Friday, May 2, 2008


Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu/Persian: مرزا اسد اللہ خان ), pen-name Ghalib (Urdu/Persian: غالب, ġhālib) and Asad (former pen-name)(27 December 179615 February 1869), was an all time great classical Urdu and Persian poet of the subcontinent. Most notably, he wrote several ghazals during his life, which have since been interpreted and sung in many different ways by different people. He is considered to be the most dominating poet of the Urdu language.

Life
Ghalib's closest rival was poet Zauq, tutor of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the then emperor of India with his seat in Delhi. There are some amusing anecdotes of the competition between Ghalib and Zauq and exchange of jibes between them. However, there was mutual respect for each other's talent. Both also admired and acknowledged the supremacy of Meer Taqi Meer, a towering figure of Urdu Poetry of 18th century. Another poet Momin, whose ghazals had a distinctly lyrical flavor, was also a famous contemporary of Ghalib.

Mirza Ghalib Contemporaries and disciples
Although Ghalib wrote in Persian as well, he is more famous for his ghazals written in Urdu. It is believed he wrote most of his very popular ghazals by the age of nineteen. His ghazals, unlike those of Meer Taqi Meer, contain highly Persianized Urdu, and are therefore not easily understood or appreciated by a vast majority of people without some extra effort. Before Ghalib, ghazal was primarily an expression of anguished love but he expressed philosophy, the travails of life and many such subjects, thus vastly expanding the scope of ghazal. This, together with his many masterpieces, will forever remain his paramount contribution to Urdu Poetry and Literature.
In keeping with the conventions of the classical ghazal, in most of Ghalib's verses, the identity and the gender of the beloved is indeterminate. The beloved could be a beautiful woman, or a beautiful boy, or even God. As the renowned critic/poet/writer Shamsur Rahman Faruqui explains, since the convention of having the "idea" of a lover or beloved instead of an actual lover/beloved freed the poet-protagonist-lover from the demands of "realism", love poetry in Urdu from the last quarter of the seventeenth century onwards consists mostly of "poems about love" and not "love poems" in the Western sense of the term. Ghalib's poetry is a fine illustration of this. Ghalib also excels in deeply introspective and philosophical verses.
The first complete English translation of Ghalib's love poems (ghazals) was written by Dr. Sarfaraz K. Niazi(http://www.ghalib.org) and published by Rupa & Co in India and Ferozsons in Pakistan. The title of this book is Love Sonnets of Ghalib and it contains complete roman transliteration, explication and an extensive lexicon.

His Letters
His original Takhallus (pen-name) was Asad, drawn from his given name, Asadullah Khan. At some point early in his poetic career he also decided to adopt the taKhallus 'Ghalib' (meaning all conquering, superior, most excellent).
Popular legend has it that he changed his nom de plume to 'Ghalib' when he came across this sher (couplet) by another poet who used the taKhallus 'Asad':
The legend says that upon hearing this couplet, Ghalib ruefully exclaimed, "whoever authored this couplet does indeed deserve the Lord's rahmat (mercy) (for having composed such a deplorable specimen of Urdu poetry). If I use the taKhallus Asad, then surely (people will mistake this couplet to be mine and) there will be much la'anat (curse) on me!" And, saying so, he changed his takhallus to 'Ghalib'.
However, this legend is little more than a figment of the legend-creator's imagination. Extensive research performed by commentators and scholars of Ghalib's works, notably Imtiaz Ali Arshi and Kalidas Gupta Raza, has succeeded in identifying the chronology of Ghalib's published work (sometimes down to the exact calendar day!). Although the taKhallus 'Asad' appears more infrequently in Ghalib's work than 'Ghalib', it appears that he did use both his noms de plume interchangeably throughout his career and did not seem to prefer either one over the other.
See note at Urdu poetry#Pen names

His Takhallus
Indian Cinema has paid a tribute to the legendary poet through a film (in sepia/black and white) named Mirza Ghalib (made in 1954) in which Bharat Bhushan plays Ghalib and Suraiya plays his courtesan lover, Chaudvin. The musical score of the film was composed by Ghulam Mohammed and his compositions of Ghalib's famous ghazals are likely to remain everlasting favorites.
Pakistan Cinema has also paid tribute to the legendary poet through another film also named Mirza Ghalib. The film was directed by M.M. Billoo Mehra and produced as well by M.M. Billoo Mehra for S.K. Pictures. The music was composed by Tassaduq Hussain. The film starred Pakistan film superstar Sudhir playing Ghalib and Madam Noor Jehan playing his courtesan lover, Chaudvin. The film was released on November 24, 1961 and reached average status at the box-office, however, the music remains memorable in Pakistan to this day.
Gulzar produced a TV serial titled Mirza Ghalib. It was telecast on DD National and was quite well-accepted and liked by viewers. Naseeruddin Shah played Ghalib in the serial. The ghazals were sung by Jagjit Singh and Chitra singh.
Pakistan government in 1969 commissioned Khaliq Ibrahim (died 2006) to make a documentary on Mirza Ghalib. The movie was completed in 1971-2, and is regarded as a masterpiece. It is said, that the movie--a docu-drama--was historically more correct than what the official Pakistan government point of view was. Thus, it was never released. Till this date, barring a few private viewing, the movie is lying with the Department of Films and Publication, Government of Pakistan. The movie was made on 16 mm format. Ghalib's role was played by actor Subhani Bayunus, who later played this role in many TV productions.
Various Theatre groups have staged various plays related to the life of Mirza Ghalib,have shown different life styles and the way he used to live his life.One of the leading theatre group in New Delhi Pierrot's Troupe staged a play named "GHALIB IN NEW DELHI" where it was shown if Ghalib returns back to his beloved Dilli.and what all changes will he see here.It is a comedy directed by Dr.M.Sayed Alam.

Deewan-E-Ghalib Online

Urdu poetry
List of Urdu language poets

Thursday, May 1, 2008


For the football team of the same city, see Hull City A.F.C.
Hull FC is a professional rugby league football club formed in 1865 and based in Hull, England. They were one of the founder members of the Northern Union which was formed in 1895. Later that year they moved to the Hull Athletic Club's ground at The Boulevard, Airlie Street, which gave rise to their nickname "The Airlie Birds". Traditionally people from the west side of Hull supported Hull FC while Hull Kingston Rovers were supported by the east half, the 'border' usually being regarded as the River Hull. The club reverted to their former name of Hull FC in 1999, after Hull (then known as Hull Sharks) merged with Gateshead Thunder after both clubs ran into financial difficulties.
Old Faithful is a traditional Hull terrace song.

History
The club was formed by a group of ex-schoolboys from York, who had been at Rugby school, in 1865. The founders used to meet at the Young Mans Fellowship, at St. Mary's Church in Lowgate. The vicar at that time was the Reverend Scott and his 5 sons made up the nucleus of the team. The club immediately took on members who were plumbers and glaziers.
Soon another team, Hull White Star, was formed and the two clubs merged. Hull Football Club was one of the first clubs in the north of England to join the Rugby Football Union.
Hull were one of the initial 22 clubs to form the Northern Union after the acrimonious split from the Rugby Football Union in 1895. The club moved into the Hull Athletic Club at the Boulevard in 1895, and subsequently played their first ever match there in September of that year. 8,000 people turned out to witness the first club's match in which Hull beat Liversedge.
The early years of the Northern Union saw Hull prosper, and their black and white irregular hooped jerseys became one of the most famous and feared strips in the league. Between 1908-10, Hull lost three consecutive Challenge Cup finals, and has in fact lost in more major finals than anyone else.
In 1913, they paid a world record £600, plus £14 per match, to Hunslet for Billy Batten, one of only seventeen players, and the only representative from Hull FC, so far inducted into the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. A year later the Airlie Birds won their first Challenge Cup, beating Huddersfield in the semi-final and Wakefield Trinity in the final. Playing alongside Billy on that day was John Harrison (VC), the only professional sportsman to win the Victoria Cross, the holder of the club record for most tries in a season. In 1920, Batten was once again key in Hull's first ever Championship final, scoring the only try in the 3-2 victory over Huddersfield.
The early-1920s were bittersweet years for the club. In 1921, Hull won the Yorkshire Cup but lost the county championship, both against rivals Hull Kingston Rovers. Hull couldn't match the successes of 1914, losing a further two consecutive cup finals in 1922-23 to Rochdale Hornets and Leeds respectively, but they managed to win the Yorkshire Cup and finish top of the league.
In the early 1930s, Hull had a full back and goal kicker called Joe Oliver. Oliver was so dependable with the boot that the crowd at one match spontaneously started singing the Gene Autry song, Old Faithful at him. Hull supporters adopted the song as their battle cry from then on.
Hull's record attendance was set in 1936 when 28,798 turned up for the visit of Leeds for a third round Challenge cup match.

Early years
The 1952 Kangaroos visited the Boulevard on Monday 8th September. They had opened their tour with a victory at Keighley two days earlier, and they continued their winning run with a 28-0 victory over Hull.
In 1954, the black Welshman Roy Francis became the first black professional coach in any British team sport, when he coached Hull.
After the second world war, Hull won two Championship in three years, beating Halifax in 1956 and Workington Town in 1958. These two triumphs healed the wound of two successive Yorkshire Cupfinal defeats in 1955 and 1957. They lost in two further Challenge Cup finals to Wigan and Wakefield in 1959 and 1960. All these reverses, when one hand had been grasping so many trophies, gave Hull a steely resolve and a thirst for success.
With the coaching appointment of Arthur Bunting Hull FC began a period of dominance. Hull won all of their 26 Division Two matches in 1978-79, the only time a club has won all of its league matches in a season and returning to the top flight. The Airlie Birds lost the 1980 Challenge Cup final against Hull KR 10-5 and have never won at Wembley since, it was reputed that a makeshift sign was left on the A63 (the major westerly road out of Hull) that read "last one out turn the lights off!" due to most of the city travelling to Wembley for the final. In 1982, Hull, crushed by Widnes in the Premiership final, avenged the defeat with an 18-9 Challenge Cup replay win.
Hull eventually won the league in 1983 and also reached the Premiership final, the Challenge Cup final and the Yorkshire Cup final, but the latter trophy would be their only reward from the three finals. The signing of Australian Peter Sterling, a 2006 inductee into the Australian Rugby League Hall of Fame, maintained Hull's strength, and Bunting's men went to their third successive Yorkshire Cup beating Hull KR 29-12, but were edged out in arguably the greatest ever Challenge Cup final of 1985 by Wigan at Wembley Stadium with a score of 28 to 24 in Wigan's favour. A number of subsequent coaches, such as Brian Smith (1988-91) failed to deliver consistent success. Hull lost the Premiership final in 1989 to Widnes, but two years later returned to beat them at Old Trafford under coach Noel Cleal.
Post World War two
When the Super League was formed, it was suggested that Hull should merge with Hull Kingston Rovers to form 'Humberside'. This was resisted but the club changed its name to Hull Sharks. It is unclear who came up with the 'Sharks' as a nickname but for a nautical city it was a fairly obvious choice.Hull FC finished below the cut-off point of 10th in the existing top flight and were excluded from the new Super League.
The club won promotion to the Super League until 1997. Hull and Gateshead Thunder merged at the end of 1999, after the owner of the two clubs could not afford to keep both afloat and Hull reverted to their original name, Gateshead later reforming as a new club but retaining the Thunder tag. Ex-St Helens and Gateshead Thunder coach Shaun McRae was at the helm from 2000 up to 2004.
After 107 years at the Boulevard, Hull moved in January 2003 to a £44m state-of-the-art council-owned Kingston Communications Stadium, more commonly known as the KC Stadium. They are joint tenants at the stadium alongside city's football team: the two teams have priority use at the stadium at the end of each sport's season, thus Hull FC receive priority during the early part of the football season, the situation being reversed at the early part of the rugby season. Shaun McRae left the club to return to Australia at the end of the 2004 season; he was replaced by former England coach John Kear, who had previously been McRae's deputy.
In his first season at the club, Kear led Hull to the Challenge Cup final for the first time since 1985. Hull defeated Leeds Rhinos 25-24 in a thrilling final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to lift the trophy. Paul Cooke's 77th minute try, which was converted by Danny Brough gave Hull a 1 point lead, which they held onto after Hull captain Richard Swain charged down a drop-goal attempt from Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield in the dying seconds of the match.
John Kear left Hull FC on 3 April 2006 after a disappointing start to the season, which saw Hull FC lose 4 out of their first 7 league games and also their defence of the Challenge Cup being ended at the first hurdle against the Bradford Bulls in a 23-12 defeat, to be replaced by Peter Sharp who was recruited from Parramatta Eels where he was assistant coach. Between 14 April15 July 2006 Hull FC won 13 matches in succession, including a 27-26 defeat of the league leaders St Helens on the 8 June 2006. The last time they beat St Helens on their ground was 18 years ago. This run ended in defeat at Harlequins RL on the 23 July 2006. Hull managed to finish in second place, their highest league position in the Super League era. They lost to the league leaders St Helens in the first Grand Final playoff game, but succeeded in reaching the final by defeating the reigning champions Bradford Bulls. Over 20,000 Hull FC fans travelled to Old Trafford, but again they lost out to the Saints, this time by 26-4. The overall attendance broke the Grand Final record, mainly due to the stadium's recent expansion.
For the 2007 season, Hull signed five players: Matt Sing (a prolific National Rugby League try-scorer and Australian representative), Hutch Maiava, Willie Manu, Danny Tickle and Wayne Godwin. Also, the Hull FC v Hull Kingston Rovers derbies are back for the 2007 season due to Rovers promotion from National League 1. The first of four of these derby matches was played on Easter Monday, the 9 April 2007 at the KC Stadium. The game was played in front of a sell-out attendance of 23,002 and ended with a result for the Black and Whites who had been struggling early in the season. The final score was 22 - 14 with Sid Domic crossing the line for the Airlie Birds in the final seconds. On April 23 Paul Cooke, stand-off, controversially resigned from Hull FC to join Hull Kingston Rovers. He played his first game for them on Friday April 27 against Huddersfield . On Saturday May 5 Cooke took to the field at the Millennium Stadium for the 200th all Hull derby against Hull FC.
In early June 2007, Hull signed Brisbane's 2006 Clive Churchill Medallist, Shaun Berrigan, for the 2008 season.
Also, in early July 2007, Hull FC played their bitter rivals, Hull Kingston Rover at Craven Park in front of just over 9,000 people, where Hull FC overcame a good first half from Hull Kingston Rovers, and eventually came out 30-20 winners in the enemy's back yard, but unfortunately Hull FC could not carry this form into the next Hull derby where Paul Cooke helped to inflict an embarrassing 42-6 home defeat on the black and whites in front of another sell out crowd.

2008 Squad
2008 Engage Super League
*Round 13 played at Millennium Stadium,Cardiff.
***engage Super League Grand Final to be played at Old Trafford, Manchester.

2008 Fixtures/Results

Transfers

2008 Transfers in

Hull FC 2007 Transfers out

Captains
1980-81: Steve Norton
1981-85: Dave Topliss
1985-87: Lee Crooks
1987-90: Dane O'Hara
1990-92: Greg MacKey
1992-94: Russ Walker
1994-96: Steve McNamara
1996: Gary Divorty
1997: Andy Fisher

Pre-Super League

Super League

Flag of Wales Tommy Harris
Flag of Wales Clive Sullivan Notable Former players

Championship: 1919-20, 1920-21, 1935-36, 1955-56, 1957-58, 1982-83 (6 times)
Challenge Cup: 1913-14, 1981-82, 2005 (3 times)
Premiership: 1990-91
Division Two Championship: 1976-77, 1978-79, 1997 (3 times)
Yorkshire Cup: 1922-23, 1968-69, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84 (5 times)
Yorkshire League: 1918-19, 1922-23, 1926-27, 1935-36 (4 times)
John Player Trophy: 1981-82
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy: 1979-80 (not subsequently contested) Honours

Records

Most tries in a match: 7 by Clive Sullivan vs Doncaster, 15 April 1968
Most goals in a match: 14 by Jim Kennedy vs Rochdale Hornets- 7 April 1921, Sammy Lloyd v Oldham - 10 September 1978, Matt Crowther v Sheffield Eagles - 2 March 2003
Most points in a match: 36 by Jim Kennedy vs Keighley, 29 January 1921
Most tries in a season: 52 by Jack Harrison VC, MC, 1914-15
Most goals in a season: 170 by Geoff 'Sammy' Lloyd, 1978-79
Most points in a season: 369 by Geoff 'Sammy' Lloyd, 1978-79
Consecutive Tries: 11 by Jack Harrison VC, MC, , 1914-15 & Richard Horne, 2006 Career records
Also made their first super league grand final but lost to St Helens in 2006

Highest score: 88-0 vs Sheffield Eagles, 2 March 2003
Highest against: 71-0 vs Bradford Bulls, play offs 2005
Highest attendance: 28,798 vs Leeds, 7 March 1936
Fastest ever try in both codes of rugby: 9 seconds by Lee Jackson for Hull FC in the Yorkshire Cup semi-final against the Sheffield Eagles at the Don Valley Stadium, 1992 This World Record still stands today
Only team to have won every single league game in a season: 1979 Division Two
Most consecutive Super League victories: 13 games, (April 14, 2006July 15, 2006, beating Huddersfield, Wakefield, Catalans, Wigan, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, St Helens, Harlequins, Castleford, Catalans, Salford & Warrington).

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Drumlin field
A drumlin field is a cluster of dozens to hundreds of similarly shaped, sized and oriented drumlins, also called a drumlin swarm. Drumlins are one type of landform that indicate continental ice sheet glaciation. The total depth of glacial deposits may be hundreds of feet deep.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Microsoft Points

Main article: Xbox Live ArcadeXbox Live Marketplace Xbox Live Arcade
The Video Marketplace is an online service operated by Microsoft that is used to distribute television shows and movies to Xbox 360 owners. The service was launched in USA on November 22, 2006 via Xbox Live. Initial content partners include Paramount Pictures, CBS, TBS, MTV Networks, UFC, NBC, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Other movie studios have since supported the service including Lionsgate Films and Walt Disney Pictures as announced at E3 2007. [1] At the present time, the service is only available to users in the United States, however Microsoft intends to bring the service to Canada and Europe by the end of 2007.
Various films and TV shows are available for purchase on the Video Marketplace, including both past and present series, such as Star Trek and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Since then, all such problems have been resolved.
On March 6, 2007, the South Park episode "Good Times with Weapons" was available for free download. However, this episode was free only for the HDTV version until April 3, 2007. Starting on March 13, 2007, all episodes from South Park's 11th season were offered uncensored. Also, starting on July 26, 2007, the pilot episode of Jericho was available for download free of charge for both the Standard and HD versions.

Xbox Live Pipeline
Most criticisms leveled at the Xbox Live service concern the Xbox Live Marketplace. The service has come under fire from both gamers and the gaming press for charging for downloadable content. In many such cases, users were expecting instead that such content would be made available for free.
A notable incident was Microsoft charging for a Gears of War map pack that developer Epic wished to give away for free (although the plan of record is to release it for free in September). In this case, Microsoft Publishing was responsible for setting the price, with this not actually being a policy of the Xbox team or Xbox Live Marketplace as was implied. Free content is indeed possible, as evidenced by the release of a complete Xbox Live Arcade game, Aegis Wing, for users in North America.
Another topic for criticism is that most of the available downloads in the U.S. are not available for other global subscribers. The Video Marketplace, for example, is not available in other regions outside the US. However it will be released in Europe and Canada in Fall 2007, although some other content such as themes or game demos, is still not available in other regions than the US.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (born February 24, 1955) is the co-founder and CEO of Apple and was the CEO of Pixar until its acquisition by Disney..
Forbes senior editor Daniel Lyons runs the blog The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. The identity of the blogger was for long not known, until journalist Brad Stone reveald Lyons.
Caddes, Carolyn (1986). Portraits of Success: Impressions of Silicon Valley Pioneers. Tioga Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-935382-56-9. 
Cringely, Robert X (1996). Accidental Empires. HarperBusiness. ISBN 0-88730-855-4. 
Denning, Peter J. & Frenkel, Karen A. (1989). A Conversation with Steve Jobs. Comm. ACM. Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 437-443. 
Deutschman, Alan (2001). The Second Coming of Steve Jobs. Broadway. ISBN 0-7679-0433-8. 
Freiberger, Paul & Swaine, Michael (1999). Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer. McGraw-Hill Trade. ISBN 0-07-135892-7. 
Hertzfeld, Andy (2004). Revolution in the Valley. O'Reilly Books. ISBN 0-596-00719-1. 
Kahney, Leander (2004). The Cult of Mac. No Starch Press. ISBN 1-886411-83-2. 
Levy, Steven (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Anchor Press, Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-19195-2. 
Levy, Steven (1994). Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changed Everything. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-670-85244-9. 
Malone, Michael S. (1999). Infinite Loop. Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-638-4.  Bantam Doubleday Dell. ISBN 0-385-48684-7.
Markoff, John (2005). What the Dormouse Said: How the 60s Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry. ISBN 0-670-03382-0. 
Simon, William L. & Young, Jeffrey S. (2005). iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-72083-6. 
Stross, Randall E. (1993). Steve Jobs and The NeXT Big Thing. Atheneum Books. ISBN 0-689-12135-0. 
Slater, Robert (1987). Portraits in Silicon. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-19262-4.  Chapter 28
Young, Jeffrey S. (1988). Steve Jobs: The Journey is the Reward. Scott, Foresman & Co.. ISBN 0-673-18864-7. 
Wozniak, Steve (2006). iWoz Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I invented the personal computer, co-founded Apple and had fun doing it. W. W. Norton & Co.. ISBN 0-393-06143-4. 
Steve Jobs' Executive Profile at Apple
All about Steve extensive & short biographies, pictures, movies & interviews of or related to Steve Jobs.
Anecdotes from Steve Jobs' early days in Apple as reported by Andy Hertzfeld.
Creating Jobs: Apple's Founder Goes Home Again The New York Times Magazine, Sunday 1997-01-12.
YouTube video of first Jobs' Macworld keynote in 1997, when he returned to Apple, where he announced partnership with Microsoft.
YouTube video of Jobs' commencement address at Stanford University, 2005-06-12.
Text of Jobs' commencement address at Stanford University, 2005-06-12.
Steve Jobs at the Notable Names Database
Steve Jobs at the Internet Movie Database
Steve Jobs Compensation
"Thoughts on Music" by Steve Jobs, 2007-02-06
Smithsonian Institution Oral History InterviewPDF (143 KiB)1995-04-20
Rolling Stone, Steve Jobs: The Rolling Stone Interview - 2003-12-03
BusinessWeek, The Seed of Apple's Innovation2004-10-12
Fortune, How Big Can Apple Get?2005-02-21
'Good for the Soul'Newsweek, 2006-10-15
All Things D, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (video and transcript of on stage interview - 2007-05-30

Friday, April 25, 2008


The South West Pacific was one of two theatres of World War II in the Pacific region, between 1942 and 1945. The South West Pacific theatre included the Philippines, the Netherlands East Indies (excluding Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, the Australian Territory of New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago), the western part of the Solomon Islands and some neighbouring territories. The theatre takes its name from the major Allied command, which was known simply as the "South West Pacific Area".
In the theatre, Empire of Japan forces fought primarily United States and Australian forces. Dutch, Filipino, British and other Allied forces also served in the theatre.
Most Japanese forces in the theatre were part of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group, which was formed on November 6, 1941, under General Hisaichi Terauchi (also known as Count Terauchi), who was ordered to attack and occupy Allied territories in South East Asia and the South Pacific.
On March 30, 1942, the Allied South West Pacific Area command (SWPA) was formed and U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific Area.

Southwest PacificSouthwest Pacific Major campaigns in the theatre

Philippines campaign, 1941-42

  • Battle of Bataan
    Netherlands East Indies campaign, 1941-1942
    New Guinea campaign, 1942-45

    • Battle of the Coral Sea
      Kokoda Track campaign
      Portuguese Timor, 1942-43
      Philippines campaign, 1944-45

      • Battle of Leyte Gulf
        Borneo campaign, 1945

Thursday, April 24, 2008


A tamale or tamal (from Nahuatl tamalli) is a traditional Native American food consisting of steam-cooked corn meal dough with or without a filling. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheese (post-colonial), and sliced chiles or any preparation according to taste. The tamal is generally wrapped in a corn husk or plantain leaves before cooking, depending on the region they come from.
Tamales have been made throughout the American continent for over 5000 years . Their essence is the corn meal dough made from hominy (called masa), or a masa mix such as Maseca, usually filled with a sweet or savory filling, wrapped in plant leaves or corn husks, and cooked, usually by steaming, until firm. Tamales were developed as a portable ration for use by war parties in the ancient Americas, and were as ubiquitous and varied as the sandwich is today.

Tamales Tamales in the Caribbean

Mexican cuisine
Pamonha
Zongzi
Lotus leaf wrap
Pasteles
Hallaca
Corunda

Wednesday, April 23, 2008


The Muscovy Company (also called Russian Company or Muscovy Trading Company, Russian: Московская компания), was a trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major English joint-stock trading company, the precursor of the type of business that would soon flourish in England, and became closely associated with such famous names as Henry Hudson and William Baffin. The Muscovy Company had a monopoly on trade between England and Muscovy until 1698 and it survived until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Muscovy Company History

Eastland Company

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Florence Moore
Florence Moore (1886 - March 23, 1935) was an American vaudeville, Broadway performer, and actress in silent films.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Moore began singing in the choir of St. Clement's Protestant Episcopal Church at the age of 13. She began touring with the stock company of her brother Frank Moore. Florence got her first opportunity in Moscow, Idaho, when a male member of the cast failed to appear. Thereafter she was a regular with the company, playing the role of a Chinese without pay.
Her first Broadway appearance came in 1912, as Clorinda Scribblem in Hanky Panky. During the next twenty years she participated in numerous productions. As a comedian she performed in musical comedies, revues on Broadway, and headlined as a vaudeville actress while touring America. Together with William Montgomery, her first husband, Miss Moore was part of a popular vaudeville team. She divorced Montgomery and married John O. Kerner. Later she was separated from Kerner.
To theatregoers in New York, New York Florence is perhaps best known for her performance in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath. The production debuted in New York and played for two years on the road. Her final appearance on the New York stage came in 1932, in a revival of Cradle Snatchers. She starred in the role of Mary Boland which had been created seven years earlier.
As a motion picture actress Moore had a brief career. Films in which she appeared are The Old Melody (1913) opposite King Baggot, The Weakness of Strength (1916), and The Secret of Eve (1917) opposite Olga Petrova. She belonged to the Actor's Equity Association and the Twelfth Night Club.
Florence Moore died in the Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania in 1935. Death followed an operation for cancer. She was 49 years of age.

Monday, April 21, 2008


France Politics French Parliament French Government French President Political parties Elections
The French Communist Party (French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. Although its electoral support has greatly declined since 1980, it remains the largest party in France advocating communist views, and retains a large membership (behind only the UMP and the PS) and considerable influence in French politics. It is a member of the European Left group. Since its participation in François Mitterrand's government, however, it is sometimes considered by the far left as a social-democratic party, especially since Robert Hue's "mutation". It supports alter-globalization movements although it may sometimes also criticize them (in particular their alleged lack of organization). Following the low score obtained at the legislative election of 2007, the party was not able, for the first time during the Fifth Republic, to gain the minimum level of 20 deputies in order to form a parliamentary group by itself. Henceforth, the PCF allied itself with the Greens and other left-wing MP's to be able to form a parliamentary group to the left of the Socialist Party, called Gauche démocrate et républicaine (Democratic and Republican Left).

History
The PCF was founded in 1920 by those in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) who supported the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and opposed the First World War. Tensions within the Socialist Party had emerged in 1914 with the start of the First World War, which saw the majority of the SFIO take what left-wing socialists called a "social-chauvinist" line in support of the French war effort. At the Tours congress of the SFIO in 1920, the left-wing faction (Boris Souvarine, Fernand Loriot) and the center faction (Ludovic Frossard, Marcel Cachin) had accepted to join the Third International, obtained 3/4 of the votes and split away to form the SFIC (Section Française de l'Internationale Communiste). They took with themselves the party paper L'Humanité, founded by Jean Jaurès in 1904, with them, which remained tied to the party until the 1990s. The newly created party, later renamed Parti Communiste Français (PCF), was three times larger than the SFIO (120 000 members). Ho Chi Minh, who would create the Viet Minh in 1941 and then declare the independence of Vietnam, was one of the founding members.

Foundation
Further information: French Third RepublicFrance in the twentieth century, and Cartel des gauches
Although at first the PCF rivalled the SFIO for leadership of the French socialist movement, but many members were expelled from the party (including Boris Souvarine), and within a few years its support declined, and for most of the 1920s it was a small and isolated party. Its first elected deputies were opposed to the Cartel des gauches ("Left-wing coalition") formed by the SFIO and the Radical-Socialists. The first Cartel governed from 1924 to 1926.
The Communist Party attracted various intellectuals and artists in the 1920s, including André Breton, the leader of the surrealist movement, Henri Lefebvre (who would be expelled in 1958), Paul Eluard, Louis Aragon, etc.
In the late 1920s the policies of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, under which the PCF denounced the SFIO as "social fascists" and refused any co-operation, kept the left weak and divided. Like all Comintern parties, the PCF underwent a process of "Stalinisation" in which a pro-Stalin leadership under Maurice Thorez was installed in 1930 and all internal dissent banned.
The PCF was the main organizator of a counter-exhibition to the 1931 Colonial Exhibition in Paris, called "The Truth on the Colonies". In the first section, it recalled Albert Londres and André Gide's critics of forced labour in the colonies and others crimes of the New Imperialism period; in the second section, it opposed "imperialist colonialism" to "the Soviets' policy on nationalities".
The second Cartel des gauches was elected in 1932. This time, although the PCF did not take part in the coalition, it did support the government without participating in it (soutien sans participation), in the same way that before World War I (1914-18) the socialists had supported the Republicans and the Radicals' governments without participating. This second Cartel fell following the far-right 6 February 1934 riots, which forced president of the Council Edouard Daladier to pass on the power to conservative Gaston Doumergue. Following this crisis, the PCF, as the whole of the socialist movement, feared that a fascist conspiracy had almost succeeded. Furthermore, Adolf Hitler's access to power in 1933 and the destruction of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) following the 27 February 1933 Reichstag fire and Stalin's new "popular front" policy led the PCF to get closer to the SFIO. Thus, the Popular Front was prepared, and got elected in 1936.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the following Great Depression, which affected France in 1931, caused much anxiety and disturbance, as in other countries. As economic liberalism failed, new solutions were being looked for. The technocracy ideas were born during this time (Groupe X-Crise), as well as autarky and corporativism in the fascism movement, which advocated union of workers' and employers. Some socialist members became attracted to these new ideas, among whom Jacques Doriot. A member of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Comintern from 1922 on, and from 1923 on Secretary of the French Federation of Young Communists, later elected to the French Chamber of Deputies, he came to advocate an alliance between the Communists and Fascists with whom Doriot sympathized on a number of issues. Doriot was then expelled in 1934, and with his followers, he soon formed the Parti Populaire Français, which would be one of the most collaborationist party during Vichy.

The 1920s and early 1930s

Main article: Popular Front (France) The Popular Front
Further information: World War II  and Vichy France
After the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the PCF was declared a proscribed organisation by Edouard Daladier's government. The PCF pursued an anti-war course during the early part of the Second World War. Thorez deserted from the French Army and fled to the Soviet Union. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the PCF was the first to organize the Resistance, which was easier for it since it had been used to clandestinity. It thus regained credibility as an anti-fascist force. By 1944 the PCF had reached the height of its influence, controlling large areas of the country through the Resistance units under its command. Some in the PCF wanted to launch a revolution as the Germans withdrew from the country, but the leadership, acting on Stalin's instructions, opposed this and adopted a policy of co-operating with the Allied powers and advocating a new Popular Front government. Many well-known figures joined the party during the war, including Pablo Picasso, who joined the PCF in 1944.

French Communist Party World War II
Further information: French Fourth Republic  and France in the twentieth century
The Communists had done particularly well from their war-time efforts in the Resistance, in terms of both organisation and prestige. With the liberation of France in 1944, the PCF, along with other resistance groups, entered the government of Charles de Gaulle. As in Italy, the communists were at that time very popular and a strong political force.
By the close of 1945 party membership stood at half a million, a remarkable transformation when one considers that on the eve of the pre-War Popular Front it stood at well under under thirty thousand. This surge in membership when combined with the party's strong electoral showing in the Assembly elections of November 1946 led some, including Dean Acheson, the American Under-Secretary of State, to believe that a Communist takeover was imminent. Nicknamed the "party of the 75 000 executed people" (le parti des 75 000 fusillés) because of its important role during the Resistance, it was the first party in votes, ahead the SFIO and the Christian-democrat People's Republican Movement (MRP).
In the elections of 21 October 1945 for the then unicameral interim Constitutional National Assembly, the RCF had 159 deputies elected out of 586 seats (that is, almost 30%). Two subsequent elections in 1946, first still for the Constitutional National Assembly, then for the National Assembly of the new Fourth Republic – now the lower house of a bicameral system – gave very similar results. However, as in Italy, the PCF was forced to quit Paul Ramadier's government in May 1947 in order to secure Marshall Aid from the USA.
This certainly made France's financial position better in the long run, but it created immediate political problems. The Italian Communist Party (PCI) was never to return to power, despite the historic compromise attempt in the 1970s, and the PCF was also isolated until François Mitterrand's electoral victory in 1981. A strong political force, the PCF nevertheless remained isolated due to persistent anti-communism. It thus began to pursue a more militant policy, alienating it from the SFIO and allowing the right-wing parties to stay in power.
The PCF, no longer restrained by the responsiblities of office, was free to channel the widespread discontent among the working class with the poor economic performance of the new Fourth Republic. Furthermore, the Party was under orders from Moscow to take a more radical course, reminiscent of the Third Period policy once pursued by the Comintern. In September 1947 several European Communist parties came to a meeting at Szlarska-Proeba in Poland, where a new international agency, the Cominform, was set up. During this meeting Andrei Zhdanov, standing in for Stalin, denounced the 'moderation' of the French Communists, even though this policy had been previously approved by Moscow.
Out of government, and newly instructed, the PCF denounced the administration as the tool of American capitalism. Following the arrest of some steel workers in Marseille in November, the CGT, the Communist dominated Trade Union block, called a strike, as PCF activists attacked the town hall and other 'bourgeoise' targets in the city. When the protests spread to Paris, and as many as 3 million workers came out on strike, Ramadier resigned, fearing that he faced a general insurrection. This is probably the closest France came to a Communist take-over.
This development was prevented by the determination of Robert Schuman, the new Prime Minister, and Jules Moch, his Minister of the Interior. It was also prevented by a growing sense of disquiet among sections of the labour movement with Communist tactics, which included the derailment in early December of the Paris-Tourcoing Express, which left twenty-one people dead. Sensing a change of mood, the CGT leadership backed down and called off the strikes. From this point forward the PCF moved into permanent opposition and political isolation, a large but impotent presence on the political map of France.
During the 1950s, the PCF critically supported French imperialism during the Indochina War (1947-54) and the Algerian War (1954-62), although many French communists also worked against colonialism. Thus Jean-Paul Sartre, a "comrade" of the Communist party, actively supported the National Liberation Front (FLN) (the porteurs de valises networks, in which Henri Curiel took part). Long debates took place on the role of conscription. While this stance by the PCF may have helped it retain widespread popularity in metropolitan France, it lost it credibility on the radical left. During his scholarship to study radio engineering in Paris (from 1949 to 1953), Pol Pot, like many other colonial elites educated in France (Ho Chi Minh in 1920), joined the French Communist Party.
The second half of the 1950s was also marked by some dissatisfaction with the pro-Moscow line continuously pursued by party leaders. However, no definitive eurocommunist aspirations developed at the time. A major split occurred as Maoists left during the late 1950s. Some moderate communist intellectuals, such as historian Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, disillusioned with the actual policies of the USSR, left the party after the violent suppression of 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

Fourth Republic (1947-58)
Further information: French Fifth Republic  and France in the twentieth century
In 1958, the PCF was the only big party which opposed De Gaulle's return to power and the Fifth Republic. Little by little, it was joined in opposition by the center and center-left parties. It advocated left-wing union against De Gaulle. Waldeck Rochet became PCF leader after Thorez's death in 1964.
In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 260 000 (0.9% of the working age population of France). it began to follow a line closer to that of the Italian Communist Party's eurocommunism. However, this was only a relative change of direction, as the PCF globally remained loyal to Moscow, and in 1979, Georges Marchais supported the invasion of Afghanistan. Its assessment of the Soviet and East-European Communist governments was "fairly positive".
Marchais was a candidate in the 1981 presidential election. During the campaign, he criticized the "turn to the right" of the PS. But some Communist voters, wanting the left-wing union in order to win after 23 years in opposition, chose Mitterrand. The PS leader obtained 25% against 15% for Marchais. For the second round, the PCF called on its supporters to vote for Mitterrand, who was elected President of France.

The 1960s and '70s
Further information: French Fifth Republic  and  France in the twentieth century
Under Mitterrand the PCF held ministerial office for the first time since 1947, but this had the effect of locking the PCF into Mitterrand's reformist agenda, and the PCF's more moderate supporters drained away to the PS.
When the PCF ministers resigned in 1984 to protest the change of economic policy, the party's electoral decline accelerated. André Lajoinie obtained only 6.7% in the 1988 presidential election. From 1988 to 1993, the PCF supported the Socialist governments at various times, depending on the issues.
The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a crisis in the PCF, but it did not follow the example of some other European communist parties by dissolving itself or changing its name. In 1994 Marchais retired and was succeeded by Robert Hue. Under Hue the party embarked on a process called la mutation. La mutation, which included the thorough reorganization of party structure and move away from Leninist dogmas, was intended to revitalize the stagnant left and attract non-affiliated leftists to join the party. But in effect it only resulted in increasing the pace of the decline of the party. Under Lionel Jospin, the PCF again held ministerial offices from 1997 to 2002 (Jean-Claude Gayssot as Minister of Transportation, etc.). The party became riddled with internal conflict, as many sectors opposed la mutation and the policy of co-governing with the Socialists.
Hue received only 3.4% of the vote in the 2002 presidential elections. For the first time, the PCF candidate obtained fewer votes than the Trotskyist representatives (Arlette Laguiller and Olivier Besancenot). At the 2002 legislative elections, the PCF came in fourth, polling 4.8% of the vote (the same as the center-right UDF) and won 21 seats (out of 567). Chirac's UMP came in first, followed by the Socialist Party, the National Front, UDF, PCF, the Greens, and then the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) and Lutte Ouvrière. Eventually Robert Hue had to resign, and in 2002 Marie-George Buffet took over the leadership of the party. Under Buffet the party embarked on a process of reconstruction, reversing some of the moves made during la mutation.
On the proposed European constitution, French communists fought for 'No' alongside extreme left-wing groups, half of the Socialist Party, the Greens, and right wing eurosceptics. The victory of the 'No' in the 2005 French plebiscite on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE), along with the campaign against the Bolkestein directive, served as a major boost for the party. During the referendum campaign the party was revitalized, with a resurgence of the work in the party cells. The PCF retains some strength in the Paris suburbs, in the industrial areas around Lille, and in some areas of the south such as Marseille.
In 2005, the labour conflict at the SNCM in Marseilles, then the 4 October 2005 demonstration against the New Employment Contract (CNE) marked the opposition to Dominique de Villepin's right-wing government, who shared his authority with Nicolas Sarkozy as Ministry of Interior, leader of the UMP right-wing party and already then a probable 2007 presidential candidate. Marie-George Buffet also heavily criticized the government's response to the riots in autumn, speaking of a deliberate "strategy of tension" employed by Sarkozy who called youth from the housing projects "scum" (racaille) which needed to be cleaned up with a "Kärcher" high pressure hose. While most of the Socialist deputies voted for the declaration of a state of emergency during the riots, which lasted until January 2006, the PCF, along with the Greens, opposed it.
2006 was marked by the protests against the First Employment Contract, which finally forced president Chirac to scrap plans for the controversial law aimed at creating a more flexible labour law.
In the run-up to the first round of the 2007 presidential election, Buffet hoped that her candidacy would be supported by the left-wing groups who had participated in the "No" campaign in the referendum on the EU constitution. This support was not forthcoming and she scored only 1.94%, even less than Robert Hue's 3.4% in the previous presidential election. The PCF's score was low even in its traditional strongholds such as the "red belt" around Paris. The disastrously low vote means that the PCF has not met the 5% threshold for reimbursement of its campaign expenses, and could portend a similarly low vote in the next general election. However, the party had prepared for this eventuality, and thus kept its expenses low for the presidential campaign. However, its very low score at the subsequent legislative elections did weigh a lot on its budget .
One possible reason for this particularly low vote is that some PCF supporters voted tactically for Ségolène Royal so as to be sure that a candidate from the left would be present in the second round runoff. Another factor seems to have been competition from the young and charismatic candidate, Olivier Besancenot, of the LCR (Revolutionary Communist League).
Following the low score obtained at the legislative election of 2007, the party was not able, for the first time during the Fifth Republic, to gain the minimum level of 20 MP's in order to form a parliamentary group by itself. Henceforth, the PCF allied itself with the Greens and other left-wing MP's to be able to form a parliamentary group to the left of the Socialist Party, called Gauche démocrate et républicaine (Democratic and Republican Left). Although the PCF and the Greens agree on a number of issues, especially on economic and social policies (consensus on the necessity to support lower classes, right of foreigners to vote at municipal elections, regularization of aliens, etc.), but also on others themes (by contrast with the Socialist Party, both refused to vote the state of emergency during the 2005 civil unrest), they also distinguished themselves on a number of others issues, the first of those being the theme of nuclear energy.