urbanologygroup

2008-05-02T11:25:00.001-04:00

Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu/Persian: مرزا اسد اللہ خان ), pen-name Ghalib (Urdu/Persian: غالب, ġhālib) and Asad (former pen-name)(27 December 1796 — 15 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.

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

2008-05-01T11:42:00.001-04:00

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 April – 15 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

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

Tommy Harris
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, 2006 – July 15, 2006, beating Huddersfield, Wakefield, Catalans, Wigan, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, St Helens, Harlequins, Castleford, Catalans, Salford & Warrington).

2008-04-30T13:34:00.001-04:00

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.

2008-04-29T13:09:00.001-04:00

Microsoft Points

Main article: Xbox Live Arcade 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.

2008-04-26T12:36:00.001-04:00

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
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All Things D, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (video and transcript of on stage interview - 2007-05-30

2008-04-25T11:15:00.001-04:00

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.

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

2008-04-24T12:23:00.000-04:00

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 in the Caribbean

Mexican cuisine
Pamonha
Zongzi
Lotus leaf wrap
Pasteles
Hallaca
Corunda

2008-04-23T11:11:00.001-04:00

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.

History

Eastland Company

2008-04-22T12:39:00.001-04:00

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.

2008-04-21T13:24:00.001-04:00

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 Republic, France 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.

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.

2008-04-20T12:24:00.001-04:00

Jacek Krupa (born April 11, 1955 in Skawina) is a Polish politician. He was elected to Sejm on September 25, 2005 getting 6860 votes in 13 Kraków district, candidating from Platforma Obywatelska list.

2008-04-19T13:03:00.001-04:00

A resort town, sometimes called a resort destination, is a town or area where tourism or vacationing is a primary component of the local culture and economy. Most resort towns have one or more actual resorts in or nearby, although some places are considered resort towns merely because of their popularity among tourists.
Typically, the economy of a resort town is geared almost entirely towards catering to tourists, with most residents of the area working in the tourism or resort industry. Shops and luxury boutiques selling locally-themed souvenirs, motels, and unique restaurants often proliferate the downtown areas of a resort town.

Resort town economy

Examples of resort towns

Matheran, India
Panglao, Philippines Asia

Dahab, Egypt
Eilat, Israel Middle East

North America

Whistler, British Columbia
Banff, Alberta Canada

Cancun, Quintana Roo
Los Cabos, Baja California Sur
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
Rocky Point, Sonora
Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico

Vail, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
Nahant, Massachusetts
Mackinaw City, Michigan
Laughlin, Nevada
Las Vegas Strip
Ocean City, New Jersey
Ruidoso, New Mexico
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Park City, Utah
Saint George, Utah
Jackson, Wyoming

2008-04-18T11:11:00.001-04:00

Pediatric endocrinology (British: Paediatric) is a medical subspecialty dealing with variations of physical growth and sexual development in childhood, as well as diabetes and other disorders of the endocrine glands.
By age, pediatric endocrinologists care for patients from infancy to late adolescence.
By disease, the most common disease of the specialty is type 1 diabetes, which usually accounts for at least 50% of a typical clinical practice. The next most common problem is growth disorders, especially those amenable to growth hormone treatment. Pediatric endocrinologists are usually the primary physicians involved in the medical care of infants and children with intersex disorders. The specialty also deals with hypoglycemia and other forms of hyperglycemia in childhood, variations of puberty, as well other adrenal, thyroid, and pituitary problems. Many pediatric endocrinologists have interests and expertise in bone metabolism, lipid metabolism, adolescent gynecology, or inborn errors of metabolism.
In the United States and Canada, pediatric endocrinology is a subspecialty of the American Board of Pediatrics, with board certification following fellowship training. It is a relatively small and primarily cognitive specialty, with few procedures and an emphasis on diagnostic evaluation.
Most pediatric endocrinologists in North America and many from around the world can trace their professional genealogy to Lawson Wilkins, who pioneered the specialty in the pediatrics department of Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Harriet Lane Home in Baltimore in between the late 1940's and the mid-1960's.
The principal North American professional association is named the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society [1]. Other longstanding pediatric endocrine associations include the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology, the British Society for Paediatric Endocrinology, and the Japanese Society for Pediatric Endocrinology. Professional associations of the specialty continue to proliferate.
Training for pediatric endocrinology consists of a 2-3 year fellowship following completion of a 3 year pediatrics residency. The fellowship, and the specialty, are heavily research-oriented and academically based, although less exclusively now than in past decades.

2008-04-17T11:21:00.001-04:00

Malone RFC is a Rugby Union club based in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It currently is in the Second Division of the All-Ireland League. Malone players are jokingly nicknamed the Binmen. The club is affiliated with the Ulster Rugby itself part of the IRFU. Annually, the mini rugby side of the club hosts an international tournament for under 12s.

Honours
Approximately 22 Malone players have played for Ireland, and 6 of those were British Lions.

Neil Best
Blair Mayne.

2008-04-16T13:33:00.001-04:00

Rice-A-Roni is a product of The Quaker Oats Company. It is a boxed food mix that consists of rice, vermicelli, seasonings, and sometimes other ingredients.

2008-04-15T11:55:00.001-04:00

John Hegley (born 1 October 1953) is a popular English performance poet, musician and songwriter whose poems and songs have appeared both in print and on the radio.

Books

Spare Pear [sic]/Mobile Home (1984) Double A-sided single of Peel session recordings, with the Popticians
I Saw My Dinner On TV (1986) Single with the Popticians
Saint and Blurry (1993) Poems and music
Hearing with Hegley (1996) BBC audio-cassette taken from the radio series of the same name
Family Favourites (2006) Poems and music

2008-04-14T13:10:00.000-04:00

Lobnitz Marine Holdings is a British shipbuilding company located at Renfrew in Scotland. The company builds dredges, floating docks, fishing boats, tugs and workboats.
The company is descended from Lobnitz and Company, Limited, who built small commercial and naval vessels during both World War I and World War II. Lobnitz built many vessels for the Royal Navy, including several Bangor class minesweepers.
The family at one time lived at Chapeltoun House in East Ayrshire.

2008-04-13T13:27:00.001-04:00

A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function.
A basket sled has a bed raised several inches above the surface of the snow. This type of sled is used in dogsled racing. Sprint sleds are often short-bodied basket sleds. A toboggan sled has a lower carriage and uses a closed bed, allowing the sled to slide or float over deep snow. Freight sleds, which are heavier and sturdier than sprint sleds, may be toboggan or basket sleds. Both of these types of sleds have runners which stick out behind the sled, on which the musher can stand. For brakes, older sleds relied on hooks attached to the sled with a rope, modern sleds usually include drag and claw brakes built into the sled.
Dog power has been utilized for hunting and travel for hundreds of years. As far back as the tenth century these dogs have contributed to the culture of people. (Coppinger, L.) [1]
Today dog sled teams are put together with great care. Putting together a dog sled team involves putting together a team of leader dogs, point dogs, swing dogs, and wheel dogs. The lead dog is very treasured, and seldom will mushers let these dogs out of their sights. Indeed, trained lead dogs become part of the family household. Important too is to have powerful wheel dogs to pull the sled out from the snow. Point dogs (optional) are located behind the leader dogs, swing dogs between the point and wheel dogs, and team dogs are all other dogs in between the wheel and swing dogs and are selected for their endurance, strength and speed as part of the team. Alaskans take great pride in putting together a great team of musher dogs! View: [2] for an example of sled dog team building.
A recent innovation in sled design was introduced in the 2004 Iditarod by Jeff King, who used a split sled for the race. This sled, the Tail Dragger, has a basket-style body with a freight-holding back end, and an open middle. The musher can sit on the back part or stand in the middle.
The komatik is a traditional Inuit sled, used in Canada and Greenland, low-slung and on which the hunter or racer sits or lies down, facing forward. The runners do not stick out as in basket sleds.
A pulk is a short, flat sled used in the Scandinavian sport of pulka. The dog is hitched to the sled and the sled to the skier. The pulk is used to carry supplies or equipment, but not usually a person.
The expedition led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen used dog sleds when they reached the South Pole before Robert Falcon Scott's party did.
A dog sled race was included at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York as a demonstration event.

2008-04-12T12:03:00.001-04:00

Georges Charpak (born August 1, 1924) is a Polish-French physicist and Nobel Prize in Physics winner.
Charpak was born in the village of Dąbrowica in Poland (modern Dubrovytsia, Ukraine) to a Jewish family of Polish/Ukrainian origin as Jerzy Charpak. Charpak's family moved from Poland to Paris when he was seven years old.
During World War II Charpak served in the resistance and was imprisoned by Vichy authorities in 1943. In 1944 he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, where he remained until the camp was liberated in 1945. After graduating from Lycée de Montpellier, in 1945 he joined the Paris-based École des Mines, one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France. The following year he became a naturalized French citizen.
He graduated and in 1948 he earned the Bachelor's degree in mining engineering and started working for the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He received his doctorate in 1954 from Nuclear Physics at the Collège de France, Paris, where he worked in the laboratory of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. In 1959 he joined the staff of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva and in 1984 also became Joliot-Curie professor at the School of Advanced Studies in Physics and Chemistry, Paris.
He was made a member of the French Academy of Science in 1985. In 1992, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber".
In France, Charpak is a very strong advocate for nuclear power. Prof. Charpak is a member of the Board of Sponsors of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists[1].

2008-04-11T11:45:00.001-04:00

The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 until it continues to Daventry. It then heads to Northampton and Wellingborough before running north of Rushden and Higham Ferrers and terminating at its junction with the A14 road near Thrapston.
The road used to run to Felixstowe but most of the route was re-designated as the A14 in the mid-1990s.

Birmingham to Coventry
The former route of the A45 through Coventry exits at a junction as the A4114, in the part of Coventry called Allesley, the western end of the Coventry bypass. At the staggered junction with the B4101, there is the factory of Massey Ferguson, now owned by TRW, and a Sainsburys supermarket in Tile Hill. The road passes over the West Coast Main Line, then enters Canley near a roundabout which is the main exit for the University of Warwick. There is a traffic-light junction with the A429, heading to Kenilworth. There is a roundabout with the B4113, then a GSJ with the A46 and A45. This busy section has many speed cameras and overlaps with the A46. The next roundabout near Tollbar End, called the Tollbar Island, is one of the busiest in the Midlands. It has exits for the A46 north/Coventry Eastern Bypass, Coventry Airport, and B4110, the former route of the A45. There are plans to build a GSJ here - the A45 will go under the other roads.
Where the road crosses the River Avon, the road re-enters Warwickshire. The A423 exits to the south-east at a GSJ near the UK factory of Peugeot. The main road from Warwick, the A445, meets near Ryton-on-Dunsmore at traffic lights. This section has many speed cameras. Further east, there is a roundabout with the B4455, the Fosse Way. There is a grade separated junction ("GSJ") with the main road for Rugby, the A4071, and the B4453. There is a Texaco garage here. The next roundabout near Thurlaston used to be very busy before 1972, when the M6 opened. It is now the start of the M45. The former A45 passes through Dunchurch as the B4429. A junction was built on the M45 in 1991 to allow traffic to head south-east onto the A45, and to alleviate traffic congestion in Dunchurch.

Coventry to Dunchurch
Heading towards Daventry, the road is fairly wide and single-carriageway. The road passes a prison at Rye Hill and a Young Offender Institution next to it at Onley. After Willoughby, the road enters Northamptonshire, where it crosses the Oxford Canal and Grand Union Canal near Braunston. The Jurassic Way crosses the road here. The road enters Daventry, home to large distribution centres for Ford Motor Company, Tesco and Diageo. The road briefly runs concurrent with the A425 heading to Leamington Spa, then heads south-east on the Daventry bypass, called the Stefen Way. The road meets the B4038 at a roundabout where the A425 exits. The road heads west past Dodford to Weedon Bec, where it crosses the West Coast Main Line and Grand Union Canal, then meets the A5 at traffic lights. The road passes through Flore, then meets the M1 at junction 16.

Dunchurch to M1 at Northampton
Until 2004, the route of the A45 headed east along the dual-carriageway from junction 16 towards Northampton, but now it has been diverted to follow the M1 south, then to join with the route of the A508 north from junction 15, to join the main flow of traffic on the Northampton bypass. Although slightly longer this route involves fewer roundabouts. From the point as which it meets the old route at the A45/A508 GSJ, near Northampton High School, it crosses the River Nene and Nene Way, then there is a large GSJ with the A428. This section is the Nene Valley Way, and overlaps with the A43, which exits at a GSJ near Weston Favell. The GSJ with the A5076 is also the exit for Billing Aquadrome.
The former route of the A45 to Wellingborough is now the A4500. The road has a GSJ with the B573 near Earls Barton, which has a famous Saxon church. The road meets the Wellingborough bypass (A509) at a roundabout. It runs concurrently with the A509 to the GSJ near the bridge over the River Nene, where the A509 exits south near Irchester Country Park.
East of Wellingborough, the road crosses the Midland Main Line. There is a GSJ for the A5001, which heads to Rushden. There is then a roundabout with the A5028. This is the point where the new road (post-A14), heads north-east rather than due east. The old route, now the B645, heads through Higham Ferrers, which is now bypassed by the A45. The bypass runs alongside the River Nene. At the roundabout with the A6 near Irthlingborough, it starts the follow the former route of the A605. The section of dual carriageway from the M1 now ends at the next roundabout. This is the start of the Raunds bypass. The next roundabout is with the B663. The route bypasses Ringstead and the A45 finishes at a GSJ with the A14 near Thrapston.

Annexed section
The original (1923) route of the A45 was Birmingham to Ipswich. The road was extended to Felixstowe in 1935, replacing the A139.
When the new A14 A1-M1 link road was opened to traffic in the mid-1990s, the Cambridge to Felixstowe stretch of the A45 was redesignated as the A14; from the former A605 to the A1 it was downgraded to B645; and from the A1 to Cambridge it became part of an extended A428.

2008-04-10T13:01:00.001-04:00

For the figure skater, see Benjamin Miller
Ben Miller (born 1966) is a British comedian, director and actor.

Career
While at Cambridge, he acted with and dated Rachel Weisz.

Awards

2000 - There's Only One Jimmy Grimble - Johnny Two Dogs, alongside Ray Winstone and Robert Carlyle
2001 - The Parole Officer, Colin - A Steve Coogan project
2003 - Johnny English - Bough, English's Sidekick, alongside Rowan Atkinson
2007 - Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance - Mr. Jonathon

2008-04-09T13:31:00.001-04:00

The Union Canal is a 31.5 mile (50.7 km) contour canal in Scotland, from Lochrin Basin in Edinburgh to Falkirk, where it meets the Forth and Clyde Canal. It was originally known as the Edinburgh and Glasgow Union Canal, to celebrate the uniting of the two cities by the new canal network, but this name is rarely used today.
The canal was designed by Hugh Baird who oversaw the engineering work while it was being built between 1818 and 1822. Two of its construction workers were the famous murderers Burke and Hare.
The soliton was first demonstrated on the Union Canal in 1834. A modern aqueduct over the Edinburgh City Bypass is named after the discoverer of the soliton, John Scott Russell.
Originally used for transporting coal, competition from the railways caused it to close to commercial use in the 1930s. The locks connecting it to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Falkirk were filled in and built over.
The canal is now used recreationally by canoeists at the Forth Canoe Club and rowers from schools and St Andrew Rowing Club. The Edinburgh, Ratho and Linlithgow Canal Societies promote general use of the canal and hire rowing and narrowboats.
The Millennium Link (a project to restore both the Union and Forth and Clyde Canals) saw the two canals joined once again at the Falkirk end of the Union Canal, in the year 2000, by means of the Falkirk Wheel.
The Union Canal is a contour canal, following a 73 metre (240ft) contour throughout its length. Originally the only locks were those at Falkirk to make the link to the Forth and Clyde canal. Now there is one lock just before the Falkirk Wheel and a double lock just above. There is also a new tunnel where the canal crosses the Antonine Wall.
The canal has many aqueducts, including the Slateford Aqueduct that takes the canal over the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, the Almond Aqueduct near Ratho and the 810ft long Avon Aqueduct near Linlithgow, the second longest in the United Kingdom.
The Edinburgh end of the canal no longer reaches the site of Lochrin Basin, which was filled in after the canal closed. Instead the canal stops a little to the south and west of Lochrin Basin, at the site of another basin at Fountainbridge. This area is currently being redeveloped as Edinburgh Quay for commercial and residential use.
With the canal now largely restored for both boating and for walkers and cyclists on the towpath it is enjoying new life. Holiday barges are common in the spring and summer, while in area nearer the city centre there are even year-round residents living on barges while 'floating restaurant' barges sail most evenings where you can enjoy a meal and a cruise. Local rowing clubs continue to use the canal (notably from the universities in the city) and on June 30th 2007 a raft race (pictured) was held at the final section near Fountainbridge, behind the now disused Scottish and Newcastle Brewery along to the end of the canal at Tollcross, close to the original home of Sir Sean Connery, all using found 'junk' material. The picture above shows some of the competitors coming through the raised Leamington Lift Bridge (now all working once more) to reach the start line.

2008-04-08T12:27:00.001-04:00

Prelude
Ibrahim sent an envoy to Mani demanding its surrender or else he would pillage it.

Battle of Vergas
During the Battle of Vergas, Ibrahim decided to attack the Maniots from the rear. His plan was to send a small fleet with a few soldiers to land at the Bay of Diros, 2 kilometers south of Areopolis.

Battle of Diro
After his retreat from Mani due to the defeats at Vergas and Diros Pasha renewed his offensive in August. This was the last invasion launched against Mani.

Battle of Polytsaravo
Even though this campaign is overshadowed by other battles of the revolution, this one was one of the most important. The Maniates stopped the Egyptians and Ibrahim Pasha who had not been defeated this desicevly before. The women who defeated the Egyptians at Diros have been given the name of 'The Amazons of Diros'. This ended the Maniots' independence and they were forced to pay taxes.

Notes

2008-04-07T11:18:00.001-04:00

Route
Much of the road is single carriageway - both for a short distance through Greenock and a 21 mile stretch between Inverkip and Ardrossan.
The rest is dual carriageway - between the Eglington and Warrix interchanges there are in fact 3 lanes in each direction, and the road is constructed to motorway standard (with full grade separation at junctions) save for a lack of hard shoulders. The road very rarely appears busy on this stretch - the adjacent New Town of Irvine, North Ayrshire had a population of only 33,090 in the 2001 census.[1].

Recent Improvements
Flooding is common during periods of high winds combined with a high tide on the coastal stretch between Largs and Skelmorlie. For this reason, closure gates are located at both the north end of Largs and the south end of Skelmorlie.
When the road is closed traffic between Largs and Greenock is often diverted along narrow country lanes with little room to pass any oncoming traffic. This has been known to cause widespread delays.

2008-04-06T12:31:00.001-04:00

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture, or colour to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.

Perspective correctness

Bump mapping
Clamping
Normal mapping
Displacement mapping
Edwin Catmull
Texture filtering
Texture splatting - a technique for combining textures.
Wrapping (graphics)
Texture atlas

2008-04-05T12:30:00.001-04:00

The LA84 Foundation (known until June 2007 as the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles) is a private, nonprofit institution created by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to manage Southern California's endowment from the 1984 Olympic Games. Under an agreement made in 1979, 40 percent of any surplus was to stay in Southern California, with the other 60 percent going to the United States Olympic Committee. The total surplus was $232.5 million. Southern California's share was approximately $93 million.
The LA84 Foundation's mission [1] is to promote and expand youth sports opportunities in Southern California and to increase knowledge of sport and its impact on people's lives. Since inception, the Foundation has invested more than $164 million in Southern California by awarding grants to youth sports organizations, initiating sports and coaching education programs, and operating the world's premier sports library[2].
Grants [3] are awarded to organizations that provide on-going, structured youth sports programs combining the essential elements of teaching, learning and competition. The Foundation makes grants in the eight southernmost counties of California (Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura). Youth organizations in the Los Angeles area receive priority. The LA84 Foundation has made grants to more than 1,000 Southern California organizations since 1985.
The LA84 Foundation has initiated programs [4] to meet the youth sports needs of Southern California and to create models that can be applied elsewhere. These include the LA84 Foundation Coaching Education Program [5] as well as large-scale sports programs such as Summer Swim and Run 4 Fun, which serve nearly 20,000 children and teenagers each year.
The Foundation's headquarters is the historic Britt House located at 2141 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was formerly a sports museum that featured the Helms Athletic Foundation's collection of sports books, film, photographs and memorabilia. First Interstate Bank and the Peter and Ginny Ueberroth Foundation donated the Helms Collection, house and grounds to the LA84 Foundation in the summer of 1985.
The Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center houses the world's premier sports library [6]. The library maintains an extensive collection of books, periodicals, photograph and moving footage, with a special emphasis on the Olympic Games. The traditional library has been supplemented by the development of an extensive electronic collection of 45,000 PDFs including scholarly publications, popular magazine and primary historical documents available at no cost on the LA84 Foundation website.
The LA84 Foundation also hosts conferences and sponsors research on a variety of sport topics. The LA84 Foundations practical knowledge, acquired through years of direct involvement in youth sports, combined with its wide range of education services enables the Foundation to serve as a leading forum for the exchange of ideas and exploration of issues in sport.
In June 2007, the Foundation adopted the name LA84 Foundation to establish a unique identity and honor the spirit of the 1984 Olympic Games, which created the Foundation's endowment.

2008-04-04T13:15:00.001-04:00

Pope Saint Silverius was pope from June 8, 536 to March 537).
He was a legitimate son of Pope Hormisdas, born before his father entered the priesthood. He was probably consecrated on June 8, 536.
He opposed the restoration of the monophysite heretic, former patriarch of Constantinople Anthimus, whom Agapetus had deposed, and thus brought upon himself the hatred of Empress Theodora. Theodora then sought to have Vigilius made pope. During Silverius' papacy, it was alleged that he had purchased his elevation to the see of St. Peter from King Theodahad.
On December 9, 536, the Byzantine general Belisarius entered Rome, with the approval of Pope Silverius. Theodahad's successor, Witiges, gathered together an army and besieged Rome for several months, subjecting the city to privation and starvation. It was alleged that Pope Silverius wrote to Witiges offering to betray the city.
He was deposed accordingly by Belisarius in March 537 on a charge of treasonable correspondence with the Goths, and degraded to the rank of a simple monk. He found his way to Constantinople, and Justinian I, who entertained his complaint, sent him back to Rome, but Vigilius was eventually able to banish his rival to the prison island Pandataria (Ventotene), where the rest of his life was spent in obscurity. The date of his death is unknown.
According to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope St. Silverius was exiled not to Ventotene, but rather to Palmarola, where he died a couple of months later, on June 20, 537.
Pope Silverius was later beatified and made into a saint and is now the patron saint of the island of Ponza, Italy.
He is also called Saint Silverius (San Silverio). According to Ponza Islands legend, fishermen were in a small boat in a storm off Palmarola and they called on Saint Silverius for help. An apparition of Saint Siverius called them to Palmarola where they survived. This miracle made him a saint.
According to the "New Catholic Encyclopedia" (1966), the dates of Pope Silverius' pontificate are in doubt: "June 1 or 8, 536, to c. Nov. 11, 537; d. Palmaria, probably Dec 2, 537." Likewise, he was never beatified or canonized, but simply acclaimed a saint by the people. The first mention of his name in a list of saints is in the 11th century.

2008-04-03T11:19:00.001-04:00

Test debut: 8 July 1976 Last Test: 11 February 1977 Source: [1] Michael Walter William Selvey (born April 25, 1948, Chiswick, Middlesex) is a former England cricketer, and now cricket writer and commentator.
Selvey played for Surrey and Cambridge University before joining Middlesex in 1972 where he spent the majority of his playing career.
He made a dramatic debut in Test cricket against the West Indies at Old Trafford (cricket) in 1976, when he opened the bowling and took the wickets of Roy Fredericks, Viv Richards and Alvin Kallicharran for only six runs in his first 20 balls. He took 4 for 41 in that innings, and 6 for 152 in the match, but he only played two more Tests, and didn't take a single wicket in either of them.
In 1983 he moved to become captain of Glamorgan but persistent injuries forced him to retire after only a season and a half.
He subsequently became cricket correspondent of The Guardian newspaper, and a summariser on BBC Radio's Test Match Special, both of which roles he still performs.

2008-04-02T11:09:00.001-04:00

Joshua Otis (Josh) Turner (born November 20, 1977 in Hannah, South Carolina) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Signed to MCA Nashville Records in 2003, Josh made his debut on the American country music charts with the Top 20 single "Long Black Train". His debut album, also titled Long Black Train, was released in early 2004, and has since been certified platinum.
In 2005, Turner charted his first two Number One singles on the Billboard country charts: "Your Man" and "Would You Go With Me", both from his Your Man album, which has been certified double platinum.
To date, Josh has released three studio albums, all on MCA Nashville Records; his most recent, titled Everything Is Fine, was released in October of 2007.

Biography
On December 21, 2001, Turner debuted on the Grand Ole Opry with a song he had written himself, "Long Black Train."
In 2003, Turner released his debut album, Long Black Train. Prior to its release, Turner had released 7" vinyl singles of "She'll Go On You" and "Long Black Train." Both singles featured Long Black Train album track "Backwoods Boy" as a B-side. While neither "Backwoods Boy" nor "She'll Go On You" were successful, "Long Black Train" slowly started to climb the charts. "Long Black Train" peaked at #13 on Billboard's US Country chart, spending more than 40 weeks on that chart. The third single, "What It Ain't", was less successful, reaching #31.

Early success
In early 2006, Turner released his second album, Your Man. The album's first single and title track, "Your Man", was released in late 2005. "Your Man" also climbed the charts slowly, eventually reaching #1 in early 2006. Your Man was certified Gold by the RIAA four weeks after its release, and later went Platinum six months later.
"Would You Go with Me" was the second single released from Your Man. The song became Turner's second consecutive number-one single, staying at the top for two weeks. "Would You Go With Me" was a download hit and is considered Turner's biggest hit to date. Weeks after the song peaked on the charts, Turner performed it on the CMA Awards in November 2006. As a result, the song shot back up the download charts and re-emerged on the top half of the Hot 100 at #48.
Shortly after the album's release, a song called "Me and God" was released as a single to Christian radio. The song was successful on the Christian country music circuit and was eventually released as Turner's third single from Your Man to country radio. It debuted on the US Country chart at #54, and made it to #16.
In December 2006, the 49th Annual Grammy Award nominations were announced. Turner received nods for Best Male Country Vocal Performance and for Best Country Album.

"Your Man"
In December 2006, a featurette on CMT Insider showed Turner in the studio working on the album. He mentioned that he wanted it to sound like music in the 1700s and 1800s. Turner performed at the Ryman Auditorium where a live album was recorded, singing a song called, "Church in the Holler." Turner's album Josh Turner: Live At The Ryman was recorded in April and is available exclusively through Cracker Barrel restaurants.
Dusty Drake, a recording artist signed to Big Machine Records, charted in mid-2007 with the single "Say Yes", which was co-written by Josh Turner along with veteran songwriters Brett James and Don Schlitz.
Turner's third studio album for MCA, titled Everything Is Fine, was released on October 30, 2007. Its lead-off single, titled "Firecracker", has become Turner's third Top Ten hit on the country music charts.
Turner has also set up The Josh Turner Fund for the Arts, a non-profit account set up to promote music in schools.

Discography

Grammy Awards

2007 - Male Country Vocal Performance - "Would You Go With Me" (Nomination)
2007 - Country Album - Your Man (Nomination)
CMA Awards
- 2004 - Horizon Award (Nomination)
  2004 - Song of the Year - "Long Black Train" (Nomination)
  2006 - Horizon Award (Nomination)
  2007 Male Vocalist of the Year (Nomination)
  ACM Awards
  - 2004 - Top New Artist (Nomination)
    2005 - Top New Artist (Nomination)
    2007 - Single Record of the Year - "Would You Go With Me" (Nomination)
    2007 - Song of the Year - "Would You Go With Me" (Nomination)
    2007 - Vocal Event of the Year - "Me and God" (with Ralph Stanley and Diamond Rio) (Nomination)
    CMT Flameworthy Awards/CMT Music Awards
    - 2004 - Breakthrough Video of the Year - "Long Black Train" (Nomination)
      Inspirational Country Music Awards
      - 2004 - Song of the Year - "Long Black Train" (Winner)
        2004 - Songwriter (Winner)
        2004 - Mainstream Country Artist (Nominee)
        2006 - Song of the Year - "Me And God" (Nomination)
        2006 - Songwriter (Nomination)
        2006 - Mainstream Country Artist (Nomination)

2008-04-01T12:31:00.001-04:00

Fairport Convention are often credited with being the first English electric folk band. Formed in April 1967, with Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, Ashley Hutchings and Shaun Frater, Fairport rapidly developed from playing cover versions of American 'west coast' style music to an individual style which melded rock music with traditional English tunes and songs.
Bedevilled by numerous personnel changes throughout its first decade, Fairport Convention were temporarily disbanded in 1979 but played annual reunion concerts until they reformed in 1985. Since then, they have enjoyed stability and continue to tour and record regularly.
In part, the continuing success of Fairport Convention is due to the annual music festival the band organises. Cropredy Festival has been held every year since 1977 near Cropredy, a village five miles north of Banbury, Oxfordshire and attracts 20,000 fans. Now renamed Fairport's Cropredy Convention, it remains one of the key events in the UK folk festival calendar.
BBC Radio 2's Sold On Song TOP 100 songs as voted for by Radio 2 listeners put their early song "Meet On The Ledge" at Number 17. They had performed "Meet on the Ledge" on the 1969 launch of "From the Roundhouse" (a short-lived BBC-TV youth and arts programme about the London "underground scene"). In 2002 the band was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and in 2006, Liege & Lief was voted the most influential folk album of all time in a public ballot, also run by the BBC.

History: 1967–1979
The phrase folk rock sprang up in the 1960s to describe a genre which brought together electric instruments and folk songs and tunes. Bob Dylan set the trend when he 'went electric' at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965 and on his album Bringing It All Back Home. Around the same time after their encounter with Bob Dylan, the Beatles began to feature acoustic guitars more prominently in their music, and started to focus more deeply on their lyrics, particularly John Lennon who was expressing more auto-biographical content with his lyrics. This was very evident on their Rubber Soul release, most notably on the song "Norwegian Wood". Bob Dylan's introduction of the Beatles to marijuana is commonly thought to be a factor to this exchange. The Byrds later developed the trend further with their covers of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and of Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn" and incorporating Beatles-sounding jangling 12-string electric guitars.
Rock journalist Ritchie Unterberger writes in his book Eight Miles High:
"Prior to 1968, rather incredibly, there was not a single British rock group that played electric folk-rock consistently and well. It is thus not too surprising that the band to become roundly acclaimed as the best British folk-rock group, Fairport Convention, took its initial inspiration from American folk-rock, particularly the guitar-oriented California sort."
Although folk-rock was well-established in the USA by 1968, Fairport Convention was the first English band to concentrate on bringing rock instruments and rock arrangements to traditional songs. Initially, the British press (and Fairport Convention's members) titled this mixture electric folk but the term 'folk-rock' soon became the norm, although it is a broader category than electric folk. Therefore, although other bands in the UK were experimenting with the folk-rock genre (including Strawbs and Pentangle), Fairport Convention is widely credited with 'inventing' British folk-rock.
However, Fairport Convention was also developing in other ways. As as well as revivals of traditional material with modern instrumentation and rhythms, bandmembers were increasingly composing original material and Richard Thompson had developed into a talented and inventive guitarist. Fairport Convention even entered the singles charts with "Si Tu Dois Partir", a French-language version of Bob Dylan's "If You Gotta Go". The record just missed the top twenty but got the band (with guest triangulist, John Peel) a slot on Top Of The Pops, Britain's most popular television pop music programme at the time.

Tragedy
Despite the triumph of Liege & Lief, founding member Ashley Hutchings, who was to become the reigning intellectual of the folk-rock movement, quit to form Steeleye Span. To compound Fairport's problems, Sandy Denny also left the band. Dave Pegg took over on bass guitar and has been in the band ever since, an unbroken stint of 34 years. Sandy Denny was essentially irreplaceable, so the band decided to continue without a female singer.
All the band members and their families moved in to The Angel, a former pub in Hertfordshire. There was nearly another tragedy when a runaway lorry crashed into the building. Dave Swarbrick was rudely awakened as the truck demolished his bedroom, leaving him unhurt but covered in rubble.
The next Fairport album was Full House; soon after its release Richard Thompson left the band. Simon Nicol was now the only original member. Dave Swarbrick developed a folk-rock opera called Babbacombe Lee and life in the ex-pub inspired the LP Angel Delight. The two albums were the first time the same Fairport line-up had recorded consecutively: every other release had seen changes in personnel from its predecessor. Babbacombe Lee was a success, and received good air play in the United States.
Simon Nicol left Fairport early in 1972, followed by Dave Mattacks, although both would rejoin later. That left the two Daves, Pegg and Swarbrick, holding the band together. The following few years were dubbed 'Fairport Confusion' as a bewildering sequence of band members came and went, but by 1973 Mattacks had returned and two former members of Sandy Denny's Fotheringay had joined the band, Denny's Australian husband Trevor Lucas (vocals/guitar) and American Jerry Donahue (lead guitar). The next two studio albums were Rosie (1973) and Fairport Nine (1974).
Denny rejoined Fairport Convention in 1974 and there were considerable expectations, including commercial expectations, about this lineup. Denny was featured on the album Rising For The Moon, but left again in 1976, as did Lucas and Donahue. During the Rising sessions, Mattacks was replaced by Bruce Rowland. Rowland, Pegg and Swarbrick fulfilled their remaining contractual obligation to Island Records by recording the album Gottle O'Geer as Fairport (as opposed to Fairport Convention) with various session players and production by Simon Nicol, who subsequently rejoined the band. Having come to the end of the contract with Island Records, Fairport signed up with Vertigo. By now, the line-up had stabilised with Nicol, Swarbrick, Pegg and Rowland, but after two of four contracted albums, Vertigo wanted out: in fact, the label ended up paying Fairport Convention not to make albums.
Sandy Denny died aged 31, in 1978, of a cerebral haemorrhage after falling down a flight of stairs.

1970s - major changes
In 1979 the band had no record deal and Dave Swarbrick's hearing was deteriorating rapidly. Fairport decided to call it a day. The band did a farewell tour and played a final outdoor concert on 4 August in Cropredy, the Oxfordshire village where Dave and Christine Pegg lived. No record company wanted to release the live recordings of the tour and concert so the Peggs started Woodworm Records and released it themselves.
After a year, Fairport Convention staged a reunion concert in Cropredy and the annual Cropredy Festival was born. Over the next few years, it grew rapidly. Soon Fairport was staging New Year gigs and playing in Scandinavia. The Peggs continued to record and release the Cropredy concerts as 'official bootlegs'. Meanwhile, Dave Pegg had joined Jethro Tull which gave him a well-paying steady gig, and was the first of several Convention players who played in both folk rock preceptors.
Simon Nicol had teamed up with Dave Swarbrick in an acoustic duo. In 1985 both Pegg and Nicol had some spare time. Dave Mattacks was free too. They decided to record an album of new material in the Peggs' studio.

1979 - "Aww, mama, can this really be the end?"
Dave Swarbrick declined to join the new band, so violin virtuoso Ric Sanders, formerly of Soft Machine, was invited to participate. Multi-instrumentalist Maartin Allcock was also recruited and the five-piece recorded Fairport's only all-instrumental album Expletive Delighted.
With its mix of old stagers and new blood, this proved to be Fairport Convention's longest-lasting line-up - eleven years.
In the early nineties, a four-piece acoustic line-up emerged, the two versions of Fairport running in parallel. Woodworm continued to record and release the band's studio albums and live 'boots'. Maartin Allcock left in the mid-1990s and was replaced by Chris Leslie on mandolin and fiddle. Chris proved to be a talented songwriter and has made a significant contribution to the band's repertoire.
In 1998, Dave Mattacks moved to the USA and Gerry Conway, who had travelled a parallel musical road to Fairport for 30 years, took over on drums and percussion.

History: post-1985
The new century found Fairport in fine form. Concert halls were full and records were selling surprisingly well. The year 2000 was marked by the very successful 'Y2K' tour and a new studio album, The Wood And The Wire. In 2002, Fairport Convention celebrated 35 years as a band and released a new album, titled XXXV. They also commissioned Fairport-branded 'Anniversary Ale', a bottled beer from Wadworth Brewery (the band was always known for a willingness to hoist a few). The band undertook a gruelling schedule, touring the UK, Europe, Australasia, Europe, the USA and Canada.
Fairport Convention won the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their seminal album Liege & Lief was voted 'Best Folk Album Ever' by Radio 2 listeners. Free Reed Records, an independent label, released Fairport Unconventional, a four-CD boxed set of rare and unreleased recordings from the band's 35-year career in 2002. The band had achieved legendary status, "outliving" scores of similar musical aggregations.
Fairport Convention is still one of the busiest bands on the folk-rock scene in the UK. The current line-up of Simon Nicol (lead vocal, rhythm and electric guitars), Dave Pegg (backing vocals, bass guitar, mandolin), Ric Sanders (violin), Chris Leslie (lead vocal, fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin) and Gerry Conway (percussion and drums) still packs venues on its frequent tours.
In 2004, the band staged a major fundraiser at Birmingham Symphony Hall for Dave Swarbrick — who received a lung transplant — and played summer dates at home and abroad.
In August 2004, the band's new own-brand label, Matty Grooves Records (the name is a pun on an old murder ballad sung memorably by Sandy Denny on Liege & Lief, "Matty Groves"), released the album Over The Next Hill and Free Reed Records released a four-CD boxed set, Cropredy Capers. In October, Fairport toured the USA and Canada and the year would end with tours by the four-piece acoustic line-up and spin-off band The Dylan Project.
In February 2007, Matty Grooves Records released the band's new album Sense of Occasion to celebrate their 40 years of music.
On 10 August 2007, to great acclaim, the band performed the whole of the [[Liege & Lief]] album live at Cropredy in the 1969 line-up of Dave Swarbrick, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson, with Chris While taking the place of Sandy Denny.

Into the 21st century
The 2007 line up of Fairport Convention is:
The following musicians have been members of Fairport Convention:

Simon Nicol (guitar, lead vocal): 1967 - 1971, 1976 - present
Dave Pegg (bass guitar, mandolin, backing vocal): 1970 - present
Ric Sanders (fiddles, occasional keyboards): 1985 - present
Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki, lead vocal): 1997 - present
Gerry Conway (drums and percussion): 1998 - present
Ashley Hutchings (bass guitar) 1967 - 1969
Bob Brady (piano) 1976
Bruce Rowland (drums) 1975 - 1984
Dan Ar Braz (guitar) 1976
Dave Mattacks (drums, keyboards) 1969 - 1972, 1973 - 1975, 1985 - 1997
David Rea (guitar) 1972
David Swarbrick (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) 1969 - 1984
Iain Matthews (vocal) 1967 - 1968
Jerry Donahue (guitar) 1972 - 1975
Judy Dyble (vocal, autoharp, recorder) 1967 - 1968
Maartin Allcock (guitar, mandolin, keyboard, vocal) 1985 - 1996
Martin Lamble (drums) 1967 - 1969
Paul Warren (drums) 1972
Richard Thompson (guitar, vocal) 1967 - 1971
Roger Burridge (fiddle) 1976
Roger Hill (guitar) 1972
Sandy Denny (vocal, piano) 1968 - 1969, 1974 - 1975
Tom Farnell (drums) 1972
Trevor Lucas (guitar, vocal) 1972 - 1975 Band members

Fairport Convention 1968
What We Did on Our Holidays January 1969
Unhalfbricking July 1969
Liege & Lief December 1969
Full House July 1970
Angel Delight 1971
Babbacombe Lee 1971
Rosie 1973
Nine 1973
Rising for the Moon 1975
Gottle O'Geer 1976
The Bonny Bunch of Roses 1977
Tipplers Tales 1978
Gladys Leap 1985
Expletive Delighted 1986
In Real Time 1987
Heyday 1987
Red And Gold 1989
The Five Seasons 1990
Jewel in the Crown (album) 1995
Old New Borrowed Blue 1996 (Fairport Acoustic Convention)
Who Knows Where the Time Goes (album) 1997
The Cropredy Box 1998
Cropredy 98 1999
The Wood and the Wire 1999
XXXV 2001
Over the Next Hill 2004
Sense of Occasion 2007 Discography

Fairport Live Convention 1974 aka A Moveable Feast
Live at the L.A. Troubadour January 1977 (Recorded Sept 1970)
Farewell Farewell 1979 aka Encore Encore
Moat On The Ledge - Live At Broughton Castle 1982
House Full (live) June 1986 (Recorded Sept 1970)
25th Anniversary Concert 1992
The Quiet Joys of Brotherhood 2004
Journeyman's Grace 2005
Live at the BBC 2007 Live Albums

History of Fairport Convention 1972 compilation
Tour Sampler 1975 (UK Only issue)
The Woodworm Years 1991 compilation
Rhythm Of The Times 2003 Pickwick compilation from 1985-1990 Compilation Albums

Cropredy Festival
Music of the United Kingdom
Ashley Hutchings
folk-rock
Nick Drake
Albion Country Band Interviews

Expletive Delighted fansite .
Fiddlestix: Australian Friends of Fairport
Another extensive fan site (Daniel Walton)

2008-03-29T13:13:00.001-04:00

The Vancouver Museum is a local museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. It is housed within the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre building and is the largest civic museum in Canada. The museum was formerly located in the upstairs of the old Carnegie Library and includes in its collection artifacts collected from around the world by Vancouver residents, including a mummy purchased in Egypt during World War I, taxidermy of local game and wildlife, popular culture artifacts collected locally from the late 19th and 20th centuries, and journals written by local middle and upper class women chronicling their travels throughout the British Empire. The museum was founded by the Art, Historical, and Scientific Association of Vancouver, which formed on April 17th, 1894 with the object of cultivating "a taste for the beauties and refinements in life." The society collected curios and artifacts and displayed them in various locations until the museum opened in its first permanent location in the library on April 15th, 1905. Its current location was built as part of Canada's centennial in 1967.

2008-03-28T12:22:00.000-04:00

A brand name of household appliances produced mainly by Whirlpool (and various other manufacturers, such as Panasonic for vacuum cleaners), Electrolux and Mabe Mexico for white goods and sold by Sears Holdings Corporation in the USA.

Kenmore Products

BBQ Grilles
Washing Machines
Dryers
Dishwashers
Microwaves
Refrigerators
Stoves
Vacuums Cleaners
Sewing Machines
Other household products

2008-03-27T12:03:00.001-04:00

The Deeside Way (commonly known as the Old Deeside Line; the Royal Deeside Line or simply the Deeside Line), is a pathway that travels along the bed of the now removed Deeside Railway, along the north bank of the River Dee in Scotland.
While in operation, the railway was used by the British Royal Family during travel to their Scottish retreat at Balmoral, hence the local name the Royal Deeside Line.

Deeside Railway
The Deeside Railway was a line that travelled from Aberdeen to Ballater as a stretch of the Great North of Scotland Railway.
Its tracks have since been removed in their entirety and the path opened as a track to the public. However Royal Deeside Railway preservation society are reclaiming part of the line to build a heritage railway from Banchory to Milton of Crathes.

2008-03-26T12:39:00.001-04:00

The Canadian currency tactile feature is a feature on current Canadian banknotes. Bills in the "Canadian Journey" series have a tactile feature to indicate denomination in the upper right corner of the face side of the bill, as suggested by Canadian National Institute for the Blind administrator Bruno Thériault. This tactile feature is a series of raised dots; it does not use standard Braille because the Canadian Federal Government, in consultation with the blind and visually impaired, decided a different system is more accessible. The principal designer was Dr. Susan Lederman, a professor of Psychology at Queen's University.[1]
The currency denomination must be recognized easily, and standard Braille was deemed too sensitive. Thus Canadian currency uses a system based only on full blocks of Braille cells (6 dots). The denomination is expressed by the number and (only for the $100 bill) arrangement of the blocks.

2008-03-25T13:06:00.001-04:00

Robert Leigh Higginson (born August 18, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Detroit Tigers. He has a career batting average of .272. He attended Temple University.
Higginson was drafted by the Tigers in the 12th round of the 1992 draft. His rookie year was 1995 when he played 130 games for the Tigers. Higginson batted .300 in 1996 and 2000, scored over 100 runs in 2000 and drove in over 100 runs in 1997 and 2000. In 2000 he became one of eight players in baseball history to hit .300, score over 100 runs, hit 30 home runs, hit 44 doubles, drive in over 100 RBI and steal 15 bases in one year. His career high of 30 home-runs came also in 2000. At his best, he was considered one of the better-fielding outfielders in baseball. He twice led the majors in outfield assists.
As of 2006, Higginson's baseball career has ended. After injury limited him to 10 games in 2005, he was removed from the Tigers' 40-man roster before the season ended. At age 35 and with his best years far behind him, he was unsigned by another team. He ended his career never having played on a team that had a winning season. He was a member of three of the worst teams in the history of major-league baseball: the woeful Detroit Tigers of 1996, 2002, and 2003.
Higginson is now a partner in a limousine company in Oakland County, Michigan and divides his time between Michigan and Florida.

Detroit Tigers (1995-2005)
Spent entire career with the Tigers

2008-03-24T11:45:00.001-04:00

Snow Patrol are a Grammy Award-nominated alternative rock band which formed in Scotland, with the majority of their members being from Bangor and Belfast, Northern Ireland. They are currently based in Glasgow and are signed to Polydor Records. Originally formed as an indie rock band, Snow Patrol have sought a more alternative rock and powerpop sound in recent years on the heels of mainstream success with the songs "Run", "Chasing Cars" and more recently, "Signal Fire" from the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack. The band's latest album, Eyes Open, was nominated for the category of Best British Album at the 2007 BRIT Awards.

History
Originally formed in late 1994 as "Shrug" by students Gary Lightbody and Mark McClelland at the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland, the band started by performing gigs at the university and surrounding pubs before changing their name to Polar Bear (or Polarbear) in late 1995. The name was changed to Snow Patrol after an error printing early demo CDs. In the early days, the band used to pretend to be members of the Scottish band Belle & Sebastian in order to gain free entry to the Student Union club at the Glasgow School of Art
At this point, Jonny Quinn, from Northern Ireland, joined as permanent drummer. With him the band released their next EP "Little Hide" on Jeepster Records while still living in Dundee (its cover was a blurred photo of a football crowd watching Dundee United F.C. at Tannadice Park, taken by Gary Lightbody). A follow-up single "One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed" was a minor independent chart hit. Both of these early singles were heavily promoted by Jeepster - with videos included as computer files on the CD singles, and Snow Patrol starting to appear on television. Their first MTV interview was in 1998, and they briefly appeared on a Channel 4 documentary about Jeepster Records (which concentrated mostly on Belle and Sebastian) that same year. Two albums on Jeepster followed: Songs for Polarbears in 1998 (including a slightly remixed version of their debut single "Starfighter Pilot") and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up in 2001 (both recorded while the band lived in Glasgow). Also in 2001, Gary collected a group of Scottish musicians, from such acts as Mogwai and Belle and Sebastian together to perform as a "supergroup", The Reindeer Section, who have so far released two CD albums. Gary also performed vocals on a single by Cut La Roc.

Early years
After being dropped by Jeepster, guitarist Nathan Connolly joined, and the band signed to the mainstream Polydor label. They gained mainstream success with their song "Run" (which debuted at No.5 in the UK singles chart), as well as the album it was from, the 2003 release, Final Straw which was produced by Jacknife Lee. The record peaked at #3 in the UK albums chart. Archer's final date with the band was September 27, 2003 in the St Andrews Students' Association. They followed the success of "Run" up with three more singles from the album: "Chocolate", as well as a re-release of "Spitting Games", both reaching the top 30, and "How to Be Dead" reaching number 39.
The release of Final Straw in the United States in 2004 saw the album notching up well in excess of a quarter of a million sales and becoming the 26th most popular British album of that year.
On March 16, 2005, McClelland left the band, with Lightbody stating 'a whole new set of new and unexpected pressures... have unfortunately taken their toll on working relationships within the band, and it was felt the band could not move forward with Mark as a member.' Former Terra Diablo member Paul Wilson replaced him on bass. In April 2005, Snow Patrol declared longtime touring keyboardist Tom Simpson an official member of the band.
In mid-2005, during their tour to support Final Straw, the band toured with U2 as an opening act on U2's Vertigo Tour in Europe. That summer also saw Snow Patrol playing a small set in London at the worldwide benefit concert Live 8. After finishing their opening act duties and extensive 2-year tour of Final Straw in late July, the band took a few weeks off and began writing and recording songs for a new album. Snow Patrol's new version of John Lennon's "Isolation" was released on December 10, 2005 as part of the Amnesty International campaign, Make Some Noise. The song was later issued on the 2007 John Lennon tribute album, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.

Breakthrough success
The band completed recording Eyes Open in December 2005, with Jacknife Lee returning for production, and this album was released in the UK and Ireland on the May 1, 2006, with the first UK single "You're All I Have" having been released on the April 24, 2006. The album was released in North America on May 9. While "Hands Open" was the first American single, "Chasing Cars" pushed its way onto the download and pop charts after it was heard in the second season finale of the television show Grey's Anatomy on May 15, 2006. Due to the song's surprise popularity, it was released as an overlapping single in early June and the video was re-recorded to include clips from the show. The song was also featured in another television show, One Tree Hill, during its season finale. On the December 30, 2006, it was voted by Virgin Radio listeners to be the #1 song of all time. Another one of the band's songs, "Open Your Eyes", was heard on the season finale of another medical program, ER, on the May 18, 2006, the The 4400, the second episode of Grey's Anatomy's third season on September 28, 2006, and the pilot episode of NBC's series The Black Donnellys.
On July 30, 2006, Snow Patrol appeared on the finale of the long-running BBC music show Top of the Pops, performing "Chasing Cars". The band was the last act to ever appear on the show.
Snow Patrol recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road on October 4, 2006. The performance was included on an episode shared with Madeleine Peyroux and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and shown in the UK on Channel 4 and the USA on the Sundance Channel.
The band was forced to postpone a majority of the American Eyes Open tour after polyps were discovered on Lightbody's vocal cords, and failed to heal after initial postponement of three dates on the tour. Dates were rescheduled for August and September. The year would continue to be difficult on the band for the U.S. legs of their tours, as they were also forced to cancel two west coast festival appearances in mid-August due to the threat of terrorist attacks on U.S.-bound flights from the UK. Two band members made it to the U.S. while two were stuck in London. Sequentially, they all made it to the lone U.S. tour stop in Boston days later but failed to recover any of their luggage, forcing them to shop for clothes on Newbury St. that afternoon. Their gear arrived hours before show time, just in time for sound check.
The band also had to cancel appearances in Germany and France after bassist Paul Wilson injured his left arm and shoulder.
On November 26, 2006, Eyes Open had become the UK's best-selling album of the year, overtaking previous leader Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys. Despite very strong sales for Take That's comeback album Beautiful World, Eyes Open marginally earned the title of the UK's best-selling album of 2006, with 1.6 million sales. The album reached platinum certification in the US as well, and as of February 2007, it has sold nearly 1,000,000 copies. It has maintained a spot in the upper quarter of the Billboard 200 list for over fifteen weeks, on the heels of the popularity of "Chasing Cars". The band also holds the distinction of having one of iTunes' top downloaded albums and songs of 2006.
Ahead of the band's February tour, Eyes Open topped the Australian charts some eight months after its release on January 22, 2006. This February tour, the band asked long term friend and Boss Volenti drummer, Graham Hopkins to play drums as Jonny Quinn had broken his arm. The band will tour Australia again in September 2007.
Snow Patrol appeared as the musical guest on the March 17, 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. They performed "You're All I Have" and "Chasing Cars".
The band toured Japan in April, followed by European festival dates, Mexico, and the US in the summer. They will end their tour in Australia in September 2007, with shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Canberra. Gary Lightbody has stated that recording for the follow-up to Eyes Open will begin in autumn 2007, with Jacknife Lee returning a third time for production.
The band contributed the song "Signal Fire" to the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack, as well as the film. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack and was featured in the credits to the film.
On the July 7, 2007, the band performed at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London. They performed "Open Your Eyes", "Shut Your Eyes", and "Chasing Cars". Shortly after the band's performance, Simpson was arrested at RAF Northolt for missing a court date in Glasgow after having been charged for possession of a Class A drug (cocaine). He was held at Uxbridge Police Station, and transferred to Strathclyde before being released in time to perform with the band at T in the Park in Balado. Simpson missed Snow Patrol's performance at the Oxegen Festival in Ireland as a result.

The follow-up

Current members

Mark McClelland – bass guitar, keyboards Discography

Final Straw US Tour (2004) with Eisley; early 2005 with Athlete)
U2 Vertigo Tour (Openers on select dates in Europe, mid-2005)
SXSW Promo Tour w/ Republic of Loose (early 2006)
Eyes Open US Tour w/ Augustana and Duke Special (or Aberdeen City on select dates) (mid-2006)
Chasing Cars Tour w/ OK GO and Silversun Pickups (early 2007)
Summer Tour w/ Hot Hot Heat on U.S. and Canada dates (mid-2007)
Australasian Tour, w/ Iain Archer (Australia and New Zealand), Silversun Pickups (Australia only), and Opshop (New Zealand only) September 2007.

2008-03-23T13:00:00.001-04:00

Erik Ullenhag (born July 20, 1972 in Uppsala) is a Swedish jurist and politician with the Liberal People's Party. Ullenhag was chairman for the Liberal Youth of Sweden between 1997 and 1999 and a Member of the Riksdag between 2002 and 2006. On October 10, 2006 Ullenhag was appointed party secretary for the Liberal People's Party.
Erik Ullenhag is the son of Jörgen Ullenhag.

2008-03-22T11:16:00.001-04:00

Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsburg on April 10, 1915 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American television actor of Norwegian extraction. He graduated from Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan, where he achieved distinction as a statewide debating champion.[1].
He is perhaps best known as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H, "Pete" on Pete and Gladys and December Bride, and Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet.

Career
Features:
Short Subjects:

To the Shores of Tripoli (1942)
The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942)
Orchestra Wives (1942)
The Omaha Trail (1942)
Crash Dive (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Happy Land (1943)
The Eve of St. Mark (1944)
Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944)
Wing and a Prayer (1944)
Gentle Annie (1944)
A Bell for Adano (1945)
State Fair (1945)
From This Day Forward (1946)
Johnny Comes Flying Home (1946)
Dragonwyck (1946)
Somewhere in the Night (1946)
It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1946)
Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946)
The Gangster (1947)
All My Sons (1948)
The Big Clock (1948)
Race Street (1948)
The Saxon Charm (1948)
Moonrise (1948)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Hello Out There (1949) (unfinished)
Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949)
Madame Bovary (1949)
Strange Bargain (1949)
Red Light (1949)
Holiday Affair (1949)
Outside the Wall (1950)
The Showdown (1950)
Dark City (1950)
Belle Le Grand (1951)
When I Grow Up (1951)
Appointment with Danger (1951)
The Highwayman (1951)
The Well (1951)
The Blue Veil (1951)
Boots Malone (1952)
Scandal Sheet (1952)
Bend of the River (1952)
My Six Convicts (1952)
High Noon (1952)
What Price Glory? (1952)
Big Jim McLain (1952) (narrator)
Apache War Smoke (1952)
Toughest Man in Arizona (1952)
Stop, You're Killing Me (1952)
Thunder Bay (1953)
Arena (1953)
Champ for a Day (1953)
Torch Song (1953)
The Glenn Miller Story (1953)
Prisoner of War (1954)
The Forty-Niners (1954)
About Mrs. Leslie (1954)
The Far Country (1955)
Strategic Air Command (1955)
Not as a Stranger (1955)
Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
The Bottom of the Bottle (1956)
Backlash (1956)
Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers (1956) (documentary)
Star in the Dust (1956)
The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
Under Fire (1957)
It Started with a Kiss (1959)
The Mountain Road (1960)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Cimarron (1960)
How the West Was Won (1962)
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (1965)
Frankie and Johnny (1966)
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
The Flim-Flam Man (1967)
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)
Viva Max! (1969)
Patton (1970)
The Barefoot Executive (1971)
Support Your Local Gunfighter! (1971)
Scandalous John (1971)
Snowball Express (1972)
Charley and the Angel (1973)
The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)
The Shootist (1976)
The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
The Flight of Dragons (1982)
Dragnet (1987)
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996) (documentary)
Family Plan (1998)
A Scrap of Paper (1943)
Operation Teahouse (1956)
Star Spangled Salesman (1968)
Crosswalk (1999)

2008-03-21T11:06:00.001-04:00

William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American historian and biographer, notable as the bestselling author of 18 books that have been translated into 20 languages.

Bibliography

2008-03-20T13:27:00.001-04:00

Collective defense is an arrangement, usually formalized by a treaty and an organization, among participant states that commit support in defense of a member state if it is attacked by another state outside the organization.
NATO is the best known collective defense organization. Its now famous Article V calls on (but not fully commits) member states to assist another member under attack. This article was invoked after the September 11 attacks on the United States, after which other NATO members provided assistance to the US War on Terror in Afghanistan.
Collective defense has its roots in multiparty alliances, and entails benefits as well as risks. On the one hand, by combining and pooling resources, it can reduce any single state's cost of providing fully for its security. Smaller members of NATO, for example, have leeway to invest a greater proportion of their budget on non-military priorities, such as education or health, since they can count on other members to come to their defense, if needed.
On the other hand, collective defense also involves risky commitments. Member states can become embroiled in costly wars in which neither the direct victim nor the aggressor benefit. In the First World War, countries in the collective defense arrangement known as the Triple Entente (France, Britain, Russia) got pulled into war quickly when Germany declared war on Russia.
Although they overlap, collective defense is different from collective security, in which members work to deter aggression in the first place. The United Nations is an example of a collective security arrangement, albeit with significant limitations. In general, collective defense involves a more explicit commitment among a group of like-minded members.
Another examples of collective defense is West African organisation ECOMOG and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

2008-03-19T11:01:00.001-04:00

Membership
The Bank launched a separate internet-only operation known as smile in 1999, which, according to surveys, has the highest satisfaction ratings among UK banks and has received many awards in recent years for customer service and online banking [1]. It has around half-a-million customers. Smile has its call centre based at a unique pyramid building in Stockport.

Co-operative Bank Independent Financial Advisers (CBFA)
While the bank, like any other, is run on profitable lines, it does occasionally turn away new business which it feels may compromise its ethical policies. In the 2005/06 financial year, whilst making profits of £96.5 million, it turned away business of nearly £10 million (Guardian article).
In June 2005, the bank closed the account of a Christian evangelical group (Christian Voice) because of its allegedly homophobic standpoint. They said the group was "incompatible with the position of The Co-operative Bank, which publicly supports diversity and dignity". Christian Voice said the bank was discriminating against it on religious grounds (press release). Gay Times subsequently selected The Co-operative Bank for its Ethical Corporate Stance Award.

2008-03-18T12:18:00.001-04:00

Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century.

History
Hutterite communities, called "colonies", are all rural; many depend largely on farming or ranching, depending on their locale, for their income. More and more colonies are getting into manufacturing as its gets harder to make a living on farming alone. The colony is virtually or literally self-sufficient, constructing its own buildings, doing its own maintenance and repair on equipment, making its own clothes, etc.

Society
Hutterite colonies are male-managed with women participating in stereotypically feminine roles such as cooking, medical decisions and selection and purchase of fabric for clothing. The colony's manager is the Minister, with his wife holding the title of Schneider (from German "tailor"), thus she is in charge of clothing making or purchasing.

Governance
Hutterites practice a near-total community of goods: all property is owned by the colony, and provisions for individual members and their families come from the common resources. This practice is based largely on Hutterite interpretation of passages in chapters 2, 4, and 5 of Acts, which speak of the believers "having all things in common". Thus the colony owns and operates its buildings and equipment like a corporation. Housing units are built and assigned to individual families but belong to the colony and there is very little personal property. Meals are taken by the entire colony in a common long room.
Hutterites say that in their entire five-century history there have been two murders and one suicide. Young Hutterite men often leave their colony upon reaching adulthood to try life in the outside world. The vast majority (according to one Minister, 80 percent) return disillusioned by the harsh, cold speed of the modern world and are welcomed back to the colony.

Community ownership
Each colony consists of about 10 to 20 families, with a population of around 60 to 150. When the colony's population grows near the upper figure and its leadership determines that branching off is economically and spiritually necessary, they locate, purchase land for, and build a "daughter" colony. When the new colony is complete and ready for habitation, half of the old colony's members are chosen (usually by lot) to depart for the new colony, which they often do the very next day. When an intercolony marriage occurs, the bride goes to live in the groom's colony, where they may be treated to a "shivaree" (see charivari), though it's good-natured and not intended as a note of disapproval.

Daughter colonies
Often, colonies own large tracts of land and, since they function as a collective unit, can afford top-of-the-line farm implements. Some also run state-of-the-art hog, chicken or turkey barns. An increasing number of Hutterite colonies are again venturing into the manufacturing sector. Before the Hutterites emigrated to North America, they relied on manufacturing to sustain their communities. It was only in Russia that the Hutterites learned to farm from the Mennonites. Largely due to the increasing automation of farming (GPS controlled seeding, spraying, etc), Hutterites are again looking to manufacturing to provide work for their people. Many of the colonies, who have gone into manufacturing, have realized that they need to provide their members with a higher level of education.

Agriculture and manufacturing
Although Hutterites attempt to remove themselves from the outside world (televisions are forbidden, though tapes, CDs and radios are not), and many of the Lehrerleut and Dariusleut (Alberta) colonies still only have one central phone, the majority of the Schmiedeleut already have phones in each household and place of business. Phones are used for both business and for social purposes. Cell phones are also very common among the Schmied groups. Text messaging has made cell phones particularly useful for Hutterian young people wishing to keep in touch with their peers. Some Hutterite homes have computers and radios; a minority of communities (mostly, liberal Schmiedleut colonies) have some sort of filtered Internet access.

Use of technology
Rather than send their children to an outside school, Hutterites build a schoolhouse onsite at the colony to fulfill a minimum educational agreement with the State, which is typically run by an outside hired educator who teaches the basics including English (this person is called the "English Teacher", not because English is used in the classroom but because the teacher is an outsider (English speaker)). Traditionally, Hutterite children have left school at 15 years of age to fulfill their adult roles in the colony. This practice is still strictly maintained by the Lehrerleut and most of the Dariusleut colonies. However, an increasing number of Hutterites, especially among the Schmiedeleut in Manitoba, have graduated from high school. In addition, some of these young people have then gone on to attend university; many become teachers for their colonies. Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, offers a Hutterite Education Program (BUHEP) to Hutterites that are willing to teach on Hutterite colonies. This program is only available to the Hutterite colonies on the liberal side of the Schmiedleut split.

Schooling
Music is officially permitted only in vocal form, however, some colonies allow instruments

Music
Alberta Hutterites won the right to avoid having their photograph taken for their drivers' licenses. In May 2007, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the photograph requirement violates their religious rights and that driving was essential to their way of life. The Wilson Springs colony based their belief on the second commandment ("Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image").

Photography
In contrast to the plain look of the Amish and Old Order Mennonites, Hutterite clothing can be vividly coloured, especially on children.

Clothing
Just as the Amish and Old Order Mennonites often use Pennsylvania German, the Hutterites have preserved and use among themselves a distinct dialect of German known as Hutterite German or Hutterisch. Originally based on a Tyrolean dialect from the south-central German-speaking Europe from which they sprang in the 16th century, Hutterisch has taken on a Carinthian base due to their migratory history. In the years 1760 -1763, the Hutterites were joined by a large group of Lutherans who spoke a Carinthian dialect. Eventually, this lead to the replacement of the Hutterite's Tyrolean dialect with the Carinthian dialect. Partly as a result of this, the Amish and Hutterite German dialects are not generally mutually intelligible. In their religious exercises Hutterites use a classic Lutheran German.

Dialect
The mid-2004 location and number of the world's 472 Hutterite colonies:

Canada (347)

Dariusleut (142): Alberta (109); Saskatchewan (31); British Columbia (2)
Schmiedeleut (106): Manitoba (105); Alberta (1)
Lehrerleut (99): Alberta (69); Saskatchewan (30)
United States (124)
- Schmiedeleut (69): South Dakota (53); Minnesota (9); North Dakota (7)
  Lehrerleut (34): Montana (34)
  Dariusleut (21): Montana (15); Washington (5); Oregon (1)
  Japan (1)
  - Dariusleut (1)
    Nigeria (1)
    - Schmiedeleut (1) See also

2008-03-17T12:51:00.001-04:00

John Watts Young (born September 24, 1930) is a former NASA astronaut who walked on the Moon on April 21, 1972 during the Apollo 16 mission.
Young enjoyed one of the longest and busiest careers of any astronaut in the American space program. He was the first person to fly into space six times, twice journeyed to the Moon, and as of 2007, is the only person to have piloted four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini spacecraft, Apollo Command/Service Module, Apollo Lunar Module, and Space Shuttle

Early life and Navy career

NASA career
Joining NASA in 1962, Young was the first of Astronaut Group 2 to fly in space. (He replaced Thomas Stafford as pilot of Gemini 3 when Alan Shepard, the original commander, was grounded.) Making the first manned flight of the Gemini spacecraft with Virgil Grissom, Young scored another space "first" by smuggling a corned beef sandwich onto the spacecraft - a feat for which he was reprimanded.
Young then trained as backup pilot for Gemini 6, but after the sandwich episode, for a time it seemed that NASA did not know what to do with Young. Other Group 2 astronauts with flight experience were quickly moved to Apollo, while other astronauts such as Scott Carpenter and Gordon Cooper had been sidelined for lesser infractions. The deaths of Charles Bassett and Elliott See the prime crew of Gemini 9 created a hole in the astronaut corps so that Young was confirmed as Commander of Gemini 10. The mission performed the first dual docking to two Agena Target Vehicles, and his pilot, Michael Collins, performed two spacewalks.

Project Gemini
Young was assigned to the backup crew on Apollo 7 and later made the second manned flight to the Moon on Apollo 10 with Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan. While Stafford and Cernan flew the lunar module in lunar orbit for the first time, Young flew the command module solo - the first person to do so in lunar orbit. Young was backup commander of Apollo 13, the troubled mission in which the moon landing was aborted because of an explosion on the service module. Young had a central role in rescuing the Apollo 13 crew by leading the team that devised the makeshift carbon dioxide filters that kept the astronauts' air supply breathable.
By rotation, Young became commander of Apollo 16. Young became an enthusiastic student of geology while preparing for the moon mission. Apollo 16's lunar landing was almost aborted at the last moment when a malfunction was detected on the command module. On the surface, Young trod the Descartes Highlands with Charles Duke (making Young the ninth man to walk upon the surface of the moon), while Ken Mattingly flew the command module in lunar orbit. Young set a speed record with the lunar rover but was troubled by the effects of potassium in the orange juice they drank during the moonwalks. He carried with him the badge and flag of the Sigma Chi Fraternity; these are on display at Sigma Chi's headquarters in Evanston, Illinois.
His final assignment in Apollo was as the backup commander on Apollo 17. This almost resulted in his second moon landing when Gene Cernan injured his knee playing softball a few months before the flight. The injury, had it been any more severe, would have resulted in Cernan being medically dropped from the flight and John Young commanding the last two moon landings of Apollo (as a note, fellow Group 2 astronaut Pete Conrad would have done the same if he would have commanded the cancelled Apollo 20 mission, but as he already flew as commander of Apollo 12, he would have been transferred to either Skylab or the Space Shuttle and Apollo 14 CMP Stuart Roosa would have flown on Apollo 20 as commander).

Project Apollo
After the Apollo program ended, Young stayed on as an astronaut and flew two missions of the Space Shuttle, including commanding the Shuttle's maiden flight, STS-1, and the flight STS-9 which used Spacelab for the first time. Young had been in line to make a record seventh flight to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope, but the Challenger Disaster thwarted NASA's schedule.
Young was openly critical of the administration following the disaster, and in April 1987 was taken out of the Astronaut Office and made special assistant of engineering, operations and safety to the center director Aaron Cohen. It was denied that his criticism of NASA triggered the move.

Space Shuttle
Young worked for NASA for 42 years and announced his retirement on December 7, 2004. He retired on December 31, 2004 at the age of 74.
While Young may have been overshadowed by other pioneering astronauts, his career experience is massive. As a member of the second astronaut intake, he contributed to all of the pioneering NASA projects. As the only commander of a Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle mission, John Young holds a unique place in the history of manned space exploration.
John still attends the Monday Morning Meeting in the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center.

2008-03-16T13:03:00.001-04:00

Christianity

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Christianity Portal
Easter, the Sunday of the Resurrection, Pascha, or Resurrection Day, is an important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred on the third day after his crucifixion some time in the period AD 27 to 33.
Easter also refers to the season of the church year, called Eastertide or the Easter Season. Traditionally the Easter Season lasted for the forty days from Easter Day until Ascension Day but now officially lasts for the fifty days until Pentecost. The first week of the Easter Season is known as Easter Week or the Octave of Easter.
Easter is termed a movable Christian holy day because it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. Easter falls at some point between late March and late April each year (early April to early May in Eastern Christianity), following the cycle of the moon.
Today many families celebrate Easter in a completely secular way, as a non-religious holiday.
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover not only for much of its symbolism but also for its position in the calendar. The Last Supper shared by Jesus and his disciples before his crucifixion is generally thought of as a Passover meal, based on the chronology in the Gospels. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "In fact, the Jewish feast was taken over into the Christian Easter celebration."

Etymology
The English name, "Easter", and the German, "Ostern", derive from the name of a putative Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Dawn (thus, of spring, as the dawn of the year) — called Ēaster, Ēastre, and Ēostre in various dialects of Old English and Ostara in German.
Jakob Grimm took up the question of Eostre in his Deutsche Mythologie of 1835, noting that Ostara-manoth was etymologically related to Eostur-monath and writing of various landmarks and customs which he believed to be related to a putative goddess he named Ostara in Germany. Critics suggest that Grimm took Bede's mention of a goddess Eostre at face value and constructed the parallel goddess Ostara around existing Germanic customs, noting the absence of any direct evidence for a goddess of this name. Amongst other traditions, Grimm attempted to connect the 'Osterhase' (Easter Bunny) and Easter Eggs to the putative goddess Ostara/Eostre. He also cites various place names in Germany as being possible evidence of Ostara, but critics observe that the words for 'east' and 'dawn' are similar in their roots, which could mean that these place names simply referred to either of those two things rather than a goddess.
However, the giving of eggs at spring festivals was not restricted to Germanic peoples and could be found among the Persians, Romans, Jews and the Armenians. They were a widespread symbol of rebirth and resurrection and thus might have been adopted from any number of sources.

English and German
In most Slavic languages, the name for Easter either means "Great Day" or "Great Night". For example, Wielkanoc and Velikonoce mean "Great Night" or "Great Nights" in Polish and Czech, respectively. Великден (Velikden', Velykden' ) and Вялікдзень (Vyalikdzyen' ) mean "The Great Day" in Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Belarusian, respectively. In Croatian, however, the day's name reflects a particular theological connection: it is called Uskrs, meaning "Resurrection". In Croatian it is also called Vazam (Vzem or Vuzem in Old Croatian), which is a noun that originated from the Old Church Slavonic verb vzeti (now uzeti in Croatian, meaning "to take"). It also explains the fact that in Serbian Easter is called Vaskrs because the letter "v" didn't change into the vowel "u" (as in uskrs instead of vskrs), but remained as a consonant to which the vowel "a" was later added. It is also known that long ago it was called Velja noć (veliti, veljati: "to talk", noć: "night") in Croatian. The verb krstiti in Croatian means "to baptize", so the words krštenje (baptizing) and Uskrs are supposed to derive from Christ's name, from which the word krst was later formed, now meaning "cross" (nowadays having a synonym, križ). It is believed that Cyril and Methodius, the Greek "holy brothers" who baptized the Slavic people and translated Christian books from Latin into Old Church Slavonic, invented the word Uskrs from the word krsnuti or "enliven". In Russian, the name of the feast follows the Greek form of Pascha.

Slavic languages
The observance of any non-Jewish special holiday throughout the Christian year is believed by some to be an innovation postdating the Early Church. The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus (b. 380) attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of local custom, "just as many other customs have been established," stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. However, when read in context, this is not a rejection or denigration of the celebration—which, given its currency in Scholasticus' time would be surprising—but is merely part of a defense of the diverse methods for computing its date. Indeed, although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.

Easter in the early Church
See also: Quartodecimanism, Easter controversy, and Passover (Christian holiday)
Very early in the life of the Church, it was accepted that the Lord's Supper was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition. A dispute arose concerned the date on which Pascha (Easter) should be celebrated.
In the end, the celebration of Pascha (Easter) on Sunday was not formally settled until the First Council of Nicaea in 325 (see below), although by that time the Roman position had spread to most churches.

Easter controversy
Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars (both of which follow the cycle of the sun and the seasons). Instead, the date for Easter is determined on a lunisolar calendar, as is the Jewish Calendar.
In Western Christianity, Easter always falls on a Sunday from March 22 to April 25 inclusive.
The Council of Nicaea, however, did not declare the Alexandrian or Roman calculations as normative. Instead, the council gave the Bishop of Alexandria the privilege of announcing annually the date of Christian Passover to the Roman curia. Although the synod undertook the regulation of the dating of Christian Passover, it contented itself with communicating its decision to the different dioceses, instead of establishing a canon. Its exact words were not preserved, but from scattered notices the council ruled:
It took awhile for the Alexandrian rules to be adopted throughout Christian Europe. The Church of Rome continued to use an 84-year lunisolar calendar cycle from the late third century until 457. The Church of Rome continued to use its own methods until the 6th century, when it may have adopted the Alexandrian method as converted into the Julian calendar by Dionysius Exiguus (certain proof of this does not exist until the ninth century). Early Christians in Britain and Ireland also used a late Roman 84-year third century cycle until the Synod of Whitby in 664, when they adopted the Alexandrian method. Churches in western continental Europe used a late Roman method until the late 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, when they finally adopted the Alexandrian method. However, with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by the Catholic Church in 1582 and the continuing use of the Julian calendar by Eastern Orthodox churches, the date on which Easter is celebrated again deviated.
The rule has since the Middle Ages been phrased as Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox. However, this does not reflect the actual ecclesiastical rules precisely. The reason for this is that the full moon involved (called the Paschal full moon) is not an astronomical full moon, but an ecclesiastical moon. The difference is that the astronomical vernal equinox is a natural astronomical phenomenon, while the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is a fixed March 21. Easter is determined from tables which determine Easter based on the ecclesiastical rules described above, which approximate the astronomical full moon.
In applying the ecclesiastical rules, the various Christian Churches use 21 March as their starting point from which they find the next full moon, etc. However because Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches use the Julian Calendar as their starting point, while Western Christianity uses the Gregorian Calendar, the end point, the date for Easter, may diverge. (see table)

Main article: Computus Date of Easter
See also: Reform of the date of Easter
At a summit in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, the World Council of Churches proposed a reform in the calculation of Easter which would have replaced an equation-based method of calculating Easter with direct astronomical observation; this would have side-stepped the calendar issue and eliminated the difference in date between the Eastern and Western churches. The reform was proposed for implementation starting in 2001, but it was not ultimately adopted by any member body.
A few clergymen of various denominations have advanced the notion of disregarding the moon altogether in determining the date of Easter; proposals include always observing the feast on the second Sunday in April, or always having seven Sundays between the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, producing the same result except that in leap years Easter could fall on April 7. These suggestions have yet to attract significant support, and their adoption in the future is considered unlikely.
In the United Kingdom, the Easter Act of 1928 set out legislation to allow the date of Easter to be fixed as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. However, the legislation has not been implemented, although it remains on the Statute book and could be implemented subject to approval by the various Christian churches. See Hansard

Reform of the date of Easter

Advent
Christmastide
Epiphany
Lent
Easter Triduum
Easter season
Feast of the Ascension
Pentecost
Ordinary Time
Feast of Cross
Nativity Fast
Nativity
Theophany
Great Lent
Pascha
Pentecost
Transfiguration
Dormition
Protection Position in the church year
In Western Christianity, Easter marks the end of the forty days of Lent, a period of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter which begins on Ash Wednesday.
The week before Easter is very special in the Christian tradition. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday and the last three days before Easter are Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday (sometimes referred to as Silent Saturday). Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday respectively commemorate Jesus' entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are sometimes referred to as the Easter Triduum (Latin for "Three Days"). In some countries, Easter lasts two days, with the second called "Easter Monday." The week beginning with Easter Sunday is called Easter Week or the Octave of Easter, and each day is prefaced with "Easter," e.g. Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday, etc. Easter Saturday is therefore the Saturday after Easter Sunday. The day before Easter is properly called Holy Saturday. Many churches start celebrating Easter late in the evening of Holy Saturday at a service called the Easter Vigil.
Eastertide, the season of Easter, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts until the day of Pentecost, seven weeks later.

Western Christianity
In Eastern Christianity, preparations begin with Great Lent. Following the fifth Sunday of Great Lent is Palm Week, which ends with Lazarus Saturday. Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues for the following week. After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Easter itself, or Pascha (Πάσχα), and the fast is broken immediately after the Divine Liturgy. Easter is immediately followed by Bright Week, during which there is no fasting, even on Wednesday and Friday.
The Paschal Service consists of Paschal Matins, Hours, and Liturgy, which traditionally begins at midnight of Pascha morning. Placing the Paschal Divine Liturgy at midnight guarantees that no Divine Liturgy will come earlier in the morning, ensuring its place as the pre-eminent "Feast of Feasts" in the liturgical year.

Eastern Christianity

Religious observation of Easter
The Easter festival is kept in many different ways among Western Christians. The traditional, liturgical observation of Easter, as practised among Roman Catholics and some Lutherans and Anglicans begins on the night of Holy Saturday with the Easter Vigil. This, the most important liturgy of the year, begins in total darkness with the blessing of the Easter fire, the lighting of the large Paschal candle (symbolic of the Risen Christ) and the chanting of the Exsultet or Easter Proclamation attributed to Saint Ambrose of Milan. After this service of light, a number of readings from the Old Testament are read; these tell the stories of creation, the sacrifice of Isaac, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the foretold coming of the Messiah. This part of the service climaxes with the singing of the Gloria and the Alleluia and the proclamation of the Gospel of the resurrection. A sermon may be preached after the gospel. Then the focus moves from the lectern to the font. Anciently, Easter was considered the most perfect time to receive baptism, and this practice is alive in Roman Catholicism, as it is the time when new members are initiated into the Church, and it is being revived in some other circles. Whether there are baptisms at this point or not, it is traditional for the congregation to renew the vows of their baptismal faith. This act is often sealed by the sprinkling of the congregation with holy water from the font. The Catholic sacrament of Confirmation is also celebrated at the Vigil. The Easter Vigil concludes with the celebration of the Eucharist (or 'Holy Communion'). Certain variations in the Easter Vigil exist: Some churches read the Old Testament lessons before the procession of the Paschal candle, and then read the gospel immediately after the Exsultet. Some churches prefer to keep this vigil very early on the Sunday morning instead of the Saturday night, particularly Protestant churches, to reflect the gospel account of the women coming to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week. These services are known as the Sunrise service and often occur in outdoor setting such as the church's yard or a nearby park. The first recorded "Sunrise Service" took place in 1732 among the Single Brethren in the MoravianCongregation at Herrnhut, Saxony, in what is now Germany. Following an all-night vigil they went before dawn to the town graveyard, God's Acre, on the hill above the town, to celebrate the Resurrection among the graves of the departed. This service was repeated the following year by the whole congregation and subsequently spread with the Moravian Missionaries around the world. The most famous "Moravian Sunrise Service" is in the Moravian Settlement Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The beautiful setting of the Graveyard, God's Acre, the music of the Brass Choir numbering 500 pieces, and the simplicity of the service attract thousands of visitors each year and has earned for Winston-Salem the soubriquet "the Easter City."
Additional celebrations are usually offered on Easter Sunday itself. Typically these services follow the usual order of Sunday services in a congregation, but also typically incorporate more highly festive elements. The music of the service, in particular, often displays a highly festive tone; the incorporation of brass instruments (trumpets, etc.) to supplement a congregation's usual instrumentation is common. Often a congregation's worship space is decorated with special banners and flowers (such as Easter lilies).
In predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, the morning of Easter (known in the national language as "Pasko ng Muling Pagkabuhay" or the Pasch of the Resurrection) is marked with joyous celebration, the first being the dawn "Salubong," wherein large statues of Jesus and Mary are brought together to meet, imagining the first reunion of Jesus and his mother Mary after Jesus' Resurrection. This is followed by the joyous Easter Mass.
In Polish culture, The Rezurekcja (Resurrection Procession) is the joyous Easter morning Mass at daybreak when church bells ring out and explosions resound to commemorate Christ rising from the dead. Before the Mass begins at dawn, a festive procession with the Blessed Sacrament carried beneath a canopy encircles the church. As church bells ring out, handbells are vigorously shaken by altar boys, the air is filled with incense and the faithful raise their voices heavenward in a triumphant rendering of age-old Easter hymns. After the Blessed Sacrament is carried around the church and Adoration is complete, the Easter Mass begins.

Western Christianity
Easter is the fundamental and most important festival of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox. Every other religious festival on their calendars, including Christmas, is secondary in importance to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is reflected rich Easter-connected customs in the cultures of countries that are traditionally Orthodox Christian majority. Eastern Catholics have similar emphasis in their calendars, and many of their liturgical customs are very similar.
This is not to say that Christmas and other elements of the Christian liturgical calendar are ignored. Instead, these events are all seen as necessary but preliminary to the full climax of the Resurrection, in which all that has come before reaches fulfilment and fruition. Pascha (Easter) is the primary act that fulfils the purpose of Christ's ministry on earth—to defeat death by dying and to purify and exalt humanity by voluntarily assuming and overcoming human frailty. This is succinctly summarized by the Paschal troparion, sung repeatedly during Pascha until the Apodosis of Pascha, which is the day before Ascension:
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!
Celebration of the holiday begins with the "anti-celebration" of Great Lent. In addition to fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, Orthodox cut down on all entertainment and non-essential activity, gradually eliminating them until Great and Holy Friday. Traditionally, on the evening of Great and Holy Saturday, the Midnight Office is celebrated shortly after 11:00 pm. At its completion all light in the church building is extinguished. A new flame is struck in the altar, or the priest lights his candle from a perpetual lamp kept burning there, and he then lights candles held by deacons or other assistants, who then go to light candles held by the congregation. Then the priest and congregation process around the church building, holding lit candles, re-entering ideally at the stroke of midnight, whereupon Matins begins immediately followed by the Paschal Hours and then the Divine Liturgy. Immediately after the Liturgy it is customary for the congregation to share a meal, essentially an agape dinner (albeit at 2:00 a.m. or later!).
The day after, Easter Sunday proper, there is no liturgy, since the liturgy for that day has already been celebrated. Instead, in the afternoon, it is often traditional to hold "Agape vespers." In this service, it has become customary during the last few centuries for the priest and members of the congregation to read a portion of the Gospel of John (20:19–25 or 19–31) in as many languages as they can manage.
For the remainder of the week (known as "Bright Week"), all fasting is prohibited, and the customary greeting is "Christ is risen!," to be responded with "Truly He is risen!"
See also: Pascha greeting

Eastern Christianity
As with many other Christian dates, the celebration of Easter extends beyond the church. Since its origins, it has been a time of celebration and feasting. Today it is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs, marshmallow bunnies, Peeps, and jelly beans.
Despite the religious preeminence of Easter, in many traditionally Catholic or Protestant countries Christmas is now a more prominent event in the calendar year, being unrivaled as a festive season, commercial opportunity, and time of family gathering — even for those of no or only nominal faith. Easter's relatively modest secular observances place it a distant second or third among the less religiously inclined where Christmas is so prominent.

Non-religious Easter traditions
Throughout North America, Australia and parts of the UK, the Easter holiday has been partially secularized, so that some families participate only in the attendant revelry, central to which is decorating Easter eggs on Saturday evening and hunting for them Sunday morning, by which time they have been mysteriously hidden all over the house and garden. According to the children's stories, the eggs were hidden overnight and other treats delivered by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket which children find waiting for them when they wake up. The Easter Bunny's motives for doing this are seldom clarified. Many families in America will attend Sunday Mass or services in the morning and then participate in a feast or party in the afternoon. In the UK, the tradition has boiled down to simply exchanging chocolate eggs on the Sunday, and possibly having an Easter meal, although in the north west of England, the tradition of rolling decorated eggs down steep hills is still adhered to. It is also traditional to have hot cross buns.

Australia, Canada, the United States, and parts of UK
Belgium shares the same traditions as North America but sometimes it's said that the Bells of Rome bring the Easter Eggs together with the Easter Bunny. The story goes that the bells of every church leave for Rome on Saturday which is called "Stille Zaterdag" which means "Silent Saturday" in Dutch. So because the bells are in Rome, the bells don't ring anywhere.

Belgium
In Norway, in addition to cross-country skiing in the mountains and painting eggs for decorating, a contemporary tradition is to solve murder mysteries at Easter. All the major television channels show crime and detective stories (such as Agatha Christie's Poirot), magazines print stories where the readers can try to figure out who did it, and many new books are published. Even the milk cartons change to have murder stories on their sides. Another tradition is Yahtzee games.
In Finland, Sweden and Denmark, traditions include egg painting and small children dressed as witches collecting candy door-to-door, in exchange for decorated pussy willows. This is a result of the mixing of an old Orthodox tradition (blessing houses with willow branches) and the Scandinavian Easter witch tradition. Brightly coloured feathers and little decorations are also attached to birch branches in a vase. For lunch/dinner on Holy Saturday, families traditionally feast on a smörgåsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs and other kinds of food. In Finland, the Lutheran majority enjoys mämmi as another traditional Easter treat, while the Orthodox minority's traditions include eating pasha instead.

Scandinavia
In the eastern part of the Netherlands (Twente and Achterhoek), Easter Fires (in Dutch: "Paasvuur") are lit on Easter Day at sunset. Easter Fires also take place on the same day in large portions of Northern Germany ("Osterfeuer").

Central Europe

Easter controversies
Easter traditions deemed "pagan" by some Reformation leaders, along with Christmas celebrations, were among the first casualties of some areas of the Protestant Reformation. Other Reformation Churches, such as the Lutheran and Anglican, retained a very full observance of the Church Year. In Lutheran Churches, not only were the days of Holy Week observed, but also Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost were observed with three day festivals, including the day itself and the two following. Among the other Reformation traditions, things were a bit different. These holidays were eventually restored (though Christmas only became a legal holiday in Scotland in 1967, after the Church of Scotland finally relaxed its objections). Some Christians (usually, but not always fundamentalists), however, continue to reject the celebration of Easter (and, often, of Christmas), because they believe them to be irrevocably tainted with paganism and idolatry. Their rejection of these traditions is based partly on their interpretation of 2 Corinthians 6:14-16.
This is also the view of Jehovah's Witnesses, who instead observe a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper and subsequent death of Christ on the evening of 14 Nisan, as they calculate it derived from the lunar Hebrew Calendar. It is commonly referred to, in short, by many Witnesses as simply "The Memorial." Jehovah's Witnesses believe that such verses as Luke 22:19-20 constitute a commandment to remember the death of Christ, and they do so on a yearly basis just as Passover is celebrated yearly by the Jews.
Some groups feel that Easter (or, as they prefer to call it, "Resurrection Sunday" or "Resurrection Day") is properly regarded with great joy: not marking the day itself, but remembering and rejoicing in the event it commemorates—the miracle of Christ's resurrection. In this spirit, these Christians teach that each day and all Sabbaths should be kept holy, in Christ's teachings.
Other groups, such as the Sabbatarian Church of God celebrate a Christian Passover that lacks most of the practices or symbols associated with Western Easter and retains more of the presumed features of the Passover observed by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper.

Christian denominations and organizations that do not observe Easter
Some suggest an etymological relationship between Eostre and the Babylonian goddess Ishtar (variant spelling: Eshtar) and the possibility that aspects of an ancient festival accompanied the name, claiming that the worship of Bel and Astarte was anciently introduced into Britain, and that the hot cross buns of Good Friday and dyed eggs of Easter Sunday figured in the Chaldean rites just as they allegedly do now.

Easter alleged a Babylonian festival
Main article: Easter/Good Friday controversy
In modern-day United States and other Western countries, there have been instances whereas public mention of Easter and Good Friday have been replaced with euphemistic terminology (such as renaming "Easter break", the week off given by many schools around Eastertime, as "Spring break") so as to not offend non-Christians, or to enforce a separation of church and state.

Modern avoidance controversy

Traditions

Calculator for the date of Festivals (Anglican)
A simple method for determining the date of Easter for all years 326 to 4099 A.D.
Paschal Calculator (Eastern Orthodox)
Orthodox Calculator

2008-03-15T13:21:00.001-04:00

In Software engineering, an XML database is a data persistence software system that allows data to be imported, accessed and exported in the XML format.
Two major classes of XML database exist:
Note: "XML-enabled" implies that the database does the conversion itself (as opposed to relying on middleware).

XML-enabled. These map all XML to a traditional database (such as a relational database), accepting XML as input and rendering XML as output.
Native XML (NXD) The internal model of such databases depends on XML and uses XML documents as the fundamental unit of storage. Rationale for XML in databases
The term "native XML database" (NXD) can lead to confusion. Many NXDs do not function as standalone databases at all, and do not really store the XML3true native (text) form.
The formal definition from the XML:DB consortium states that a native XML database:
Additionally, many XML databases provide a logical model of grouping documents, called "collections". Databases can set up and manage many collections at one time. In some implementations, a hierarchy of collections can exist, much in the same way that an operating system's directory-structure works.
All XML databases now support at least one form of querying syntax. Minimally, just about all of them support XPath for performing queries against documents or collections of documents. XPath provides a simple pathing system that allows users to identify nodes that match a particular set of criteria.
In addition to XPath, many XML databases support XSLT as a method of transforming documents or query-results retrieved from the database. XSLT provides a declarative language written using an XML grammar. It aims to define a set of XPath filters that can transform documents (in part or in whole) into other formats including Plain text, XML, HTML, or PDF.
Not all XML databases support XQuery to perform querying. XQuery includes XPath as a node-selection method, but extends XPath to provide transformational scaffolding. Users sometimes refer to its syntax as "FLWOR" (pronounced 'Flower') because the flow may include the following statements: 'For', 'Let', 'Where', 'Order' and 'Return'.
Some XML databases support an API called the XML:DB API (or XAPI) as a form of implementation-independent access to the XML datastore. In XML databases, XAPI resembles ODBC as used with relational databases.

Defines a (logical) model for an XML document — as opposed to the data in that document — and stores and retrieves documents according to that model. At a minimum, the model must include elements, attributes, PCDATA, and document order. Examples of such models include the XPath data model, the XML Infoset, and the models implied by the DOM and the events in SAX 1.0.
Has an XML document as its fundamental unit of (logical) storage, just as a relational database has a row in a table as its fundamental unit of (logical) storage.
Need not have any particular underlying physical storage model. For example, NXDs can use relational, hierarchical, or object-oriented database structures, or use a proprietary storage format (such as indexed, compressed files).

2008-03-14T12:35:00.001-04:00

Wenceslaus III Premyslid (Czech and Slovak Václav, German: Wenzel III, Hungarian Vencel, Polish Wacław, Croatian: Vjenceslav), (October 6, 1289 – August 4, 1306, Olomouc, Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic) was the King of Hungary (1301 - 1305) and King of Bohemia (1305 - 1306).
Wenceslaus III was the son of Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia and Poland, and Judith von Habsburg, the daughter of Rudolf I, King of Germany. He faced the problem of internal quarrels in Hungary and in Poland.
Wenceslaus was the last of the male Premyslid rulers of Bohemia. His sister, Elisabeth (Eliška), heiress of Bohemia, married John "The Blind" of Luxembourg, who assumed the Bohemian throne in his wife's right.

Poland

2008-03-13T12:09:00.001-04:00

Mauritius (pronounced: IPA: /məˈɹɪʃəs/; French: Maurice /mɔʁis/; Mauritian Creole: Moris), officially the Republic of Mauritius (French: République de Maurice), is an island nation off the coast of Africa in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometers (560 mi) east of Madagascar. In addition to the island of Mauritius, the republic includes the islands of St. Brandon, Rodrigues and the Agalega Islands. Mauritius is part of the Mascarene Islands, with the French island of Réunion 200 km (125 mi) to the southwest and the island of Rodrigues 570 km to the East-northeast.

History

Main article: Politics of Mauritius Politics

Main article: Districts and dependencies of Mauritius Districts and dependencies

Main article: Geography of Mauritius Economy

Main article: Demographics of Mauritius Demographics

Main article: Culture of Mauritius Culture

International rankings
Black River · Flacq · Grand Port · Moka · Pamplemousses · Plaines Wilhems · Port Louis · Rivière du Rempart · Savanne
Agalega Islands · Cargados Carajos Shoals (St. Brandon) · Rodrigues · Soudan Banks · Nazareth Bank · Saya de Malha Bank
Chagos Archipelago · Tromelin
National Assembly · Political parties · Elections
Currency · Companies · Communications · Foreign relations · Transport · Educational sector
Creole · Franco-Mauritian · Indo-Mauritian · Sino-Mauritian · Prominent Mauritians · Hinduism in Mauritius · Islam in Mauritius · Music of Mauritius
History · Military · Geography

Miscellaneous topics

Entry on Mauritius in the CIA World Factbook
Dependencies of Mauritius

2008-03-12T11:05:00.001-04:00

Monolingual learner's dictionaries are written for learners of a foreign language. Most such dictionaries are aimed at advanced learners, but in English there are ones for elementary and intermediate users too. These tools of language education are based on the supposition that learners must move from a bilingual dictionary to a monolingual one as they advance in their study of the target language, but that general purpose dictionaries compiled for native speakers are too complex and indeed confusing for their needs. Learners' (or learner's) dictionaries include a lot of information on grammar, usage, common errors, false friends, collocations, and so on, which a native speaker knows intuitively. Conversely, these dictionaries leave out etymology and quotations, although they do include example sentences.
The first English monolingual learner's dictionary was The Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary of English by A. S. Hornby published in 1942. This was republished as A Learner's Dictionary of Current English by Oxford University Press in 1948. The second edition came in 1963, the third in 1974, both in several impressions. The dictionary was a huge financial success. This unparalleled success was, of course, the result of the boom in the English language teaching industry worldwide. It is now in its seventh edition as the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English was published in 1978. The editors, led by Paul Proctor, introduced several innovations. The most striking was the use of a restricted defining vocabulary, which has now become a standard feature of learners' dictionaries. Almost a decade later another new player, the Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, came out, a significant milestone in corpus-based lexicography.
1995 was the 'year of the dictionaries': Oxford published its fifth edition, Longman its third, Cobuild its second, and yet another player appeared, the Cambridge International Dictionary of English. 2002 saw the entrance of yet another competitor: the Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners.
The current editions in 2006 are the seventh for OUP, the fourth for Longman, the fourth for Collins Cobuild, and the second for CUP. In May 2007, Macmillan released its new edition of advanced learner's dictionary.

2008-03-11T11:06:00.001-04:00

Carlos Saura (born 4 January 1932, Atarés, Huesca) is a Spanish film director.

Personal Life

1956 : El Pequeño río Manzanares
1957 : La Tarde del domingo
1958 : Cuenca
1960 : Los Golfos
1964 : Llanto por un bandido
1966 : La Caza
1967 : Peppermint Frappé
1968 : Stress es tres tres
1969 : La Madriguera
1970 : El jardín de las delicias
1973 : Ana y los lobos
1973 : La prima Angélica
1975 : Cria Cuervos
1977 : Elisa, vida mía
1978 : Los ojos vendados
1979 : Mamá cumple cien años
1980 : Deprisa, Deprisa
1981 : Bodas de Sangre
1982 : Dulces horas
1982 : Antonieta
1983 : Carmen
1984 : Los Zancos
1986 : El amor brujo, based on the composition El amor brujo by Manuel de Falla, in collaboration with Antonio Gades
1987 : El Dorado
1989 : La Noche oscura
1990 : Ay Carmela
1992 : El Sur
1992 : Marathon
1992 : Sevillanas
1993 : ¡Dispara!
1995 : Flamenco
1997 : Taxi (film 1997)
1997 : Pajarico
1998 : Esa luz!
1998 : Tango
1999 : Goya en Burdeos
2001 : Buñuel y la mesa del rey salomón
2002 : Salomé
2004 : El séptimo día
2005 : Iberia
2007 : Fados

2008-03-10T12:14:00.001-04:00

Etiology (alternately aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. Derived from the Greek αιτιολογία, "giving a reason for" (αἰτία "cause" + -λογία).
The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in philosophy, physics, psychology, government, and medicine, and biology in reference to the causes of various phenomena. An etiological myth is a myth intended to explain a name or create a mythic history for a place or family.

Mythology

Eschatology
Geomythology
Just-so story (comparable to etiological myth)

2008-03-09T12:01:00.001-04:00

The hospitality industry is a 3.5 trillion dollar service sector within the global economy. It is an umbrella term for a broad variety of service industries including, but not limited to, hotels, food service, casinos, and tourism. The hospitality industry is very diverse and global. The industry is cyclical; dictated by the fluctuations that occur with an economy every year.

Accommodation

Nightclubs
Public houses
Restaurants Travel and Tourism
such as:

Accountancy
Occupational Health and Spa

2008-03-08T12:23:00.001-05:00

The Podlachian or Podlasie Voivodeship (Polish: województwo podlaskie) is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland.
It was created January 1, 1999, out of the former Białystok and Łomża Voivodeships and half of the former Suwałki Voivodeship, pursuant to the 1998 Local Government Reorganization Act. The province's name recalls the region's traditional name, Podlachia (Podlasie), and the Podlachian Voivodeship under the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795).

History

For more details on this topic, see Podlachian Voivodeship (1513-1795). Podlachian Voivodeship (1513 – 1795)
Podlachian Voivodeship was one of the voivodeships of Congress Poland. Created from the Siedlce Department, in 1837 it was transformed into Podlachian Governorate.

Podlachian Voivodeship 1816 – 1837
According to the Polish National Official Business Register, REGON, 95,000 companies were registered in the Podlachia region in 2002.

Economy
Arable land constitutes around 60% of the total area of the region – most of which is ploughland (around 40%), forests, meadows and pastures. Over 120 thousand farms are registered, roughly half of which are small farms between 1–5 ha and medium-sized farms of 5–10 ha. The smaller farms prefer intensive production (gardening, orcharding), whereas the larger ones engage in cattle and crop production. The cattle-raising farms are mainly oriented at milk production.
The natural conditions of the region are conducive to the development of ecologic production, which at present is realised by around 100 farms. Over 600 farms in the region run agrotourist businesses.

Geography
Podlachia has the lowest population density of the sixteen Polish voivodeships, and its largely unspoilt nature is one of its chief assets. Around 30% of the area of the voivodeship is under legal protection. The Polish part of the Białowieża Forest Biosphere Reserve is in Podlachia. There are four national parks (Wigry, Biebrza, Bialowieża, and Narew), 3 landscape parks (Suwałki, Łomża – Narew Valley, and Knyszyn Forest), 88 nature reserves, and 15 protected landscape areas. The voivodeship constitutes a part of the ecologically clean area of "the Green Lungs of Poland".

Natural assets
The voivodeship has 35 cities and towns, among them 3 cities which are city counties. The list below orders them by population and also gives the area (GUS data from December 31, 2005):

Białystok – 291.823 (102 km²)
Suwałki – 69.268 (65,50 km²)
Łomża – 63.819 (32,71 km²)
Augustów – 29.971 (80,93 km²)
Bielsk Podlaski – 26.893 (26,88 km²)
Zambrów – 22.782 (19,02 km²)
Grajewo – 22.718 (18,93 km²)
Hajnówka – 22.159 (21,29 km²)
Sokółka – 18.945 (18,61 km²)
Łapy – 16.611 (11,90 km²)
Siemiatycze – 15.178 (36,25 km²)
Kolno – 10.772 (25,08 km²)
Mońki – 10.461 (7,66 km²)
Czarna Białostocka – 9.611 (14,28 km²)
Wysokie Mazowieckie – 9.279 (15,24 km²)
Wasilków – 8.872 (28,15 km²)
Dąbrowa Białostocka – 6.165 (22,64 km²)
Sejny – 5.971 (4,49 km²)
Choroszcz – 5.424 (16,79 km²)
Ciechanowiec – 4.923 (26,01 km²)
Supraśl – 4.554 (5,68 km²)
Brańsk – 3.800 (32,43 km²)
Szczuczyn – 3.576 (13,23 km²)
Knyszyn – 2.851 (23,68 km²)
Lipsk – 2.500 (4,97 km²)
Stawiski – 2.455 (13,28 km²)
Zabłudów – 2.396 (14,30 km²)
Suchowola – 2.255 (25,95 km²)
Drohiczyn – 2.092 (15,68 km²)
Nowogród – 2.014 (20,55 km²)
Jedwabne – 1.908 (11,47 km²)
Tykocin – 1.906 (28,96 km²)
Goniądz – 1.903 (4,28 km²)
Rajgród – 1.677 (35,18 km²)
Kleszczele – 1.438 (46,71 km²)
Suraż – 980 (33,86 km²) Cities and towns
The Podlachian Voivodeship is divided into 17 counties (powiat), three of them urban, and comprised of 118 gminas (13 urban, 23 urban-rural and 82 rural).

Podlachian Voivodeship counties

Dąbrowski : 7,177
Kozłowski : 5,560
Zalewski : 5,165

2008-03-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

Busboy Productions is a production company that was launched by Jon Stewart back in the mid-90s when he was known for hosting the The Jon Stewart Show on MTV. Shortly after the show was cancelled, Stewart signed a production deal with Miramax to star in at least two films per year and develop his own projects. However, Stewart starred in only three films for Miramax and no projects were ever produced.
After Stewart's success as host and producer of The Daily Show, Busboy Productions was revived. In 2002, Stewart approached NBC to create a show in which Stephen Colbert would star. That show never got off the ground.
The name of the company is a reference to how Stewart worked as a busboy in a Mexican restaurant as a young man. The company's vanity card features the sound of a glass being knocked over followed by a voice whispering "Oops. Sorry."

The Colbert Report

Three Strikes
Busboy Productions is set to launch its first movie to date, a new film comedy starring longtime Daily Show correspondent, Rob Corddry. Corddry will be an actor and writer for the movie.

2008-03-06T10:26:00.001-05:00

William Halse Rivers Rivers M.D.(Lond.), F.R.C.P.(Lond.), F.R.S., Medical Officer, Craiglockhart War Hospital (March 12, 1864 - 4 June 1922) was an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist, best known for his work with shell-shocked soldiers during World War I. Rivers' most famous patient was the poet Siegfried Sassoon. He is also famous for his participation in the Torres Straits expedition of 1898, and his consequent seminal work on the subject of kinship.

Biography
Rivers was born in 1864 at Constitution Hill, Chatham, Kent son of Elizabeth Hunt (1834-1897) and Henry Frederick Rivers (1830–1911), an Anglican priest and speech therapist who treated Lewis Carroll among others..

Early life
After qualifying, Rivers sought to join the Royal Army Medical Corps but was not passed fit- as Elliot Smith was later to write, as quoted in Rivers' biography:
He had been slow to recover from his fever and, along with the health problems, had been left to the curse of "tiring easily". His sister Katharine wrote that when he came to visit the family he would often sleep for the first day or two. Astonishingly, considering the work that Rivers did in his relatively short lifetime, Seligman wrote in 1922 that "for many years he seldom worked for more than four hours a day". As Rivers' biographer Richard Slobodin points out:
Instead of entering the army, his love of travelling lead him to serve several terms as a ship's surgeon, travelling to Japan and North America in 1887.

Life as a Ship's Surgeon
Back in England, Rivers became house surgeon at Chichester Infirmary (1887–9) and house physician at St Bartholomew's (1889–90)..

Beginnings of Psychological Career
In addition to his psychological work, Rivers joined the university's expedition to the Torres Strait Islands in 1898, organised by his close friend Alfred Cort Haddon. He had been reluctant to join at first, never having been interested in anthropology before; he had previously gone as far as to decline the invitation to own his uncle's old anthropology library. After what Haddon described as his 'seduction' of Rivers to anthropology, he joined, and thrived upon the trip Despite his love of adventure and his obvious intellect, Rivers was still an extremely shy young man at this point:
(L.E Shaw, physiologist friend of Rivers and his neighbour at St. John's for many years).
His experiences both at home and abroad increased his interests in the relationship between mind and body, and he played a fundamental role in the establishment of both experimental psychology and social anthropology as academic disciplines in Britain. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1908 and won the Society's gold medal in 1914 (information obtained from Rivers fonds)

Experiments with Henry Head
In 1904, with Professor James Ward and some others, Rivers founded the British Journal of Psychology of which he was at first joint editor. In the year of publication he made a second journey to Melanesia, returning to England in March 1915, to find that war had broken out.

Pre-War Psychological Work
During the war, he worked as a RAMC captain at Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh, where he applied techniques of psychoanalysis to British officers suffering from various forms of neurosis brought on by their war experiences.
.

World War One
After the war, Rivers became "another and far happier man- diffidence gave place to confidence, reticence to outspokenness, a somewhat laboured literary style to one remarkable for ease and charm" His loss prompted him to write two poignant poems about the man he had grown to love: "To A Very Wise Man" and "Revisitation"[2].

Post War

Others' Opinions of Rivers
In the poem The Red Ribbon Dream, written by Robert Graves not long after Rivers' death, he touches on the peace and security he felt in Rivers' rooms:
For that was the place where I longed to be
And past all hope where the kind lamp shone.
An anonymously written poem Anthropological Thoughts can be found in the Rivers collection of the Haddon archives at Cambridge., missionary and ethnographer friend of Rivers.

Poetry
In Sassoon's autobiography (under the guise of 'The Memoirs of George Sherston') Rivers is one of the few characters to retain their original names. There is a whole chapter devoted to Rivers and he is immortalised by Sassoon as a near demi-god who saved his life and his soul. Sassoon wrote:
Rivers was much loved and admired, not just by Sassoon. Bartlett wrote of his experiences of Rivers in one of his obituaries, as well as in many other articles (see 'References') as the man had a profound influence on his life:
Rivers' legacy continues even today in the form of The Rivers Centre, which treats patients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder using the same famously humane methods as Rivers had.

Published Works
(Pat Barker)
Sassoon writes about Rivers in the third part of The Memoirs of George Sherston, Sherston's Progress. There is a chapter named after the doctor and Rivers appears in both books as the only character to retain his factual name, giving him a position as a sort of demi-god in Sassoon's semi-fictitious memories.
The life of W.H.R. Rivers and his encounter with Sassoon was fictionalised by Pat Barker in the Regeneration Trilogy, a series of three books including Regeneration (1991), The Eye in the Door (1993) and The Ghost Road (1995). The trilogy was greeted with considerable acclaim, with The Ghost Road being awarded the Booker Prize in the year of its publication. Regeneration was filmed in 1997 with Jonathan Pryce in the role of Rivers.
The first book, Regeneration deals primarily with Rivers' treatment of Sassoon at Craiglockhart. In the novel we are introduced to Rivers as a doctor for whom healing patients comes at price. The dilemmas faced by Rivers are brought to the fore and the strain leads him to become ill; on sick leave he visits his brother and the Heads and we learn more about his relationships outside of hospital life. We are also introduced in the course of the novel to the Canadian doctor Lewis Yealland, another factual figure who used electric shock treatment to 'cure' his patients. The juxtaposition of the two very different doctors highlights the unique, or at least unconventional, nature of Rivers' methods and the humane way in which he treated his patients (even though Yealland's words, and his own guilt and modesty lead him to think otherwise).
The Eye in the Door concentrates, for the most part, on Rivers' treatment of the fictional character of Prior. Although Prior's character might not have existed, the facts that he makes Rivers' face up to did- that something happened to him on the first floor of his house that caused him to block all visual memory and begin to stammer. We also learn of Rivers' treatment of officers in the airforce and of his work with Head. Sassoon too plays a role in the book- Rivers visits him in hospital where he finds him to be a different, if not broken, man, his attempt at 'suicide' having failed. This second novel in the trilogy, both implicitly and directly, addresses the issue of Rivers' possible homosexuality and attraction to Sassoon. From Rivers' reaction to finding out that Sassoon is in hospital to the song playing in the background 'you made me love you' and Ruth Head's question to her husband "do you think he's in love with him?" we get a strong impression of the author's opinions on Rivers' sexuality.
The Ghost Road, the final part of the trilogy, shows a side of Rivers not previously seen in the novels. As well as showing his relationship with his sisters and father, we also learn of his feelings for Charles Dodgson- or Lewis Carroll. Carroll was the first adult Rivers met who stammered as badly as he did and yet he cruelly rejected him, preferring to lavish attention on his pretty young sisters. In this novel the reader also learns of Rivers' visit to Melenasia; feverish with Spanish Flu, the doctor is able to recount the expedition and we are provided with insight both into the culture of the island and into Rivers' very different 'field trip personae'.