal
Rhodesia Medal
Police Overseas Service Medal (Australia)
Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal
Afghanistan Medal
Iraq Medal Australian Service/Campaign

Champion Shots Medal (Australia) [1] Champion Shots

80th Anniversary Armistice Remembrance Medal [2]
Australian Sports Medal [3]
Centenary Medal [4]
Anniversary of National Service 1951-1972 Medal [5] Long Service Awards

Australian Honours Order of Precedence
Australian of the Year
British honours system

2008-04-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

John Pinette (born March 23, 1964)[1] is an actor and stand-up comedian based in the United States. He has toured the comedy club circuit since the 1980s and has appeared in cinema and television. His routines primarily revolve around his weight, and his love for the buffet. However, in 2001 John lost an incredible amount of weight. He explains this in his new DVD I Say Nay, Nay, which was released in 2004, as being the result of a long training routine developed by a series of trainers so that he can become more healthy. However, he still maintains his affinity for buffets and has not lost his signature "cherub-like demeanor". Besides straight stand-up, John has done noteworthy impressions of The Chipmunks and Elvis Presley, also the Ewok from Star Wars and also is recognized as having an impressive singing voice, as noted by his modified rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz in one of his stand-up routines.

Filmography

List of stand-up comedians

2008-03-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

Blodwyn Pig were a British blues-rock group founded by Mick Abrahams after he left Jethro Tull in 1968. Abrahams had earlier had a major falling out with Tull leader Ian Anderson.
Blodwyn Pig consisted of Abrahams (guitar and vocals), Jack Lancaster (saxophone), Andy Pyle (bass guitar), and Ron Berg (drums), Peter Banks also was a member.
The band recorded two albums, Ahead Rings Out in 1969 and Getting To This in 1970. Both reached the lower half of the British top ten. On the first album they played a heavy blues-rock rooted in the British 60's r'n'b scene from which sprang groups like the Yardbirds, Free and eventually Led Zeppelin, but Blodwyn Pig had a different twist on the genre thanks to Lancaster's sax being so prominent in the mix which led them to more creative sixties underground jazz-influenced music on the second. The single Summer Day from Ahead Rings Out failed to chart.
The band reformed in the 1990s for two more albums.

2008-03-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

In linguistics, in the field of structural dialectology, a diasystem is a single genetic language which has two or more standard forms. Some dialects are often divided into separate languages due to different historical and cultural development. Other possible differences between languages include vocabulary, such as Occitan being affected by French and Catalan by Spanish words, and writing systems, such as Hindi in Devanagari and Urdu in the Arabic script, despite being mutually intelligible. Some languages are officially recognized as distinct despite having no barriers in speech, writing or lexicon, but are distinguished by legal and political factors, such as the Catalan with Valencian, and Romanian with Moldovan. Examples include:

Bulgarian-Macedonian-Torlakian
Czech-Slovak (Czech-Slovak-Pannonian Rusyn)
Danish-Bokmål Norwegian-Nynorsk Norwegian
Filipino-Tagalog
Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu)
Irish-Scottish Gaelic
Lao-Isan
Malay (Malaysian-Indonesian)
Mandarin Chinese-Dungan
Occitano-Romance languages (Occitan-Catalan-Valencian)
Persian-Tajik-Dari
Portuguese-Galician (Portuguese-Galician)
Romanian-Moldovan
Central South Slavic (Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian)
Spanish-Ladino
Tatar-Bashkir
Tuscan (Italian-Corsican)
Ukrainian-Rusyn
Uyghur-Uzbek

2008-03-26T09:20:00.001-07:00

The Boston campaign was part of the American Revolutionary War. It included the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Siege of Boston, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. It ended with Evacuation Day on March 17, 1776.

Background

Main articles: Powder Alarm and Battles of Lexington and Concord War begins

Main articles: Siege of Boston and Battle of Bunker Hill Siege of Boston
The British regular soldier in Boston was often hated equally by the local civilians and by their own commanders. The winter of 1774-75 had been long and hard, and shortages of food led General Thomas Gage to put his men on salt rations. Some of their supplies of fresh water went bad that winter and stank. Many died of diseases, most likely typhus and diphtheria. The one cheap commodity in Boston that winter was rum. Several regulars suffered alcohol-related deaths. Several more sold their muskets for rum, under the penalty of 500 lashes if caught. Desertion was fairly common, but much less common than might be expected considering the hardships endured by these men. Gage doubled the guards around the city, more to keep his own men in than to prevent the movements of Whigs. Whig leaders promised 300 acres (1.2 km²) in New Hampshire to any deserting soldier, but nearly all the regulars remained loyal to their fellow comrades-in-arms while hating both their commanders and the Bostonians.

2008-03-25T07:57:00.001-07:00

The Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, family Malvaceae) is an evergreen shrub native to East Asia. It is also known as China rose and shoe flower. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics and subtropics. The flowers are large, red, firm, but lack any scent. Numerous cultivars, varieties, and hybrids have been created, with flower colors ranging from white through yellow and orange to scarlet and shades of pink, with both single and double sets of petals.
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia, called the Bunga Raya in Malay and "Sembaruthi" in Tamil and mamdaram in Telugu (మందారం). The flowers are used to shine shoes in parts of India, as well as for the worship of Devi. Hibiscus flowers are also used for hair care.

2008-03-24T09:50:00.001-07:00

Deprogramming refers to actions to persuade or force a person to abandon allegiance to a religious or political group.
Deprogramming is normally commissioned by concerned relatives of the follower, often parents of adult children, and is taken against his/her will, which has led to controversies over freedom of religion and civil rights.
Supporters of deprogramming portray the practice as an antidote to deceptive religious conversion practices by what they consider to be cults, such as mind control, brainwashing, thought reform, or coercive persuasion. They.

Deprogramming and kidnapping
The deprogramming accounts vary a lot regarding the use of force, with the most dramatic accounts coming from deprogrammees who returned to the group.
The deprogramming case observed by Dubrow-Eichel did not include any violence.
Sociologist Eileen Barker wrote in Watching for Violence:
"Although deprogramming has become less violent in the course of time ... Numerous testimonies by those who were subjected to a deprogramming describe how they were threatened with a gun, beaten, denied sleep and food and/or sexually assaulted. But one does not have to rely on the victims for stories of violence: Ted Patrick, one of the most notorious deprogrammers used by CAGs (who has spent several terms in prison for his exploits) openly boasts about some of the violence he employed; in November 1987, Cyril Vosper, a Committee member of the British cult-awareness group, FAIR, was convicted in Munich of "causing bodily harm" in the course of one of his many deprogramming attempts; and a number of similar convictions are on record for prominent members of CAGs elsewhere."
In Colombrito vs. Kelly, the Court accepted the definition of deprogramming by J. Le Moult published in 1978 in the Fordham Law Review:
"Deprogrammers are people who, at the request of a parent or other close relative, will have a member of a religious sect seized, then hold him against his will and subject him to mental, emotional, and even physical pressures until he renounces his religious beliefs. Deprogrammers usually work for a fee, which may easily run as high as $25,000. The deprogramming process begins with abduction. Often strong men muscle the subject into a car and take him to a place where he is cut from everyone but his captors. He may be held against his will for upward of three weeks. Frequently, however, the initial deprogramming only last a few days. The subject's sleep is limited and he is told that he will not be released until his beliefs meet his captors' approval. Members of the deprogramming group, as well as members of the family, come into the room where the victim is held and barrage him with questions and denunciations until he recants his newly found religion "
Exit counselor Carol Giambalvo writes in From Deprogramming to Thought Reform Consultation
"It was believed that the hold of the brainwashing over the cognitive processes of a cult member needed to be broken – or "snapped" as some termed it – by means that would shock or frighten the cultist into thinking again. For that reason in some cases cult leader's pictures were burned or there were highly confrontational interactions between deprogrammers and cultist. What was often sought was an emotional response to the information, the shock, the fear, and the confrontation. There are horror stories – promoted most vehemently by the cults themselves – about restraint, beatings, and even rape. And we have to admit that we have met former members who have related to us their deprogramming experience – several of handcuffs, weapons wielded and sexual abuse. But thankfully, these are in the minority – and in our minds, never justified. Nevertheless, deprogramming helped to free many individuals held captive to destructive cults at a time when other alternatives did not seem viable. "
Since the success of the deprogramming determined the legality of the endeavor (successful=converted member from his/her beliefs, or unsuccessful=traumatized kidnap victim), progressively extreme measures were taken.

Deprogramming and violence
An American named Ted Patrick was one of the most prominent early proponents of deprogramming. Most of the deprogramming cases took place in the United States, with only sporadic cases in Western Europe In the United States such opinions have been successfully challenged in court and are not supported by the American Psychological Association (APA).[2]

History
One of the points which fired deprogramming controversies was the fact that they were in the majority of cases successful See also Brainwashing controversy in new religious movements.
Deprogrammers claim that the voluntary participation is due to "mind control," a controversial theory that a person's thought processes can be changed by outside forces. They justify this intervention or "therapy" as necessary to bring the person out from under the influence of the group's "mind control." The existence of mind control is widely disputed. Modern behavorist psychology, however, can do much to explain the ability of external forces to control actions even if it has studied little regarding the internal thought processes associated with them (although relational framing and other theoretical constructs hedge into such territory). Present-day psychological principles suggest that traditional deprogramming approaches would almost certainly be inferior to other forms of intervention. Even supposing mind control is possible, it would be extremely difficult to prove to a legal standard that any individual person's mind has been controlled. In light of the legal and psychological issues, less intrusive and more patient-oriented interventions will likely replace this practice completely.
Involuntary deprogramming has fallen into disfavor because of its controversial aspects. A number of prominent anti-cult groups and persons have distanced themselves from the practice, noting that a less intrusive form of intervention called exit counseling has been shown to be more effective, less harmful, and less likely to lead to legal action. Organizations often referred to as cults, such as the Church of Scientology, insist that the practice is still commonplace, and they often make statements that their critics and opponents are "deprogrammers."
The American Civil Liberties Union published a statement in 1977 in which they position deprogramming as a violation of constitutional freedoms:
"ACLU opposes the use of mental incompetency proceedings, temporary conservatorship, or denial of government protection as a method of depriving people of the free exercise of religion, at least with respect to people who have reached the age of majority. Mode of religious proselytizing or persuasion for a continued adherence that do not employ physical coercion or threat of same are protected by the free exercise of religion clause of the First Amendment against action of state laws or by state officials. The claim of free exercise may not be overcome by the contention that 'brainwashing' or 'mind control' has been used, in the absence of evidence that the above standards have been violated."
In the 1980s in the United States, namely in New York (Deprogramming Bill, 1981), Kansas (Deprogramming Bill, 1982), and Nebraska (conservatorship legislation for 1985), lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted to legalize involuntary deprogramming.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church (many of whose members were targets of deprogramming) issued this statement in 1983:
The methods involved in "deprogramming" are like those used in Communist concentration camps. Using parents and relatives to entrap members, "deprogrammers" commit grown adults to mental hospitals with the supposed "illness" of holding of a minority religious belief. Other typical deprogramming techniques include kidnapping, illegal detention, violence, psychological harassment, sleep deprivation, inducement to use alcohol and drugs, sexual seduction and rape. By such threats, harassment and manipulation professional "deprogrammers" force members to renounce their faith. Many people are injured physically and psychologically because of this criminal activity. [3]

Controversy and related issues
During the 1990s, Rick Ross, a noted "cult" intervention advocate who took part in a number of deprogramming sessions, was sued by Jason Scott, a former member of a group called the Life Tabernacle Church, after an attempt at intervention after an abduction was unsuccessful. The jury awarded Scott $875,000 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages against the Cult Awareness Network, and $2,500,000 against Ross, which were later settled for $5,000 and 200 hours of services "as an expert consultant and intervention specialist" (Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network). The judgement was used to force CAN into bankruptcy, and its name and assets were purchased by a representative of the Church of Scientology, which had been frequently criticized by CAN, shortly afterwards. This case was seen as effectively closing the door on the practice of involuntary deprogramming.
Ted Patrick was found guilty of kidnapping Roberta McElfish, a 25-year old woman of Tucson, Ariz., in order to "deprogram" her in 1980 from a group known as the Wesley Thomas Family.
In the case of Kathy Crampton, she went back to the group Love Israel several days after the apparently successful deprogramming. Patrick was charged for kidnapping, but he was acquitted with the reasoning:
"[w]here parents are, as here, of the reasonable and intelligent belief that they were not physically capable of recapturing their daughter from existing, imminent danger, then the defense of necessity transfers or transposes to the constituted agent, the person who acts upon their belief under such conditions. Here that agent is the Defendant [Ted Patrick] ((District Court of the United States 1974: 79; New York Times 1974).
Steve Hassan, author of the book Combatting Cult Mind Control, states that he took part in a number of deprogrammings in the late 1970s, and has spoken out against them since 1980 . Hassan states that he has not participated in any deprogrammings since then, even though page 114 of Combatting, Hassan states that depogrammings can be kept as last resort if all other attempts fail. He is one of the major proponents of exit counseling as a form of intervention therapy, and he refers to his method as "strategic intervention therapy."

People and Places
Deprogramming and exit counseling, sometimes seen as one and the same, are distinct approaches to helping a person to leave a "cult". Some people blur the distinctions on purpose: some practioners do so to avoid criticism; some opponents do so to intensify criticism.
Proponents of the distinction, however, state that deprogramming entails coercion and confinement. In exit counseling the cult member is free to leave at any time. Deprogramming typically costs $10,000 or more, mainly because of the expense of a security team. Exit counseling typically costs $2,000 to $4,000, including expenses, for a three-to-five day intervention, although cases requiring extensive research of little-known groups can cost much more. Deprogramming, especially when it fails, entails considerable legal and psychological risk (e.g., a permanent alienation of the cultist from his or her family). The psychological and legal risks in exit counseling are much smaller. Although deprogrammers prepare families for the process, exit counselors tend to work more closely with families and expect them to contribute more to the process; that is, exit counseling requires that families establish a reasonable and respectful level of communication with their loved one before the exit counseling proper can begin. Because they rely on coercion, which is illegal except in the case of conservatorship and is generally viewed as unethical, deprogrammers' critiques of the unethical practices of cults will tend to have less credibility with cult members than the critiques of exit counselors.[4]

Deprogramming and exit counseling
The section could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.
The 70s was a TV miniseries about four friends in the 1970s. One of the friends, played by Amy Smart, suffering a series of failures which damaged her self-esteem. She joins an apparent spiritualist group and changes her name, but does not realize it is under control of Jim Jones. The other friends wish to get her away from what they see as a cult, but express concern that the deprogrammer hired seems militaristic and freaky. Another of the friends, played by Guy Torry does the deprogramming himself, showing her pictures and films of her childhood.
An episode of The Simpsons called Burns' Heir dealt with the family trying to steal Bart away from Mr. Burns, who they believe is taking over Bart's life and upbringing. A deprogrammer who works for Conformco Brain Deprogrammers (which is owned by Mrs. Fields' Cookies) is hired. By mistake, the deprogrammer abducts Hans Moleman and gets him to believe Homer and Marge are his parents.
In the Simpsons episode The Joy of Sect, Homer Simpson is violently kidnapped from a UFO religious facility and then deprogrammed by Groundskeeper Willie, Reverend Lovejoy and Ned Flanders with the help of a baseball bat and beer.

Deprogramming in popular culture

Opposition to cults and new religious movements
Intervention (counseling) See also

Bibliography

Holy Smoke! 1999 movie based on the book with the same name

2008-03-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

In computational complexity theory, big O notation is often used to describe how the size of the input data affects an algorithm's usage of computational resources (usually running time or memory). It is also called Big Oh notation, Landau notation, and asymptotic notation. Big O notation is also used in many other scientific and mathematical fields to provide similar estimations.
The symbol O is used to describe an asymptotic upper bound for the magnitude of a function in terms of another, usually simpler, function. There are also other symbols o, Ω, ω, and Θ for various other upper, lower, and tight bounds. Informally, the O notation is commonly employed to describe an asymptotic tight bound, but tight bounds are more formally and precisely denoted by the Θ (capital theta) symbol as described below. This distiction between upper and tight bounds is useful, and sometimes critical, and most computer scientists would urge distinguishing the usage of O and Θ, but in some other fields the Θ notation is not commonly known.

Usage
In a way to be made precise below, O(f(x)) denotes the collection of functions g(x) – viewed as a function of variable x – that exhibit a growth that is limited to that of f(x) in some respect. The traditional notation for stating that g(x) belongs to this collection is:

This is an anomalous and exceptional use of the equals sign in mathematics, as the above statement is not an equation. It is improper to conclude from g(x) = O(f(x)) and h(x) = O(f(x)) that g(x) and h(x) are equal. One way to think of this, is to consider "= O" one symbol here. To avoid the anomalous use, some authors prefer to write instead:

without difference in meaning.
The common arithmetic operations are often extended to the class concept. For example, h(x) + O(f(x)) denotes the collection of functions having the growth of h(x) plus a part whose growth is limited to that of f(x). Thus,

expresses the same as

Another anomaly of the notation, although less exceptional, is that it does not make explicit which variable is the function argument, which may need to be inferred from the context if several variables are involved. The following two right-hand side big O notations have dramatically different meanings:

The first case states that f(m) exhibits polynomial growth, while the second, assuming m > 1, states that g(n) exhibits exponential growth. So as to avoid all possible confusion, some authors use the notation

meaning the same as what is denoted by others as

A final anomaly is that the notation does not make clear "where" the function growth is to be considered; infinitesimally near some point, or in the neighbourhood of infinity. This is in contrast with the usual notation for limits. A similar notational device as for limits would resolve both this and the preceding anomaly, but is not in use.

Equals or member-of and other notational anomalies
Big O notation is useful when analyzing algorithms for efficiency. For example, the time (or the number of steps) it takes to complete a problem of size n might be found to be T(n) = 4n² - 2n + 2.
As n grows large, the n² term will come to dominate, so that all other terms can be neglected—for instance when n = 500, the term 4n² is 1000 times as large as the 2n term. Ignoring the latter would have negligible effect on the expression's value for most purposes.
Further, the coefficients become irrelevant as well if we compare to any other order of expression, such as an expression containing a term n³ or n². Even if T(n) = 1,000,000n², if U(n) = n³, the latter will always exceed the former once n grows larger than 1,000,000 (T(1,000,000) = 1,000,000³ = U(1,000,000)).
So the big O notation captures what remains: we write

(read as "big o of n squared") and say that the algorithm has order of n² time complexity.

Infinite asymptotics
Big O can also be used to describe the error term in an approximation to a mathematical function. For example,

expresses the fact that the error, the difference , is smaller in absolute value than some constant times when

x

is close enough to 0.

Infinitesimal asymptotics
Suppose

f (x)

and

g (x)

are two functions defined on some subset of the real numbers. We say

if and only if

The notation can also be used to describe the behavior of f near some real number a: we say

if and only if

If

g (x)

is non-zero for values of x sufficiently close to a, both of these definitions can be unified using the limit superior:

if and only if

In mathematics, both asymptotic behaviours near ∞ and near a are considered. In computational complexity theory, only asymptotics near ∞ are used; furthermore, only positive functions are considered, so the absolute value bars may be left out.

Example
The statement "

f (x)

O (g (x))

" as defined above is usually written as

f (x) = O (g (x))

. This is a slight abuse of notation; equality of two functions is not asserted, and it cannot be since the property of being

O (g (x))

is not symmetric:
.
There is also a second reason why that notation is not precise. The symbol f(x) means the value of the function f for the argument x. Hence the symbol of the function is f and not f(x).
For these reasons, some authors prefer set notation and write , thinking of as the set of all functions dominated by g.
In more complex usage, O( ) can appear in different places in an equation, even several times on each side. For example, the following are true for

The meaning of such statements is as follows: for any functions which satisfy each O( ) on the left side, there are some functions satisfying each O( ) on the right side, such that substituting all these functions into the equation makes the two sides equal. For example, the third equation above means: "For any function f(n)=O(1), there is some function g(n)=O(e=g(n)." In terms of the "set notation" above, the meaning is that the class of functions represented by the left side is a subset of the class of functions represented by the right side.

Matters of notation
Here is a list of classes of functions that are commonly encountered when analyzing algorithms. All of these are as n increases to infinity. The slower-growing functions are listed first. c is an arbitrary constant.
Not as common, but even larger growth is possible, such as the single-valued version of the Ackermann function, A(n,n). Conversely, extremely slowly-growing functions such as the inverse of this function, often denoted α(n), are possible. Although unbounded, these functions are often regarded as being constant factors for all practical purposes.

Common orders of functions
If a function f(n) can be written as a finite sum of other functions, then the fastest growing one determines the order of f(n). For example

In particular, if a function may be bounded by a polynomial in n, then as n tends to infinity, one may disregard lower-order terms of the polynomial.

O (n

(unless, of course, c=1).

Properties
f_2inmathcal{O}(g_2), implies f_1 f_2inmathcal{O}(g_1 g_2)," src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/7/3/6/7362021cd07b0f1d5a3ebcf2e0de2433.png" />

Product
f_2inmathcal{O}(g_2), implies f_1 + f_2inmathcal{O}(g_1 + g_2)," src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/7/3/6/7360f349a6218b4572a024fe190cd61b.png" />

Sum

" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/5/2/b/52b81fabe410cd97b0c22f919c21e3c9.png" />

Multiplication by a constant
Big O is the most commonly used asymptotic notation for comparing functions, although in many cases Big O may be replaced with Θ for asymptotically tighter bounds (Theta, see below). Here, we define some related notations in terms of "big O":

Related asymptotic notations
The relation is read as "

f (x)

is little-oh of

g (x)

". Intuitively, it means that

g (x)

grows much faster than

f (x)

. It assumes that f and g are both functions of one variable. Formally, it states that the limit of

f (x) / g (x)

is zero, as x approaches infinity.
For example,
Little-o notation is common in mathematics but rarer in computer science. In computer science the variable (and function value) is most often a natural number. In math, the variable and function values are often real numbers. The following properties can be useful:
As with big O notation, the statement "

f (x)

o (g (x))

" is usually written as

f (x) = o (g (x))

, which is a slight abuse of notation.

(and thus the above properties apply with most combinations of o and O). Little-o notation
For more details on other notations go to: Asymptotic Growth of Functions

Other related notations
Big O (and little o, and Ω...) can also be used with multiple variables. For example, the statement

asserts that there exist constants C and N such that

where g(n,m) is defined by

f (n, m) = n + g (n, m).

To avoid ambiguity, the running variable should always be specified: the statement

is quite different from

Multiple variables
It is often useful to bound the running time of graph algorithms. Unlike most other computational problems, for a graph G = (V, E) there are two relevant parameters describing the size of the input: the number |V| of vertices in the graph and the number |E| of edges in the graph. Inside asymptotic notation (and only there), it is common to use the symbols V and E, when someone really means |V| and |E|. We adopt this convention here to simplify asymptotic functions and make them easily readable. The symbols V and E are never used inside asymptotic notation with their literal meaning, so this abuse of notation does not risk ambiguity. For example

O (E + V log V)

means for a suitable metric of graphs. Another common convention—referring to the values |V| and |E| by the names n and m, respectively—sidesteps this ambiguity.

Generalizations and related usages

Asymptotic Growth of Functions: Presentation and definition of all notations.
Asymptotic expansion: Approximation of functions generalizing Taylor's formula.
Asymptotically optimal: A phrase frequently used to describe an algorithm that has an upper bound asymptotically within a constant of a lower bound for the problem
Hardy notation: A different asymptotic notation
Limit superior and limit inferior: An explanation of some of the limit notation used in this article
Nachbin's theorem: A precise way of bounding complex analytic functions so that the domain of convergence of integral transforms can be stated.

2008-03-22T10:10:00.001-07:00

Claude Autant-Lara (August 5, 1901 in Luzarches, Val-d'Oise – February 5, 2000 in Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes), was a French film director.
He was educated in France and at London's Mill Hill School during his mother's exile as a pacifist. As a director, he frequently created provocative movies, saying "if a film does not have venom, it is worthless". In the 1960s, he turned his back on the New Wave movement, and from then on he had no popular successes.
His memoir is titled "The rage in the heart" (1984).
On June 18, 1989, he came to public notice again, controversially, when he was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the National Front and the oldest member of the assembly. In his maiden speech, in July, he caused a scandal by expressing his "concerns about the American cultural threat", provoking a walkout by the majority of the deputies.
In an interview granted to the monthly magazine Globe in September 1989, he remarked that the Minister of Justice Pierre Arpaillange engaged in "racial insults, racial slandering and incitements to racial hatred". He also described Nazi gas chambers as a "string of lies". The resulting scandal led to his resignation as European deputy. Moreover, the members of the Academy of the Fine Arts, of which he was a vice-president for life, voted to prohibit him from taking his seat thenceforth.

Reference
This article is based on the equivalent French-language wikipedia article (retrieved November 30, 2005).

2008-03-21T09:06:00.001-07:00

In journalism and public relations, a news embargo or press embargo is a request by a source that the information or news provided by that source not be published until a certain date or certain conditions have been met. The understanding is that if the embargo is broken by reporting before then, the source will retaliate by restricting access to further information by that journalist or his publication, giving them a long-term disadvantage relative to more cooperative outlets. They are often used by businesses making a product announcement, by medical journals, and by government officials announcing policy initiatives; the media is given advance knowledge of details being held secret so that reports can be prepared to coincide with the announcement date and yet still meet press time. In theory, press embargoes reduce inaccuracy in the reporting of breaking stories by reducing the incentive for journalists to cut corners in hopes of "scooping" the competition.
Embargoes are usually arranged in advance as "gentlemen's agreements". However, sometimes publicists will send embargoed press releases to newsrooms unsolicited in hopes that they will respect the embargo date without having first agreed to do so — the phrase "For Immediate Release" often found at the top of press releases indicates that the information in the release is not embargoed.
News organizations sometimes break embargoes and report information before the embargo expires, either accidentally (due to miscommunication in the newsroom) or intentionally (to get the jump on their competitors). Breaking an embargo is typically considered a serious breach of trust and can result in the source barring the offending news outlet from receiving advance information for a long period of time.
News embargoes are one of several ways a source has of influencing media presentation of the information they provide; others include providing information "on background" or "not for attribution", limiting or providing "access", or even direct government or market intervention against the reporters or media company. (See confidentiality terminology in journalism for a full discussion of these.) The manner in which journalists react to these and other attempts to influence coverage are a matter of journalistic ethics.

Examples of embargoes
News embargoes are commonly applied on information of health-related news regarding upcoming medical journal articles. All major medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Lancet, have publication embargoes.
The JAMA embargo probably dates back to the editorship of Morris Fishbein, from 1924 to 1949, and holds until 15:00 Central Time on the day before the cover date of the issue. Journalists who agree to not publish (in print, on television, on radio, or via Internet) until that time the information contained in a manuscript to be published by the journal receive advance copies of the journal by mail during the week before publication. For selected articles, press releases and news release videos are also prepared by science writers and released to journalists during that week.

2008-03-20T08:26:00.001-07:00

Sanok, Latin: Sanocum, German: Saanig, Yiddish: Sonik, Ukrainian: Сянiк, in full The Royal Free City of Sanok, Polish: Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok), part of The Land of Sanok (Polish: Ziemia Sanocka, and Ruthenian Voivodeship), is a town in south-eastern Poland with 41,261 inhabitants (2005).
Sanok is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship (since 1999), previously in Krosno Voivodship (1975-1998), in Ruthenian Voivodeship (1340 - 1772) part of the Little Poland Province .

Personalia

Marian Daszyk (LPR)
Janusz Kołodziej (LPR)
Stanisław Zając (PIS)
Marek Kuchciński (PIS)
Andrzej Ćwierz (PIS)
Mieczysław Golba (PIS)
Wojciech Pomajda (SLD)
Elżbieta Łukacijewska (PO)
Tomasz Kulesza (PO)
Mieczysław Kasprzak (PSL)
Janusz Maksymiuk (Samoobrona)
Andrzej Mazurkiewicz (PIS)
Stanisław Piotrowicz (PIS)

2008-03-19T08:51:00.001-07:00

Ticketing and fares

Main article: Buses in Sydney Bus
Inner metropolitan bus routes have three-digit route numbers, grouped by region.
A bus rapid transit network is being developed.
The bus networks of neighbouring regions are integrated with Sydney's.
Buses also serve to replace trains between midnight and 5.00 am on the CityRail network. This service is called NightRide.

100 series - Northern Beaches
200 series - Northern District and North Shore
300 series - Eastern Suburbs
400 series - Inner West and Southern Suburbs
500 series - North West
600 series - Western Suburbs and Hills District (T-way)
700 series - Outer Western Suburbs and Hills District (T-way)
800 series - Outer South-Western Suburbs
900 series - St George/Sutherland and South West
The Liverpool-Parramatta T-way has been in operation since 2003
The North-West T-way is currently under construction
In addition, Sydney has a network of 75 km of bus-only lanes on other roads
Blue Mountains
Central Coast
Illawarra
Newcastle Network
Prompted by the Parry and Unsworth reviews of bus services, the Ministry is introducing significant changes to fare and contracting arrangements on the network. In particular:

New contract areas. There were previously 87 small contract areas where private bus companies operated, however the recent Unsworth Bus Reform has seen this consolidate into 10 areas, which will be further consolidated into just eight areas in 2012.
New bus corridors. This will also include 43 'strategic' bus corridors, offering enhanced and more frequent services. The first of these, Hurstville to Miranda and Liverpool to Bankstown, have come into operation.
Unified fare scale. Passengers on public and private buses will buy tickets according to the same fare scale.
Integrated ticketing. All bus operators will use a new integrated ticketing system, Tcard, once development is complete. Reform
ComfortDelGro Cabcharge, through its subsidiary Westbus provide public transport through the Greater Western Sydney region, including Willmot. Throughout 2006-2007 there have been escalating levels of violent attacks against buses travelling through this suburb especially after dark. This has reached the level of an attack by a person using what was reported by the bus driver and passengers as a "home made rocket launcher". All bus services throughout Wilmott, except school bus services, have been suspended pending discussions between Westbus management, the Transport Workers Union and police.

Attacks

Rail
See also: CityRail, Railways in Sydney
Sydney's suburban train service consisting of eleven railway lines is operated by CityRail. Sydney does not have a separate metro system, but the suburban lines run underground where they converge in the city centre, and on the Eastern Suburbs and Airport lines. On most lines, there are two to four trains an hour at off-peak times. Fares are calculated on the basis of distance travelled.
Trains run as suburban commuter rail services in the outer suburbs, then converge in an underground city loop service in the CBD. In the years following the 2000 Olympics, CityRail's performance declined significantly. Public anger resulted in the introduction of a new timetable, the employment of more drivers and a large infrastructure project, called the Clearways project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
There are no train services in most of Western Sydney, the Northern Beaches, or Eastern Suburbs. Many new lines have been suggested, and a new Epping to Chatswood line is currently under construction. Work is also underway on the Clearways Project, aiming to "untangle" the network and reduce the interdependence of the separate lines.
CityRail interurban trains to the Illawarra, Southern Highlands, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Newcastle leave from the network's hub, Central railway station. This station is also the terminus for CountryLink trains to country New South Wales, Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as the Indian Pacific to Perth.

Heavy rail

Main article: Trams in Sydney Trams

Main article: Metro Transport Sydney Light Rail and Monorail

Main article: Taxis in New South Wales Taxi

Sydney Ferries

Central Coast Ferries operates ferry services from Empire Bay to Woy Woy and Ettalong
Church Point Ferry operates ferry services from Church Point to Scotland Island
Cronulla and National Park Ferry operates ferry services from Cronulla to Bundeena
Dangar Island Ferries operates ferry services from Brooklyn to Dangar Island
Matilda Cruises operates ferry services from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour and Lane Cove
Palm Beach Ferry operates ferry services from Palm Beach to Mackerel Beach and the Basin, and to Ettalong and Wagstaff

2008-03-18T09:52:00.001-07:00

Ugljevik Mine and Power Plant (Serbian: Рудник и Термоелектрана Угљевик or Rudnik i Termoelekrana Ugljevik) is a coal fired power plant at Ugljevik in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an electrical output power of 300 Megawatts. It has a 310 metre tall chimney, probably the tallest structure in the country. It was built from 1979 to 1985.
Coal has been dug here since 1899, while electricity is in production since 1985. The Bosnian War saw these facilities closed from April 1992 to November 1995, though the facilities and equipment were saved in expectation of resuming production. The Ugljevik Power Plant is now one of the largest generators of electricity in Republika Srpska, ensures Bosnia have an adequate supply of power, maintains Bosnian energy independence and even exports electricity. The second phase in development of the mine and generating plant – construction of facilities equally those existing – will make the complex mightier and will technologically and economically optimize production. War in Bosnia stopped construction on the second phase (first phase 300 MW + second phase 300 MW, total 600 MW), so power plant capacity is still 300 MW, but some investors showed interest in building a second phase available to produce 600 MW of electricity (first phase 300 MW + second phase 600 MW, total 900 MW).
The achievements reached so far have been made possible by good cadres – 1,700 employees, 100 with a university education – they being the capital that guarantees a secure future for this giant, making investment possible. This is why the future is viewed with considerable optimism.

Chimney
Chimney of Power Plant is tallest structure in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was made this big (310 m) to reduce emission of pollution to nearby communities. Before the Bosnian War on the top of chimney with big white letters was written 'TITO', in memory of communist leader of former Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito. During the war text was rewritten, so now is visible a Serbian symbol, the Serbian cross.

2008-03-17T10:14:00.001-07:00

The Stockholm school, or Stockholmsskolan, is a school of economic thought. It refers to a loosely organized group of Swedish economists that worked together, in Stockholm, Sweden primarily in the 1930s.
They arguably developed Keynesian economics before Keynes. The main members were Gunnar Myrdal and Bertil Ohlin, who both received the Nobel Prize for Economics. Although their ideas were novel in the 1930s, the school never focused on publicizing their work and the members were later scattered. Myrdal spent many years in the U.S. working on what eventually led to the book An American Dilemma, a major investigation of the situation of African Americans. Ohlin became the Swedish opposition leader for over twenty years, battling the incumbent Social Democrat government. Other members, such as Erik Lundberg, continued as business cycle oriented economists.

2008-03-16T09:50:00.001-07:00

The Post Office Railway, also known as Mail Rail, was a narrow gauge driverless private underground railway in London built by the Post Office to move mail between sorting offices. Inspired by the Chicago Tunnel Company, it was in operation from 1927 until 2003.
It ran east-west from Paddington Head District Sorting Office in the west to the Eastern Head District Sorting Office at Whitechapel in the east, a distance of 6.5 miles (10.5 km). It had eight stations, but by 2003 only three stations remained in use because the sorting offices above the other stations had been relocated.
A Royal Mail press release in April 2003 revealed that the system would be closed and "mothballed" (i.e. removed from active service) at the end of May that year. Royal Mail had earlier stated that using the Post Office Railway was five times more expensive than using road transport for the same task. The Communication Workers Union claimed the actual figure was closer to three times more expensive but argued that this was the result of a deliberate policy of running the system down and using it at only one-third of its capacity. Despite a report by the Greater London Authority in support of the continued use of Mail Rail, the system was taken out of use in the early hours of 31 May 2003.
Some of the former Mail Rail trains have now taken up residence at the Launceston Steam Railway [1].

Rolling stock

1926 Electric Locomotives — Original locomotives Electric locomotives

1927 Stock — Original stock
1930 & 1936 Stock — Replacement stock for 1927 Stock
1962 Stock — Prototype stock
1980 Stock — Replacement stock

2008-03-15T08:53:00.001-07:00

Theda Bara was the stage name of Theodosia Burr Goodman (July 29, 1885 - April 13, 1955), a silent film actress. Movie executives made promotional claims that her stage name was chosen because it is an anagram for "Arab Death." In reality, "Theda" was a childhood nickname for Theodosia. "Bara" was a shortened form of her maternal grandfather's last name, Baranger.
Bara was one of the most popular screen actresses of her era, and was one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for vampire). The term "vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman. Bara, along with the French film actress Musidora, popularized the vamp persona in the early years of silent film and was soon imitated by rival actresses such as Nita Naldi and Pola Negri.

Birth
She attended Walnut Hills High School in 1899-1903 and lived at 823 Hutchins Avenue. After attending the University of Cincinnati for two years, she worked in theatre productions mainly but did explore other projects, moving to New York City in 1908. She made her Broadway debut in The Devil (1908).

Education
Theda Bara made more than 40 feature films between 1914 and 1926. Complete prints of only six of these films still exist. Most of Bara's films were produced by William Fox, beginning with A Fool There Was in 1914 and ending with The Lure of Ambition in 1919. Her films helped to make Fox Film Corporation a successful studio.
At the height of her fame, Bara was making $4,000 per week for her film performances. She was one of the most famous moviestars, ranking behind only Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford in popularity.).
She is also one of the most famous completely silent stars. Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, although mostly silent, were filmed in sound, and none of their sound films have been lost. Bara was never filmed in sound, lost or otherwise.

Career
Bara is often cited as the first sex symbol[2] of that era, and in a number of her films appeared in risqué transparent costumes that left little to the imagination. [3] Such outfits were banned from Hollywood films after the Hays Code went into effect in 1930.
Bara was photographed in several sittings in skimpy Oriental-themed costumes. It was popular at that time to promote an actress as mysterious and elusive, with an exotic background. The studios promoted Bara with a massive campaign, billing her as the Egyptian-born daughter of a French actress and an Italian sculptor. They claimed she had spent her early years in the Sahara Desert under the shadow of the sphinx, then moved to France to become a stage actress. (Bara had in fact never even been to Egypt or France.) They called her the "Serpent of the Nile" and encouraged Bara to discuss mysticism and the occult in interviews.
At the height of Bara's fame, her vamp image was notorious enough to be referred to in popular songs of the day. A line in "Red-Hot Hannah" said "I know things that Theda Bara's just startin' to learn - make my dresses from asbestos, I'm liable to burn...." The song, "Rebecca Came Back From Mecca", contains the lyrics "She's as bold as Theda Bara; Theda's bare but Becky's bare-er".

Sex symbol
Bara married British-born American film director Charles Brabin (1883-1957) in 1921. Her film career soon began to slow down, finally ending in 1926 with the Hal Roach comedy Madame Mystery. The following year, Bara made a successful but much maligned appearance on Broadway in The Blue Flame.
Though she subsequently expressed interest in returning to the stage or screen, her husband did not consider it proper for his wife to have a career. Bara spent the remainder of her life as a hostess in Hollywood and New York, in comfort and relative wealth.

Marriage and retirement
Bara died of stomach cancer in 1955 in Los Angeles, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. She died under the name "Theda Bara Brabin", and her death certificate incorrectly listed her birthday as "July 22, 1892".

Death
Theda Bara has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 1994, she was honored with her image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. In June 1996, two biographies appeared, Ron Genini's Theda Bara: A Biography (McFarland) and Eve Golden's Vamp (Emprise). In October 2005 TimeLine Films of Culver City premiered a film biography, Theda Bara: The Woman With the Hungry Eyes.
A film by British video artist Georgina Starr titled Theda based around Bara's lost films premiered in London in November 2006.[4]
The Fort Lee Film Commission dedicated Main Street and Linwood Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey as "Theda Bara Way" in May of 2006 to honor Bara, who made many of her films at the Fox Studio on Linwood and Main.
Theda Bara's image has been the symbol of the Chicago International Film Festival. A stark, black and white close up of her eyes set as repeated frames in a strip of film serves as the logo for the nonprofit festival.
Only a handful of Theda Bara films still exist: The Stain (1914), A Fool There Was (1914), East Lynne (1916), The Unchastened Woman (1925), and two short comedies she made for Hal Roach in the mid-1920s.[5]
Although Bara only appeared in silent films, she did make at least one appearance on radio: The June 8, 1936 broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre, hosted by Cecil B. DeMille.

Filmography

2008-03-14T10:06:00.001-07:00

Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex (D-M Soundex) is a phonetic algorithm invented in 1985 by genealogist Gary Mokotoff, and later improved by Randy Daitch, both of the Jewish Genealogical Society. It is a refinement of the Russell and American Soundex algorithms designed to allow matching of Slavic and Yiddish surnames with similar pronunciation but differences in spelling.
Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex is sometimes referred to as "Jewish Soundex" and "Eastern European Soundex", although the authors discourage use of these nicknames for the algorithm.

Examples

Where Once We Walked

2008-03-13T09:38:00.001-07:00

Sharpeville Massacre · Soweto uprising Treason Trial Rivonia Trial · Church Street bombing CODESA · St James Church massacre ANC · IFP · AWB · Black Sash · CCB PP · RP ·PRP· PFP · HNP · MK · PAC · SACP · UDF Broederbond · National Party · COSATU
PW Botha · Oupa Gqozo · DF Malan Nelson Mandela · F.W. de Klerk · Walter Sisulu Helen Suzman · Harry Schwarz · Andries Treurnicht HF Verwoerd · Oliver Tambo · BJ Vorster Kaiser Matanzima · Jimmy Kruger · Steve Biko Bantustan · District Six · Robben Island Sophiatown · South-West Africa Soweto · Vlakplaas
Apartheid laws · Freedom Charter Sullivan Principles · Kairos Document Disinvestment campaign South African Police
Breyten Breytenbach (born September 16, 1939) is a South African writer and painter with French citizenship.
Breyten Breytenbach was born in Bonnievale in the Western Cape, approximately 180 km from Cape Town and 100 km from the southernmost tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas. He studied fine arts at the University of Cape Town and became a committed opponent of the policy of apartheid. He left South Africa for Paris in the early 1960s. When he married a French woman of Vietnamese ancestry, he was not allowed to return: The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) and The Immorality Act (1950) made it a criminal offence for a white person to have any sexual relations with a person of a different race.
In France he was a founder member of Okhela, a resistance group fighting apartheid in exile. On an illegal trip to South Africa in 1975 he was betrayed, arrested and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for high treason: his work The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist describes aspects of his imprisonment. Released in 1982 as a result of massive international intervention he returned to Paris and obtained French citizenship.
He currently divides his time between Europe, Africa, and the United States. He joined the University of Cape Town as a visiting professor in the Graduate School of Humanities (from January 2000) and is also involved with the Gorée Institute in Dakar (Senegal) and with New York University.
The work of Breytenbach includes numerous volumes of poetry, novels, and essays, many of which are in Afrikaans, many translated from Afrikaans to English, and many published originally in English. He is also known for his works of pictorial arts. Exhibitions of his paintings and prints were shown in numerous cities around the world including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Paris, Brussels, Edinburgh and New York.
Breytenbach was described as the only example of a "nice South African" in the song "I've Never Met A Nice South African". The song was written by John Lloyd for the satirical British TV series, Spitting Image.
He is the brother of Jan Breytenbach, founder of the South African Special Forces, and Cloete Breytenbach, a well-published war correspondent.

Poetry in Afrikaans

Catastrophes (Katastrofes), Johannesburg, 1964 (Stories)
To Fly (Om te vlieg), Cape Town, 1971 (Novel)
The Tree Behind the Moon (De boom achter de maan), Amsterdam, 1974 (Stories)
The Anthill Bloats … (Die miernes swell op …), Emmarentia, 1980 (Stories)
A Season in Paradise (Een seizoen in het paradijs), Amsterdam - New York - London, 1980 (Novel, uncensored edition)
Mouroir: Mirror Notes of a Novel, London - New York, 1983
The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist, London - New York, 1983
Mirror Death (Spiegeldood), Amsterdam, 1984 (Stories)
End Papers, London, 1985 (Essays)
Memory of Snow and of Dust, London - New York, 1987 (Novel)
Book. Part One (Boek. Deel een), Emmarentia, 1987 (Essays)
All One Horse. Fiction and Images, London, 1989
Sweet Heart (Hart-Lam), Emmarentia, 1991 (Essays)
Return to Paradise. An African journal, London - New York, 1992 (which won the Alan Paton Award)
The Memory of Birds in Times of Revolution, London - New York, 1996 (Essays)
Dog Heart. A travel memoir, Cape Town, 1998
Word Work (Woordwerk), Cape Town, 1999

2008-03-12T09:00:00.001-07:00

Brit milah (Hebrew: בְרִית מִילָה [bə'rīt mī'lā] literally: "covenant [of] circumcision"), also berit milah (Sephardi), bris milah (Ashkenazi pronunciation) or bris (Yiddish) is a religious ceremony within Judaism to welcome infant Jewish boys into a covenant between God and the Children of Israel through ritual circumcision performed by a mohel ("circumciser"), on the eighth day after birth unless health reasons force a delay, in the presence of family and friends, followed by a celebratory meal (seudat mitzvah).

Biblical origin
According to Jewish tradition, the original form of circumcision practiced by Jews has traditionally existed since the time of Abraham. The rite of milah, initially consisted of cutting off only the tip of the foreskin, the part that extends past the glans in the normal male infant.

History
As stated in the above : "God [then] said to Abraham, 'As far as you are concerned, you must keep My covenant - you and your offspring throughout their generations. This is My covenant between Me, and between you and your offspring that you must keep: You must circumcise every male. You shall be circumcised through the flesh of your foreskin. This shall be the mark of the covenant between Me and you. 'Throughout all generations, every male shall be circumcised when he is eight days old. [This shall include] those born in your house, as well as [slaves] bought with cash from an outsider, who is not your descendant. [All slaves,] both houseborn and purchased with your money must be circumcised. This shall be My covenant in your flesh, an eternal covenant. The uncircumcised male whose foreskin has not been circumcised, shall have his soul cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
Brit milah is considered to be so important that should the eighth day fall on the Sabbath, actions that would normally be forbidden because of the sanctity of the day are permitted in order to fulfill the requirement to circumcise.

Reason
The name of Kvatter among Ashkenazi Jews is for the person who carries the baby from the mother to the father, who in turn carries him to the mohel. This honor is usually given to a couple without children, as a merit or charm that they should have children of their own. The origins of the term may simply be a corruption of "Gevatter", a German word for godfather[3], but it is also said to be a Yiddish erroneous combination of the words "Kavod" ("honor" in Hebrew) and "Tier" ("door" in Yiddish), meaning "The person honored by bringing the baby". Another Meaning is a mix of Hebrew and Yiddish. Kvatter means like the father. The traditional custom is to honor as the Kvatter a young newly-wed couple (without children of their own yet) as a merit for having a baby. The young woman (Kvatterin) carries the baby from the mother and then hands it over to her husband.

Kvatter
Less commonly practised, and more controversial, is metzitzah b'peh, alternately spelled mezizah, or oral suction, He tells the story, that a student of the Chasam Sofer - Rabbi Elazer Hurvitz, The author of responsa Yad Elazer and Chief Rabbi of Vienna at the time, (The incident is mentioned in responsa 54)- needed the ruling in defense of a governmental attempt to ban bris milah completely if it included Metztitzah b'peh, because of the concern of spreading disease to the baby. He therefore asked the Chasam Sofer to give him permission to do Brit milah without metzitzah b'peh and when he presented the defense in court they erroneously recorded his testimony to mean that the Chasam Sofer stated it as a general ruling. He then adds, "Nevertheless it is my opinion that the Chasam Sofer never even wrote this letter. It is a forgery, in my opinion, and even if the letter was written by the Chasam Sofer he certainly didn't state it as a general ruling, given that it was not printed in his book of halachic responsa, as was the custom with all halachic rulings intended for the public." Included in Ma'areches Hametzitah is a pronouncement by several hundred noted Hungarian and Russian Rabbis not to change the procedure.

Metzitzah
Metzitzah b'peh was implicated in the transfer of herpes from mohels to eight Israeli infants, one of whom suffered brain damage.

Medical controversy
In three studies done in Israel, Canada, and the USA, by Rabbi Sinai Schiffer of Baden, Germany, states that he is possession of letters from 36 major Russian (Lithuanian) rabbis that categorically prohibit Metzitzah with a sponge and require it to be done orally. Among them is Rabbi Chaim Halevi Soloveitchik of Brisk. It is interesting that of all the students of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik and the many times he was asked to be sandek, only Rabbi Schachter seems to remember this prohibition.

By tube
A Brit milah could be circumvented with Dam Brit, or foregone altogether with a Milah L'Shem Giur:

Conversion and exceptions
If a boy is born prematurely or has some other serious medical condition the Brit is generally postponed. The brit may only take place when a doctor or the parents deem the child healthy enough.
Additionally, the Talmud explicitly notes that a male child is relieved of his responsibility to undergo circumcision if he has had three older brothers die due to complications from the procedure. This is mentioned specifically in the context of some sacrifices in which a priest was prohibited from participating if he was uncircumcised for this reason.

Medical considerations
Medical circumcision alone, in the absence of the brit milah ceremony, does not fulfill the requirements of the mitzvah. In the case of a Jew who was circumcised outside of a brit milah, or an already-circumcised convert, the mohel draws a symbolic drop of blood from the penis.
Hatafat dam brit (heb. דם ברית "Drop of the blood [of the] Covenant") refers to the fulfillment of the mitzvah of a brit milah.

Blood
There are reasons not to perform a circumcision when a man has converted to Judaism. A circumcision is not possible if a convert was already circumcised prior to conversion, or if he has a medical condition (such as hemophilia) which would cause a circumcision to potentially endanger his life. In these situations, a brit milah cannot be performed, and instead a single drop of blood is extracted, in a practice called hatafat dam brit (Heb. הטפת דם ברית).

Role in conversion
A Milah L'shem giur is a "Circumcision for the purpose of conversion". In Orthodox Judaism, this procedure is done by adoptive parents for adopted children who are being converted as part of the adoption. The conversion of an infant is valid in both Orthodox and Conservative Judaism until the boy reaches the age of 13. At that time he has the option of renouncing his conversion and Judaism, and the conversion will then be considered invalid. He must be informed of his right to renounce his conversion if he wishes. If he does not make such a statement it is accepted that the boy is halakhically Jewish. Orthodox rabbis will generally not convert a non-Jewish child raised by a mother who has not converted to Judaism.
Where the procedure was performed but not followed by immersion or other requirements of the conversion procedure (e.g., in Conservative Judaism, where the mother has not converted), if the boy chooses to complete the conversion at Bar Mitzvah, a Milah l'shem giur performed when the boy was an infant removes the obligation to undergo either a full brit milah or hatafat dam brit.

It does not have to be performed on a particular day.
The ceremony does not override and is not performed on Shabbat or Jewish Holidays.
In Orthodox Judaism, there is a split of authorities on whether the child receives a Hebrew name at the Brit ceremony or upon immersion in the Mikvah. According to Zichron Brit LeRishonim, naming occurs at the Brit with a different formula than the standard Brit Milah. The more common practice among Ashkenazic Jews follows Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, with naming occurring at immersion. Milah l'shem giur
According to the Hebrew Bible, it was "a reproach" for an Israelite to be uncircumcised (Joshua 5:9.) The name arelim ("uncircumcised" [plural]) is used opprobriously, denoting the Philistines and other non-Israelites (I Samuel 14:6, 31:4; II Samuel 1:20) and used synonymously with tameh (unclean) for heathen (Isaiah 52:1). The word arel ("uncircumcised" [singular]) is also employed for "unclean" (Leviticus 26:41, "their uncircumcised hearts"; compare Jeremiah 9:25; Ezekiel 44:7,9); it is even applied to the first three years' fruit of a tree, which is forbidden (Leviticus 19:23).
However, the Israelites born in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt were not circumcised. Joshua 5:2-9, explains, "all the people that came out" of Egypt were circumcised, but those "born in the wilderness" were not. Therefore Joshua, before the celebration of the Passover, had them circumcised at Gilgal specifically before they entered Canaan. Abraham, too, was circumcised when he moved into Canaan. The opinion ascribed to Joshua contradicts the fact that in Exodus 4:26, Moses and his wife did not know about circumcision.
Deuteronomy 10:16 says: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart," suggesting that ethical acts (among people) are as important as spiritual acts (between people and God). The prophetic tradition emphasizes that God expects people to be good as well as pious, and that non-Jews will be judged based on their ethical behavior. Thus, Jeremiah 9:25-26 says that circumcised and uncircumcised will be punished alike by the Lord; for "all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."

Social context

Recent views
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (ed. R.J. Zwi Werblowsky and G. Wigoder. Oxford University Press, 1997, page 161) says that at the time of the Syrian-Greek occupation, "periah" the laying bare of the glans, was added to the original rite to make it impossible for men to "undo" their circumcision. Others claim that there is no basis for this view in classical rabbinic sources, which state that the "extended" form of circumcision, including metzitzah as well, was introduced at Mount Sinai. This opinion is brought in the responsa of the Maharam Schick - Rabbi Moshe Schick- Orech Chaim 152 & Yoreh Deah 242, Shailos and Teshuvas Yehudah Ya'aleh - Rabbi Yehuda Assad, Sdei Chemed - Rabbi Chaim Chizkiyahu Midini, Shailos and Teshuvos Binyan Tzion - Rabbi Yaakov Etlinger - Vol 1:23 & 24, all of them of blessed memory.

Historical view
The anti-circumcision movement has not made significant inroads into any of the Jewish denominations. However, a small number of contemporary Jews choose to not circumcise their sons. They are assisted by a small number of Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis, and have developed a welcoming ceremony that they call the Brit shalom ("Covenant [of] Peace") for such children. [8] This ceremony is not officially approved of by the Reform or Reconstructionist rabbinical organizations. Rabbis in these movements strongly recommend circumcision for all male infants, and for all men who convert into Judaism. In contrast with Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism, these liberal denominations, consistent with their view that traditional ritual law imposes no obligations binding on modernity, have generally made this a (strong) "recommendation" as opposed to an "obligation" (or "requirement"). Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism have often accepted medical circumcisions performed by doctors as sufficient to fulfill the commandment of brit milah. However, in recent years these movements have begun stressing the religious and ritual nature of circumcision and have begun training their own experts (mohalim) in this ritual.

The anti-circumcision movement

Circumcision in the Bible
Zeved habat (welcoming ceremony for girls)
Redemption of First-born (Pidyon ha-ben)
Brit shalom
Vacht Nacht (Ceremony the night before the Brit Milah)
Shalom zachar Festive Meal on the first Friday night after the birth of a boy. Sources That Favor Brit Milah

Jewish Circumcision.org - An anti-circumcision site that advocates for Jews to abandon the Brit Milah.
Noharmm.org - An anti-circumcision article from a "Jewish feminist" perspective.
City Risking Babies' Lives… - Controversy over metzitza be'peh.
Af-Mila - An Israeli anti-circumcision organization.
Jews Against Circumcision - A group of Jews that advocates for Brit Shalom.

2008-03-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

Findings refers to jewellery components used to put together the jewelry.
Elements considered findings include clasps, earwires, crimps, jumprings, link locks and beadtips.

2008-03-10T10:38:00.001-07:00

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The Department of the Interior oversees such agencies as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. The Secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation board. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The Secretary typically comes from a western state; only one of the last 16 Secretaries is not identified with a state lying west of the Mississippi River. The Secretary of the Interior is eighth in the United States presidential line of succession.

2008-03-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Ecgfrith (c. 645–May 20, 685) was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat in which he lost his life.
Ecgfrith was the son of his predecessor as king, Oswiu of Northumbria. Bede tells us, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, that Ecgfrith was held as a hostage "at the court of Queen Cynwise in the province of the Mercians" at the time of Penda of Mercia's invasion of Northumbria in 654 or 655. Penda was, however, defeated and killed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu in the Battle of Winwaed, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.
Ecgfrith was made king of Deira, a sub-kingdom of Northumbria, in 664, and he became king of Northumbria following his father's death on February 15, 670. He had married Æthelthryth, the daughter of Anna of East Anglia, in 660; however, she took the veil shortly after Ecgfrith's accession, a step which possibly led to his long quarrel with Wilfrid, the Archbishop of York. Ecgfrith married a second wife, Eormenburg, before 678, the year in which he expelled Wilfrid from his kingdom.
Early in his reign he defeated the Picts, who had risen in revolt, and created a new sub-kingdom in the north called Lothian. In 674, Ecgfrith defeated Wulfhere of Mercia and seized Lindsey. In 679, he fought a battle against the Mercians under Æthelred (who had married Ecgfrith's sister, Osthryth) on the river Trent. Ecgfrith's brother Ælfwine was killed in the battle, and the province of Lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of Theodore of Canterbury.
In 684 Ecgfrith sent an expedition to Ireland under his general Berht, which seems to have been unsuccessful in the sense that no Irish land was conquered by the Northumbrians. But the expedition was successful in that Ecgfrith's men did manage to seize a large number of slaves and made off with a significant amount of plunder. In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert, he led a force against the Picts, who were led by his cousin Bruide mac Bili, but was lured by a feigned flight into their mountain fastnesses and slain at Nechtansmere (probably near Dunnichen in Forfarshire but possibly near Dunachton in Invernessshire). This disastrous defeat severely weakened Northumbrian power in the north, and Bede dates the beginning of the decline of Northumbria from Ecgfrith's death. He was succeeded by his illegitimate half-brother, Aldfrith.
A popular legend concerning Ecgfrith's death at Nechtansmere has his queen touring the church at Carlisle with Cuthbert during the campaign, as she could not bear to stay behind at the royal quarters and sit patiently awaiting news of the battle's outcome. During the tour Cuthbert stopped, paused, and said to Eormenburg: "I have just had a vision of your husband's death. Return to your palace and escape with your children." Almost immediately, a messenger arrived from the field at Nechtansmere with the unfortunate news that Ecgfrith had been slain and his host routed.
As well as his military activities, Ecgfrith appears to have been the earliest Northumbrian king, and perhaps the earliest Anglo-Saxon king, to have issued the silver penny, which became the mainstay of English coinage for centuries aftewards. Earlier Anglo-Saxon coins had been made, but these were rare, the most common being gold shillings or thrymsas, copied from Roman models. The pennies, or sceattas, were thick, cast in moulds, perhaps copied from Merovingian coins, and issued on a large scale.

2008-03-08T08:41:00.001-08:00

Pleasant Run Farm is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,731 at the 2000 census.

Geography
Pleasant Run Farms is located at 39°17′56″N, 84°32′59″W (39.298758, -84.549735).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 1.0 square miles (2.7 km²), all of it land.

2008-03-07T08:14:00.001-08:00

No-fault insurance is a type of insurance (typically automobile insurance) where insureds are indemnified by their own insurer regardless of fault in the incident. The term is often applied to any type of policy that allows for a policyholder to be reimbursed by their own insurer without proof of fault, but technically it refers only to state/provincial laws that not only allow for recovery of direct damage but also limit the right of the insured to sue.

States/Provinces with No-Fault Laws

Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand
Transport Accident Commission in Victoria, Australia

2008-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Rowing may refer to:

Watercraft rowing, rowing as a form of propulsion
Rowing (sport), competitive rowing

Coastal and ocean rowing, rowing performed on the sea
Ocean rowing, the sport of rowing across oceans
Indoor rowing, structured exercise similar to rowing boats

2008-03-05T09:32:00.001-08:00

In British or Irish company law, a company limited by guarantee is an alternative type of corporation used primarily for non-profit organisations that require legal personality. A guarantee company does not have a share capital, but has members who are guarantors instead of shareholders. The guarantors give an undertaking to contribute a nominal amount (typically £1) towards the winding up of the company in the event of a shortfall upon cessation of business. It cannot distribute its profits to its members, and is therefore eligible to apply for charitable status if necessary.
Like a private limited company, a company limited by guarantee must include the suffix "Limited" in its name, unless specifically excluded by law.
Common uses of guarantee companies include clubs, membership organisations (including students' unions, sports associations (such as the PGA European Tour), workers' co-operatives, other social enterprises, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities (such as Oxfam). The railway infrastructure provider Network Rail, domain name registry Nominet UK, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and IXP LINX (London Internet Exchange) are also companies limited by guarantee. Australia also has companies limited by guarantee, Cricket Australia being one example.
When incorporating multi-stakeholder organisations, this form is sometimes preferred over the industrial and provident society because company law allows multiple classes of member with separate voting constituencies.

2008-03-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

Virgin CrossCountry (VXC) is the branch of Virgin Trains that operates express train services all over Great Britain.

Future

Cross Country Route

2008-03-03T07:17:00.000-08:00

Johann Gottfried von Herder (August 25, 1744 in Mohrungen, East Prussia – December 18, 1803 in Weimar) was a German philosopher, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the periods of Enlightenment, Storm and Stress, and Weimar Classicism.

Biography
In 1772 Herder published Treatise on the Origin of Language and went further in this promotion of language than his earlier injunction to "spew out the ugly slime of the Seine. Speak German, O You German". Herder now had established the foundations of comparative philology within the new currents of political outlook.
Throughout this period, he continued to elaborate his own unique theory of aesthetics in works such as the above, while Goethe produced works like The Sorrows of Young Werther — the Sturm und Drang movement was born.
Herder wrote an important essay on Shakespeare and Auszug aus einem Briefwechsel über Ossian und die Lieder alter Völker (Extract from a correspondence about Ossian and the Songs of Ancient Peoples) published in 1773 in a manifesto along with contributions by Goethe and Justus Möser. Herder wrote that "A poet is the creator of the nation around him, he gives them a world to see and has their souls in his hand to lead them to that world." To him such poetry had its greatest purity and power in nations before they became civilised, as shown in the Old Testament, the Edda, and Homer, and he tried to find such virtues in ancient German folk songs and Norse poetry and mythology.
After becoming General Superintendent in 1776, Herder's philosophy shifted again towards classicism. Herder was at his best during this period, and produced works such as his unfinished Outline of a Philosophical History of Humanity which largely originated the school of historical thought. Herder's philosophy was of a deeply subjective turn, stressing influence by physical and historical circumstance upon human development, stressing that "one must go into the age, into the region, into the whole history, and feel one's way into everything". The historian should be the "regenerated contemporary" of the past, and history a science as "instrument of the most genuine patriotic spirit".

Volk and Nation
This question was further developed by Herder's lament that Martin Luther did not establish a national church, and his doubt whether Germany did not buy Christianity at too high a price, that of true nationality. Herder's patriotism bordered at times upon national pantheism, demanding of territorial unity as "He is deserving of glory and gratitude who seeks to promote the unity of the territories of Germany through writings, manufacture, and institutions" and sounding an even deeper call:
"But now! Again I cry, my German brethren! But now! The remains of all genuine folk-thought is rolling into the abyss of oblivion with a last and accelerated impetus. For the last century we have been ashamed of everything that concerns the fatherland."
Herder presented formal defiance of the age of reason and Enlightenment. In his Ideas upon Philosophy and the History of Mankind he even wrote "Compare England with Germany: the English are Germans, and even in the latest times the Germans have led the way for the English in the greatest things."
Herder, who hated absolutism and Prussian nationalism, but who was imbued with the spirit of the whole German Volk, yet as historical theorist turned away from the light of the eighteenth century. Seeking to reconcile his thought with this earlier age, Herder sought to harmonize his conception of sentiment with reason, whereby all knowledge is implicit in the soul; the most elementary stage is sensuous and intuitive perception which by development can become self-conscious and rational. To Herder, this development is the harmonizing of primitive and derivative truth, of experience and intelligence, feeling and reason.
Herder is the first in a long line of Germans preoccupied with this harmony. This search is itself the key to much in German theory. And Herder was too penetrating a thinker not to understand and fear the extremes to which his folk-theory could tend, and so issued specific warnings. While regarding the Jews as aliens in Europe, he refused to adhere to a rigid racial theory, writing that "notwithstanding the varieties of the human form, there is but one and the same species of man throughout the whole earth".
He also announced that "national glory is a deceiving seducer. When it reaches a certain height, it clasps the head with an iron band. The enclosed sees nothing in the mist but his own picture; he is susceptible to no foreign impressions." And:
"It is the apparent plan of nature that as one human being, so also one generation, and also one nationality learn, learn incessantly, from and with the others, until all have comprehended the difficult lesson: No nationality has been solely designated by God as the chosen people of the earth; above all we must seek the truth and cultivate the garden of the common good. Hence no nationality of Europe may separate itself sharply, and foolishly say, "With us alone, with us dwells all wisdom."
Time was to demonstrate that while many Germans were to find influence in Herder's convictions and influence, fewer were to note his qualificatory stipulations.
Herder had emphasised that his conception of the nation encouraged democracy and the free self-expression of a people's identity. He proclaimed support for the French Revolution, a position which did not endear him to royalty. He also differed with Kant's philosophy and turned away from the Sturm und Drang movement to go back to the poems of Shakespeare and Homer.
To promote his concept of the Volk, he published letters and collected folk songs. These latter were published in 1773 as Voices of the People in Their Songs (Stimmen der Völker in ihren Liedern). The poets Achim von Arnim and Clemens von Brentano later used Stimmen der Võlker as samples for The Boy's Magic Horn (Des Knaben Wunderhorn).

Bibliography

Herder Prize

2008-02-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (October 24, 1932 in Paris – May 18, 2007 in Orsay) was a French physicist and the Nobel Prize for Physics laureate in 1991.

2008-02-26T09:04:00.001-08:00

The Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time it was the city's newspaper of record, and it was the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman. On August 7, 1981, after 130 years, the Washington Star ceased publication. In the bankruptcy sale, the Washington Post purchased the land and buildings owned by the Star, including its printing presses.

Final years

1944: Clifford K. Berryman, for Editorial Cartooning, "Where Is the Boat Going?"
1950: James T. Berryman, Editorial Cartooning, for "All Set for a Super-Secret Session in Washington."
1958: George Beveridge, Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, for "Metro, City of Tomorrow."
1959: Mary Lu Werner, Puliltzer Prize for Local Reporting, "For her comprehensive year-long coverage of the (school) integration crisis."
1960: Miriam Ottenberg, Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, "For a series of seven articles exposing a used-car racket in Washington, D.C., that victimized many unwary buyers."
1966: Haynes Johnson, for National Reporting, for his distinguished coverage of the civil rights conflict centered about Selma, Alabama, and particularly his reporting of its aftermath.
1974: James R. Polk, National Reporting, for his disclosure of alleged irregularities in the financing of the campaign to re-elect President Nixon in 1972.
1975: Mary McGrory, Commentary, for her commentary on public affairs during 1974.
1979: Edwin M. Yoder Jr., Editorial Writing.
1981: Jonathan Yardley, Criticism, for book reviews.

2008-02-25T09:11:00.001-08:00

Soleil Moon Frye (born August 6, 1976 in Glendora, California) is a U.S. actress and director. Frye is best known for her childhood role as the title character in Punky Brewster, a television sitcom.
Frye's father is Virgil Frye, and her mother is Sondra Peluce Londy. She has two half-brothers, Sean Frye and Meeno Peluce. "Soleil" (IPA pronunciation: [səʊleɪ]) is French for the sun.

Punky Brewster
Around the same time she was starring in Punky Brewster, Frye's voice was also heard in one episode of The Real Ghostbusters.
She co-starred alongside Sarah Chalke in I've Been Waiting For You, loosely based on the novel Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan.
She played Robin, a stuck-up girl, in a 4th season episode of Saved by the Bell. In 1990, she also played a romantic interest, Mimi Detweiler, to Fred Savage's character in an episode of The Wonder Years.
Frye appeared in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as Roxy for the final three years of the show's run (2000 - 2003). The show starred Melissa Joan Hart, who had auditioned for the part of Punky Brewster years before. Frye once auditioned for the series Charmed, a dramedy about a trio of witch sisters.
She also guest-starred as Katie in the series Friends in the episode 'The One with the Girl who Hits Joey'.
In 2001, she debuted on the Disney Channel show The Proud Family as a voice talent. She is currently voicing the character of Jade in the Bratz animated series.

Other television roles
Before winning the role of Punky Brewster she appeared in a few made for TV films. As a child, Frye starred in the Disney film You Ruined My Life playing the spoiled, unruly girl who lives in a Las Vegas casino with her uncle.
During her late teens and early adult years, Frye made appearances in several low-budget and independent films, including The Saint Tammany Miracle.
She was one of the youngest directors in Hollywood history, directing Wild Horses while only twenty-two years old. Frye also directed and starred in a documentary, Sonny Boy, which documents her father's battle with Pick's Disease, and a cross-country journey the pair took to her father's hometown.

2008-02-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

In Welsh mythology, Blodeuwedd or Blodeuedd, (Middle Welsh composite name from blodeu 'flowers, blossoms' + gwedd 'face, aspect, appearance': "flower face"), is a woman made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and the oak by Math fab Mathonwy and Gwydion to be the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Her story is part of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math son of Mathonwy.
Lleu Llaw Gyffes has been placed under three curses by his mother Arianrhod; the last of these dictates that he will never have a human wife. King Math and Lleu's uncle Gwydion create Blodeuwedd from flowers and she marries Lleu.
Blodeuwedd has an affair with Gronw Pebr and they plot to kill Lleu. Lleu can only be killed under certain conditions, and Blodeuwedd tricks him into telling her what these conditions are. He can not be killed indoors or outdoors, on horseback or on foot; and can be killed only by a spear forged when people are attending mass. Consequently he can only be killed whilst he had one foot on a bathtub and one on a goat (the bathtub being placed on a river bank but under a roof) and by someone using a weapon created as specified.
Under pretence of "Lord, will you show me how these conditions might be fulfilled..?", Blodeuwedd conveys him to precisely this situation, with Gronw lying in wait with the weapon. Lleu is (apparently) killed and Gronw and Blodeuwedd assume power. On hearing of this, Gwydion sets out to find and cure Lleu, who is now in the form of an eagle. Gwydion restores Lleu, who kills Gronw.
Gwydion curses Blodeuwedd, turning her into an owl. "You are never to show your face to the light of day, rather you shall fear other birds; they will be hostile to you, and it will be their nature to maul and molest you wherever they find you. You will not lose your name but always be called Blodeuwedd."

Modern literature
This theonym appears to be derived from Proto-Celtic roots *blāto- and *weid-, together meaning 'flower-face' or 'flower-wild'.

2008-02-23T08:59:00.001-08:00

Korea may refer to:
Korea may also refer to other places:
Korea, if misspelled, may also refer to:

Korea, civilization and geographical area in Northeast Asia
Korean Peninsula, geographical area in Northeast Asia
North Korea, country, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
South Korea, country, formally known as the Republic of Korea
Korea District (also spelt Koriya), Chhattisgarh, India
Korea, town in Côte d'Ivoire 6.82N 6.65W
Korea, town in India 23.15N 83.97E
Korea, town in Pakistan 34.42N 72.62E
Korea, town in Puerto Rico 18.38N 65.78W
Korea, town in the Sudan 4.76N 33.60E
Korea, location in Culpeper, Virginia, USA 38.63N 73.01W
Korea, location in Menifee County, Kentucky, USA 37.94N 83.48W
Chorea (dance), ancient Greek dance
Chorea (disease), medical disorder involving involuntary movement
Chick Corea (born 1941), American jazz pianist
Kora, German cocktail, see Calimocho