title: Bachelor of Education

text: In the United Kingdom, where both the university system and school system are very different, the degree is awarded after a three- or four-year course (the course length depends on the university) which is specifically tailored to either primary education or for a limited range of secondary education subjects. It leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England and Wales and is a teaching qualification in Scotland and Northern Ireland.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: As a result of the Robbins Report on higher education (1963), the teacher training colleges were reformed as Colleges of Education. Such colleges, as in the case of those in London, became 'constituent colleges' of the Institute of Education, with their academic award being from the University of London. Students were offered an extra year of study, bringing the course up to four years in length and resulting in the award of the Bachelor of Education degree. The first Bachelors of Education graduated in 1968.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The BEd became more widespread in the early 1980s, when a bachelor's degree became a requirement for new teachers in the whole of the United Kingdom, replacing the old Certificate in Education (Cert Ed).


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The BEd is not the only way of gaining Qualified Teacher Status or gaining a teaching qualification. Other routes are as follows:


title: Bachelor of Education

text: A Bachelor of Science Education is a degree awarded to students who complete the four to five-year course of study in the field of science (major and minor in biology, chemistry, physics, and math) with major Educational courses. It is the combination of degrees in science and education course (sometimes referred to double degree programs B.Sc + B.Ed. = B.Sc.Ed.). Even though B.Sc and B.Ed. are notionally two degrees, they must be taken together. There are very few universities that offer this course because it requires collaboration between the Faculty/School of Science and that of Education, to ensure that the teacher not only can work in an education institution but also in an industrial area related to science.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Malaysia, it is one of the most difficult admittance degrees for the students to get into. Students not only need a distinction result but also need to go through a psychology test, rigorous interviews and demos of teaching. Students who already get these courses will be given a full scholarship by the Minister of Education. Upon graduation, the students will get job offers from government and private institutions (mostly to teach for matriculation, foundation or high school students) due to deep understanding of specific science and professional teaching training. Graduates also can work in other science related industries. Bachelor of Science "and" Education is totally different from Bachelor of Science "in" Education.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Singapore, the National Institute of Education, an autonomous institute of Nanyang Technological University, offers a four-year undergraduate programme, offering B.Sc.(Ed.) or B.A.(Ed.) in its initial teacher training programmes. Students are taught pedagogical theories and principles, alongside their chosen subject majors (and minors).


title: Law of total expectation

text: The proposition in probability theory known as the law of total expectation, the law of iterated expectations (LIE), Adam's law, the tower rule, and the smoothing theorem, among other names, states that if formula_1 is a random variable whose expected value formula_2 is defined, and formula_3 is any random variable on the same probability space, then


title: Law of total expectation

text: i.e., the expected value of the conditional expected value of formula_1 given formula_3 is the same as the expected value of formula_1.


title: Law of total expectation

text: One special case states that if formula_8 is a finite or countable partition of the sample space, then


title: Law of total expectation

text: Note: The conditional expected value E("X" | "Z") is a random variable whose value depend on the value of "Z". Note that the conditional expected value of "X" given the "event" "Z" = "z" is a function of "z". If we write E("X" | "Z" = "z") = "g"("z") then the random variable E("X" | "Z") is "g"("Z"). Similar comments apply to the conditional covariance.


title: Law of total expectation

text: Suppose that only two factories supply light bulbs to the market. Factory formula_1<nowiki>'</nowiki>s bulbs work for an average of 5000 hours, whereas factory formula_3<nowiki>'</nowiki>s bulbs work for an average of 4000 hours. It is known that factory formula_1 supplies 60% of the total bulbs available. What is the expected length of time that a purchased bulb will work for?


title: Law of total expectation

text: Let the random variables formula_1 and formula_3, defined on the same probability space, assume a finite or countably infinite set of finite values. Assume that formula_25 is defined, i.e. formula_26. If formula_27 is a partition of the probability space formula_28, then


title: Law of total expectation

text: If the series is finite, then we can switch the summations around, and the previous expression will become


title: Law of total expectation

text: If, on the other hand, the series is infinite, then its convergence cannot be conditional, due to the assumption that formula_32 The series converges absolutely if both formula_33 and formula_34 are finite, and diverges to an infinity when either formula_33 or formula_34 is infinite. In both scenarios, the above summations may be exchanged without affecting the sum.


title: Law of total expectation

text: Let formula_37 be a probability space on which two sub σ-algebras formula_38 are defined. For a random variable formula_39 on such a space, the smoothing law states that if formula_25 is defined, i.e.


title: Law of total expectation

text: Proof. Since a conditional expectation is a Radon–Nikodym derivative, verifying the following two properties establishes the smoothing law:


title: Law of total expectation

text: The first of these properties holds by definition of the conditional expectation. To prove the second one,


title: Law of total expectation

text: This is a simple consequence of the measure-theoretic definition of conditional expectation. By definition, formula_55 is a formula_56-measurable random variable that satisfies


title: Law of total expectation

text: If, however, the partition formula_65 is infinite, then we use the dominated convergence theorem to show that


title: Law of total expectation

text: Since every element of the set formula_28 falls into a specific partition formula_62, it is straightforward to verify that the sequence formula_71 converges pointwise to formula_1. By initial assumption, formula_73. Applying the dominated convergence theorem yields the desired result.


title: Blaupunkt

text: Blaupunkt GmbH () was a German manufacturer of mostly car audio equipment. It was owned by Robert Bosch GmbH from 1933 until 1 March 2009, when it was sold to Aurelius AG of Germany. It filed for bankruptcy in late 2015 with liquidation proceedings completed in early 2016. The brand is now managed by GIP Development SARL of Luxembourg and is used on various product groups worldwide.


title: Blaupunkt

text: Founded in 1924 in Berlin as "Ideal," the company was acquired by Robert Bosch AG in 1933. In 1938 it changed its name to "Blaupunkt", German for "blue point" or "blue dot", after the blue dot painted onto its headphones that had passed quality control.


title: Blaupunkt

text: Blaupunkt took over a former Philips/Grundig factory in Portugal to produce automotive head units. It is still owned and operated by Bosch, used exclusively to produce OEM units for car manufacturers and 24V (e.g. Coach) AV equipment. Later, factories were set up in Tunisia (speakers) and Malaysia (speakers and electronics).


title: Blaupunkt

text: In 1949, Blaupunkt advertised the first FM-capable car radio. By the 1960 and 1970s, Blaupunkt had become one of the leading German manufacturers of car radios and car audio equipment. In 1983, it began selling an in-dash CD player.


title: Blaupunkt

text: After the 2011 take-over, Blaupunkt became a managed brand name with all production outsourced to China.


title: Blaupunkt

text: Blaupunkt was involved in the development of the Autofahrer-Rundfunk-Informationssystem traffic-information system for car radios, and provided this feature on their German-market car radios from the late 1970s. The company attempted to have ARI used in the United States, but had only a few radio stations per major city involved.


title: Blaupunkt

text: For many years, Blaupunkt car audio equipment models often carried the name of a city somewhere in the world, e.g. "London RDM126". In Blaupunkt model nomenclature, this can be translated as "An RDS CD player capable of controlling a Multichanger, rated at 4×30 W RMS (4 × 30 = 120) from model year 1996". High-end models typically had German place names.


title: Blaupunkt

text: Blaupunkt also used the brand "Velocity" to sell products aimed at the top, audiophile end of the market. Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche, Mercedes, Proton, Vauxhall, Pontiac, Holden and BMW all fit Blaupunkt (now simply Bosch) products into their cars, often branded with the car manufacturer's own mark (e.g. The VW Gamma, Audi Symphony or BMW Business CD lines), with Fiat using them, occasionally unbranded but generally unmodified. Some later Holden Astra models are fitted with Blaupunkt systems (with others being produced by Delphi Automotive). Blaupunkt also specialised in coach installations, selling TVs, multiple-speaker setups and PA equipment to that industry. That part of the business has remained with Robert Bosch Car Multimedia GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH, and the Blaupunkt branding is no longer used, even on 'hidden' stickers.


title: Blaupunkt

text: On 12 July 2012, Blaupunkt signed an agreement with Rockford Fosgate granting the Rockford Corporation exclusive distribution rights for the company's car multimedia and headphones range for the North American market. Rockford Fosgate sold Blaupunkt products including car radios, navigation, amplifiers, loudspeakers, rear seat entertainment, and connectivity, as well as electronics for the OEM market through distributors.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag is an American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band is known for its left-wing political activism. Their current members include Justin Sane (vocals, guitar), Chris Head (guitar), Pat Thetic (drums), and Chris Barker or Chris No. 2 (vocals, bass). The band was originally formed by Justin Sane and Pat Thetic in 1988. Notable past members include the bassists Jamie "Cock" Towns and Andy Flag. Anti-Flag is also known for its advocacy of progressive political movements such as Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the Occupy movement.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag was originally formed in 1988 by Justin Sane and Pat Thetic. Various guitarists and bassists joined and left the band during the band's early years, including Justin's sister, Lucy Fester, who was formerly part of the Chicago band Toothpaste. The band failed to solidify and disbanded after performing in just one show.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 1992, Justin and Pat reformed the band with Andy Flag as their bassist. A 17-song demo album called "17 Songs" was released the same year.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 1996, Anti-Flag released their first album, "Die For the Government", on New Red Archives. Andy Flag left the band in mid-1996 because of personal disputes with Justin. After Andy's departure in 1996, Sean Whelan from the Pittsburgh band the Bad Genes briefly filled in as their bassist. During this time, Sean was also playing in another band (57 Defective) with Pittsburgh guitarist Chris Head, whom he introduced to Anti-Flag.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In early 1997, Chris Head began filling in on bass. In late 1997, Jamie Cock took over as the new bassist, giving Chris Head his preferred role as the second guitar. The band's current lineup was finalized in 1999 when Chris Barker, also known as Chris No. 2, replaced Jamie Cock on bass.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 1998, Anti-Flag released their second full-length album, "Their System Doesn't Work for You". The album contained all nine Anti-Flag songs from the 1996 Anti-Flag/d.b.s. split album "North America Sucks", as well as 10 new unreleased songs. The band decided to release the album independently, and "Their System Doesn't Work for You" became the debut release for the band's own A-F Records.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 1999, Anti-Flag released the album "A New Kind of Army" on Go-Kart Records/A-F Records. The album addressed topics such as abortion, political corruption, racism, fascism, troubled youth, police brutality, and unity amongst American youths. The cover art page unfolded into a poster featuring the phrase, "Too smart to fight. Too smart to kill. Join now. A new kind of army." In addition, the band had a disclaimer at the bottom of its album cover, which said, "Anti-Flag does not mean Anti-American. Anti-Flag means anti-war. Anti-Flag means unity."


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 2000, Anti-Flag was invited to participate in Vans Warped Tour. During this time, the members of Anti-Flag met NOFX's Fat Mike, owner of the Fat Wreck Chords record label. This meeting built a friendship between them that would lead to Anti-Flag releasing two albums under Fat Wreck Chords.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 2001, Anti-Flag teamed up with punk music producer Mass Giorgini to record the album "Underground Network" on Fat Wreck Chords. The album's release is arguably the moment Anti-Flag emerged from the hardcore underground into more of a mainstream spotlight. The album addressed the topics of fascism (specifically neo-Nazis infiltrating the "hardcore scene") and the foreign policy of the United States. The album was the first of theirs to contain the now-commonplace booklet filled with essays from historians and political commentators, most notably Professor Howard Zinn.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In February 2002, Anti-Flag released the album "Mobilize" on A-F Records. The album featured eight new studio tracks, as well as eight live tracks of songs from other albums. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Anti-Flag spoke out against the push for war with the album's title track, "911 for Peace". During this time, many music stores took Anti-Flag's records off their shelves, as their music was labeled as "anti-American."


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 2003, Anti-Flag released the album "The Terror State" on Fat Wreck Chords, which primarily focused on criticizing the Bush Administration's actions regarding the War on Terrorism. As before, a booklet filled with essays by the band and other political commentators was included in the album. The album also contained a song called "Post-War Breakout," whose lyrics were originally written by Woody Guthrie. The track's music was arranged by the members of Anti-Flag, as Guthrie had never committed the arrangements to paper.


title: Anti-Flag

text: On October 8, 2004, U.S. Representative Jim McDermott gave a speech in the House of Representatives, commending Anti-Flag for their work in encouraging young people to register and vote.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 2005, Anti-Flag signed a two-album record contract with the major label RCA. In an interview with British newspaper "The Guardian", Justin Sane explained the band's move to a major label:


title: Anti-Flag

text: The first of these two albums, "For Blood and Empire", was released on March 21, 2006. The album's main focus is criticism of the U.S. government's mishandling of the War on Terrorism. The album's lead single, "This Is The End (For You My Friend)," is featured in the video game Madden NFL 07 and NHL 07. This single strays from the theme of war and instead focuses on troubled youth. They finished their "War Sucks, Let's Party" United States headlining tour in April and worked on some side projects such as the African Well Fund and Start to Finish MS Now.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Throughout Anti-Flag's career, numerous other bands have been added to the roster of the band's own label, A-F Records. These bands include The Code, Pipedown, Much the Same, The Vacancy, The Unseen, Modey Lemon, Thought Riot, Tabula Rasa, and many others.


title: Anti-Flag

text: On November 25, Anti-Flag revealed that their latest album was called "The Bright Lights of America". The album was produced by Tony Visconti and was released on April 1, 2008. The album's title single was released exclusively on iTunes on February 12, 2008. A video of the song was released some weeks later.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In 2008, while on tour with Canadian band Billy Talent in Europe, Justin Sane and Chris No. 2 joined Billy Talent singer Ben Kowalewicz and guitarist Ian D'Sa, singing their new song "Turn Your Back" from their upcoming unreleased album. The two also play on the single version of the song.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In March 2009, Anti-Flag was forced to cancel a series of tours after Sane broke his collarbone at the UEA LCR in Norwich by jumping off the stage, trying to stop someone that was throwing objects at the band.<ref name="Singer breaks collarbone in stage dive, Norwich Evening News, 7/3/09"></ref>


title: Anti-Flag

text: On September 30, 2008, Chris No. 2 started posting on his blog that the band had begun to work on their seventh studio album. On December 2, Anti-Flag began recording the album, starting with "The Economy is Suffering... Let It Die".


title: Anti-Flag

text: On March 31, 2009, Anti-Flag announced that their next CD, "The People or the Gun", would be released on SideOneDummy on June 9, 2009. The band recorded the album in a home studio they built themselves. The first track of the album "Sodom, Gomorrah, and Washington DC (Sheep in Shepherd's Clothing)" could be listened to on Anti-Flag's website. On May 1, 2009, the band performed a full set of The Clash covers at Hoodwink in East Rutherford, New Jersey.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In September 2009, Anti-Flag planned to play a show during a G-20 protest that was taking place in their hometown. However, the show was cancelled by the promoter due to severe parking restrictions and police presence near the venue. Even so, the band continued to personally take part in the protests.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In November 2009, Anti-Flag showed their support to the protesting students in Vienna, Austria by giving a speech at the main building of the University of Vienna. They also had one of the student representatives speak at their two shows in Vienna.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In January 2010, Anti-Flag completed a full US tour supported by Aiden and Cancer Bats, with various bands filling another supporting slot and local bands opening as many of the shows as possible. The tour was sponsored by Amnesty International, peta2, Greenpeace, and Innes Clothing. The band followed the US tour with an Australian tour, playing the Soundwave Festival dates in February 2010, with bands such as AFI, Paramore, Escape the Fate, A Day to Remember, and HIM. They also played two headlining dates supported by Alexisonfire and Comeback Kid.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Throughout mid-2010, Anti-Flag played in various festivals such as Ruisrock and Woodstock en Beauce. They also played the last few dates of the Vans Warped Tour. In September 2010, the band headlined a Canadian tour with support from the Menzingers. This tour was followed by the European Vans Off the Wall Music Tour in October, with supporting acts by The Swellers and Pulled Apart by Horses.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In March–April 2011, Anti-flag made a live comeback by headlining a South American tour with This Is a Standoff, and supporting My Chemical Romance in the U.S. In May–June 2011, the band returned to Europe to play in the Slam Dunk Festival, and play supporting System of a Down in Milan, Italy.


title: Anti-Flag

text: On June 21, 2011, Justin Sane announced that Anti-Flag was working on material for a new album, which was planned to be released later in the year. The album had the working title of "Magnum". Sane also announced plans to record a new solo album in the future, as he had also been working on some folk-oriented solo material.


title: Anti-Flag

text: On March 20, 2012, Anti-Flag released an album called "The General Strike", which was recorded and produced by the band at their home studio. The band also intended to go on The General Strike Record Release Tour with The Flatliners and the Have Nots. They released a lyric video for the song "1915" which talked about Joe Hill.


title: Anti-Flag

text: In June 2014, Anti-Flag announced that they were going to release a new album called "". The album was a compilation of their releases from 1993 to 2013, and was planned to be released on Fat Wreck Chords, which was the band's first release with the label since "The Terror State" in 2003. The album was released on July 21, 2014.


title: Anti-Flag

text: On January 16, 2015, Anti-Flag announced they would release their ninth studio album called "American Spring" on the label Spinefarm Records. The album was released on May 26, 2015. Later in the year, Anti-Flag released a compilation album called "Cease Fires" which contains two previously unreleased songs from their "American Spring" recording sessions and twelve songs from their "20 Years of Hell" EP series. It was released on December 18, 2015. In an interview in 2016, Chris No. 2 revealed that he doesn't read books. On August 14, 2017, in reaction to the events of the 2017 Unite the Right rally, the band released a song titled "Racists" to the Spinefarm Records YouTube channel. On August 18, 2017, the band announced that a new album titled "American Fall" would be released on Spinefarm Records on November 3, 2017, by premiering a song from the album titled "American Attraction" on Anti-Flag's YouTube channel.


title: Anti-Flag

text: From July until September 2018, Anti-Flag played with AFI and Rise Against in the "Mourning in Amerika" Tour.


title: Anti-Flag

text: On October 4, 2019, Anti-Flag released their song "Christian Nationalist" alongside an announcement of a European tour the following year. On the band's website, the song's meaning was explained by a quote from Justin:


title: Anti-Flag

text: The website also provided a list of Republican politicians, along with sources indicating that the politicians had accepted large amounts of donations from the NRA and gun lobbyists for the politician's support for certain policies and actions, along with a list of mass shooting incidents.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Later that same month, Anti-Flag announced their twelfth studio album, "20/20 Vision", alongside the release of the song "Hate Conquers All" and the song's music video. Additional songs "Unbreakable" and "The Disease" were also released ahead of the album, which released on January 17, 2020. Many of the songs on the album directly discuss the band's opposition of former president, Donald Trump, which in the past, the band has avoided directly naming presidents. Justin revealed that this was done because the band believed that “Donald Trump IS the problem, so we have to go directly at the problem. You could say he’s a symptom of a larger problem and I believe that’s true, but he IS the symptom." In support of the album, Anti-Flag embarked on a world tour with dates throughout 2020. However, many of these dates were delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the tour resumed, a digital-only deluxe version of the album was released under the new name, "20/20 Devision".


title: Anti-Flag

text: That same year, a documentary released called "Beyond Barricades: The Story of Anti-Flag". The documentary chronicles the band over their years of touring, writing music, and activism, and features interviews from other musicians from bands such as Rage Against The Machine, Rise Against, Bad Religion, and The Menzingers.


title: Anti-Flag

text: With the pandemic putting the band's touring on hold for a long period of time, Anti-Flag was able to spend much more time than usual writing new music. Upon finishing touring for "20/20 Vision", Anti-Flag returned to the studio to record their next album. The band took a different approach than usual during recording by not only writing a concept album, but bringing in guest musicians for multiple tracks. The band officially announced "LIES THEY TELL OUR CHILDREN" on July 29, 2022 alongside the release of the single "LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE." featuring Silverstein vocalist, Shane Told. A music video was also released for the song, which depicts an individual spray painting the walls of an abandoned school with various messages that the band has deemed as lies.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag explained the band name on the artwork for their 1999 release "A New Kind of Army", saying, "Anti-Flag does not mean Anti-American. Anti-Flag means anti-war. Anti-Flag means the common people of the world are better off living in unity and peace. Anti-Flag means to stand against corporate greed that hurts millions while benefiting a handful of extremely rich. Anti-Flag means to fight against mindless nationalism. Anti-Flag means unity."


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag's anti-capitalism stance drew criticism towards them when they started working with RCA Records in 2005, with some saying that the band was selling out. Anti-Flag defended themselves against the criticism by saying that the purpose of signing to the record label was to bring their message to more people.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Chris No. 2 and Chris Head work together in another band called White Wives. They released the "Situationists" EP on February 15, 2011, and the album "Happeners" on June 28, 2011. The band and its name was based on the Provo movement and The White Plans.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Wharf Rats, a musical partnership between Chris No. 2, Wade MacNeil, and P.O.S, was created on Warped Tour and recorded in the festival's traveling recording studio. They created two songs together, namely "Oh No!" and "Capital Gains". The two songs were pressed on a limited edition 7-inch single and released on May 31 on No Sleep Records.


title: Anti-Flag

text: ANTIfest is Anti-Flag's own hosted festival. It originally took place on May 3, 2012, at The Forum at the University of Hertfordshire. ANTIfest was the first self-established festival hosted by the band, who wanted to make it an annual event. The band personally selected all of the bands that appeared, including other punk bands such as The Bouncing Souls, The Menzingers, Red City Radio, The Computers, and The Skints. Volunteers from certain organizations also took part in the festival, including people from Amnesty International, PETA, and Emmaus.


title: Anti-Flag

text: ANTIFest also took place on July 14, 2013, at Backstage Werk in Munich with support from ZSK, Strike Anywhere, The Computers, and Apologies, I Have None.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag has been involved with political activism throughout their musical career. They created many activism groups, which include The Underground Action Alliance, Military Free Zone (created to protest a clause in the No Child Left Behind Act, which gave military recruiters access to students' personal information), and The Bright Lights.


title: Anti-Flag

text: All members of Anti-Flag are vegan, and are adamant supporters of animal rights. They have frequently been featured by PETA, and have also appeared on the Fat Wreck Chords compilation album .


title: Anti-Flag

text: They performed outside the Republican National Convention in 2008. Anti-Flag wasn't supposed to be the last band to perform at the event, but officials found out that Rage Against the Machine was going to perform after them, so they shut down the stage's power and Rage Against the Machine performed two songs using megaphones instead.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag played an acoustic set at the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City on October 8, 2011.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag's song "Die for Your Government" was sung by anti-war protesters who briefly barricaded a road to prevent U.S. troops from deploying to Iraq in August 2010.


title: Anti-Flag

text: They have appeared in the 2010 music documentary "Sounds Like A Revolution", which talks about new protest music in the U.S.


title: Anti-Flag

text: Anti-Flag's logo is the "Gun Star", which was designed by Chris Head. It was first used on the cover of the album "Mobilize". It was later used on merchandise. The logo is made up of five broken M16 rifles in the shape of a star. The band often used the O & X superposed symbols on "Die for the Government" LP.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The Ashvamedha () was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accompanied by the king's warriors would be released to wander for a year. In the territory traversed by the horse, any rival could dispute the king's authority by challenging the warriors accompanying it. After one year, if no enemy had managed to kill or capture the horse, the animal would be guided back to the king's capital. It would be then sacrificed, and the king would be declared as an undisputed sovereign.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The best-known text describing the sacrifice is the "Ashvamedhika Parva" (), or the "Book of Horse Sacrifice," the fourteenth of eighteen books of the Indian epic poem "Mahabharata". Krishna and Vyasa advise King Yudhishthira to perform the sacrifice, which is described at great length. The book traditionally comprises 2 sections and 96 chapters. The critical edition has one sub-book and 92 chapters.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The ritual is recorded as being held by many ancient rulers, but apparently only by two in the last thousand years. The most recent ritual was in 1741, the second one held by Maharajah Jai Singh II of Jaipur.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The Ashvamedha could only be conducted by a powerful victorious king ("rājā"). Its object was the acquisition of power and glory, the sovereignty over neighbouring provinces, seeking progeny and general prosperity of the kingdom. It was enormously expensive, requiring the participation of hundreds of individuals, many with specialized skills, and hundreds of animals, and involving many precisely prescribed rituals at every stage.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The horse to be sacrificed must be a white stallion with black spots. The preparations included the construction of a special "sacrificial house" and a fire altar. Before the horse began its travels, at a moment chosen by astrologers, there was a ceremony and small sacrifice in the house, after which the king had to spend the night with the queen, but avoiding sex.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The next day the horse was consecrated with more rituals, tethered to a post, and addressed as a god. It was sprinkled with water, and the Adhvaryu, the priest and the sacrificer whispered mantras into its ear. A "four-eyed" black dog was killed with a club made of Sidhraka wood, then passed under the horse, and dragged to the river from which the water sprinkled on the horse had come and set to flow south. The horse was then set loose towards the north-east, to roam around wherever it chose, for the period of one year, or half a year, according to some commentators. The horse was associated with the Sun, and its yearly course. If the horse wandered into neighbouring provinces hostile to the sacrificer, they were to be subjugated. The wandering horse was attended by a herd of a hundred geldings, and one or four hundred young kshatriya men, sons of princes or high court officials, charged with guarding the horse from all dangers and inconvenience, but never impeding or driving it. The escort had to prevent the stallion from mating with any mares during its journey, and if he did, an oblation of milk was performed to Vāyu. If the horse became ill with injury, an oblation of pap to Pūṣan. If he became ill without injury, then an oblation of cake to Agni Vaiśvānara. If he was afflicted with eye disease, an oblation to Sūrya. If the horse drowned, an oblation was performed to Varuṇa. If the horse was lost, an oblation of cake, potsherd, and three other dishes to the deities of heaven and earth, along with an oblation of milk to Vāyu and pap to Sūrya. If the horse died, then another was selected and consecrated to replace it. During the absence of the horse, an uninterrupted series of ceremonies was performed in the sacrificer's home. Every day, three Sāvitreṣṭi rites and one evening Dhṛtihoma would be conducted by the priests. In the evening after the Dhṛtihoma, two Brahmin and two Kshatriya bards and lutists would praise the patron king's generosity, who gave 4,000 cows and 400 gold coins to the priests on the first day of the sacrifice. Then a session of pariplavākhyāna took place. The pariplāvana was the cyclical recitation of tales, in which one out of ten topics would be discussed each night, with 36 cycles of the ten topics. The tales were witnessed by an audience of onlookers called the upadrāṣṭṛ, who attended in their free time.


title: Ashvamedha

text: After the return of the horse, more ceremonies were performed for a month before the main sacrifice. Twelve days of dīkṣā rites took place, and then twelve days of upasad. The dīkṣā rite was a preparatory consecration rite performed before sacrifices. It consisted of a preliminary oblation, and then the king would bathe, dress in black antelope skin, and sit on another skin in a hut in front of a fire, fasting in silence with a covered head and sleeping on the ground. The upasad was a multiday ceremony that precedes Soma sacrifices. It consisted of the acquisition and welcoming of Soma and the construction of various structures needed for the sacrifice, along with the sacrifice of a goat.


title: Ashvamedha

text: On the twenty-fifth day, the agniṣṭoma was performed. The agniṣṭoma was the main part of the Soma sacrifice. In the morning pressing, the soma was pressed out and offered along with "rice cakes, parched barley, flour in sour milk, parched rice, and a hot mixture of milk and sour milk". During the pressings and oblations, five musical chants were sung and five recitations were chanted. The priests then partook in the drinking of the soma and the twelve oblations to the seasons, and the sacrifice of a goat to Agni. The midday pressing was similar and dedicated to Indra, and dakshina was also distributed on that day to the priests consisting of a varying multitude of cows. At the evening pressing only two musical chants were sung and two recitations chanted. Then proceeded the conclusory libations to the "yoking of the bay horses" and the sun, followed by the Avabhṛtha. The Avabhṛtha was the "unpurificatory" bathing of the sacrificer at the end of the sacrifice. After an antelope skin was put in the water body, the king, his wife, and the priests ritually bathe. Afterwards a sterile cow or eleven other animals are sacrificed. Throughout the entire night, the annahoma was performed at the Uttaravedi (the northern altar). It consists of an oblation of clarified butter, fried rice, fried barley, and fried grain.


title: Ashvamedha

text: On the twenty-sixth day, the king was ritually purified, and the horse was yoked to a gilded chariot, together with three other horses, and Rigveda (RV) 1.6.1,2 (YajurVeda (YV) VSM 23.5,6) was recited. The horse was then driven into water and bathed. After this, it was anointed with "ghee" by the chief queen and two other royal consorts. The chief queen (mahiṣī) anointed the fore-quarters, the favorite wife (vāvātā) the middle, and the discarded wife (parvṛktī) the hindquarters. They also embellished the horse's head, neck, and tail with golden ornaments and 101 or 109 pearls. After this, the horse, a hornless black-necked he-goat, and a Gomṛga were bound to sacrificial stakes near the fire, and seventeen other animals were attached with ropes to the horse. The he-goat dedicated to Agni was attached to the horse's chest. A ewe dedicated to Sarasvatī was attached under the horse's mouth. Two black-bellied he-goats dedicated to the Aśvins were tied to the horse's front legs. A dark grey he-goat dedicated to Soma-Pūṣan was attached underneath the horse. On the two sides of the horse were attached a black goat to Sūrya and a white goat to Yama. Two goats with shaggy thighs were dedicated to Tvaṣṭar. A white goat dedicated to Vāyu was attached to the tail. A cow about to give birth was dedicated to Indra, and a dwarfish cow was dedicated to Viṣṇu. A great number of animals, both tame and wild, were tied to other stakes, according to one commentator, 609 in total. The sacrificer offered the horse the remains of the night's oblation of grain. The horse was then suffocated to death.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The chief queen ritually called on the king's fellow wives for pity. The queens walked around the dead horse reciting mantras and obscene dialogue with the priests. The chief queen then had to spend the night beside the dead horse in a position mimicking sexual intercourse and was covered with a blanket.


title: Ashvamedha

text: On the next morning, the priests raised the queen from the place. One priest cut the horse along the "knife-paths" while other priests started reciting the verses of Vedas, seeking healing and regeneration for the horse. The horse's epiploon along with soma are offered in an oblation, and the priests dismember the horse and other animal victims with an oblation of their blood. On the third day an Atirātra was performed. The Atirātra was a Soma sacrifice in which there was a nocturnal session where soma was drunk. Afterwards an Avabhṛtha takes place. However, in the Ashvamedha sinners and criminals also take part in the purificatory bathing. Afterwards twenty-one sterile cows are sacrificed, and the dakshina was distributed to the priests. The main dakshina forms either the four wives of the king or their four hundred attendants.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The Laws of Manu refer to the Ashvamedha (V.53): "The man who offers a horse-sacrifice every day for a hundred years, and the man who does not eat meat, the two of them reap the same fruit of good deeds."


title: Ashvamedha

text: One type of the gold coins of the Gupta Empire kings Samudragupta (reigned c. 350-370 CE) and Kumaragupta (reigned c. 415-455 CE) commemorates their Ashvamedha sacrifices. The obverse shows the horse anointed and decorated for sacrifice, standing in front of a "Yūpa" sacrificial post, and is inscribed "The king of kings who has performed the Vajimedha sacrifice wins heaven after protecting the earth". The reverse shows a standing figure of the queen, holding a fan and a towel, and is inscribed "Powerful enough to perform the Ashvamedha sacrifice".


title: Ashvamedha

text: Many Indo-European branches show evidence for horse sacrifice, and comparative mythology suggests that they derive from a Proto-Indo-European ritual. Most appear to be funerary practices associated with burial, but for some other cultures there is tentative evidence for rituals associated with kingship. The Ashvamedha is the clearest evidence preserved, but vestiges from Latin and Celtic traditions allow the reconstruction of a few common attributes.


title: Ashvamedha

text: A similar ritual is found in Celtic tradition in which the king in Ireland conducted a rite of symbolic marriage with a sacrificed horse. The Roman October Horse sacrifice was an annual event, and apparently the only time horses were sacrificed, rather than cattle or smaller animals.


title: Ashvamedha

text: Horse sacrifices were performed among the ancient Germans, Armenians, Iranians, Chinese, Greeks, among others.


title: Ashvamedha

text: Sanskrit epics and Puranas mention numerous legendary performances of the horse sacrifice. For example, according to the "Mahabharata", Emperor Bharata performed a hundred Ashvamedha ceremonies on the banks of Yamuna, three hundred on the banks of Sarasvati and four hundred on the banks of the Ganga. He again performed a thousand Ashvamedha on different locations and a hundred Rajasuya. Following the vast empires ruled by the Gupta and Chalukya dynasties, the practice of the sacrifice diminished remarkably.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The Udayendiram inscription of the 8th-century Pallava king Nandivarman II (alias Pallavamalla) states that his general Udayachandra defeated the Nishada ruler Prithvivyaghra, who, "desiring to become very powerful, was running after the horse of the Ashvamedha". The inscription does not clarify which king initiated this Ashvamedha campaign. Historian N. Venkataramanayya theorized that Prithvivyaghra was a feudatory ruler, who unsuccessfully tried to challenge Nandivarman's Ashvamedha campaign. However, historian Dineshchandra Sircar notes that no other inscriptions of Nandivarman or his descendants mention his performance of Ashvamedha; therefore, it is more likely that the Ashvamedha campaign was initiated by Prithvivyaghra (or his overlord), and Nandivarman's general foiled it.


title: Ashvamedha

text: In the Arya Samaj reform movement of Dayananda Sarasvati, the Ashvamedha is considered an allegory or a ritual to get connected to the "inner Sun" (Prana) According to Dayananda, no horse was actually to be slaughtered in the ritual as per the Yajurveda. Following Dayananda, the Arya Samaj disputes the very existence of the pre-Vedantic ritual; thus Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati claims that


title: Ashvamedha

text: He argues that the animals listed as sacrificial victims are just as symbolic as the list of human victims listed in the Purushamedha (which is generally accepted as a purely symbolic sacrifice already in Rigvedic times).


title: Ashvamedha

text: Gayatri Pariwar since 1991 has organized performances of a "modern version" of the Ashvamedha where a statue is used in place of a real horse, according to Hinduism Today with a million participants in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh on April 16 to 20, 1994. Such modern performances are sattvika Yajnas where the animal is worshipped without killing it, the religious motivation being prayer for overcoming enemies, the facilitation of child welfare and development, and clearance of debt, entirely within the allegorical interpretation of the ritual, and with no actual sacrifice of any animal.


title: Ashvamedha

text: The earliest recorded criticism of the ritual comes from the Cārvāka, an atheistic school of Indian philosophy that assumed various forms of philosophical skepticism and religious indifference. A quotation of the Cārvāka from Madhavacharya's Sarva-Darsana-Sangraha states: "The three authors of the Vedas were buffoons, knaves, and demons. All the well-known formulae of the pandits, jarphari, turphari, etc. and all the obscene rites for the queen commanded in Ashvamedha, these were invented by buffoons, and so all the various kinds of presents to the priests, while the eating of flesh was similarly commanded by night-prowling demons."


title: Ashvamedha

text: This part of the ritual offended the Dalit reformer and framer of the Indian constitution B. R. Ambedkar and is frequently mentioned in his writings as an example of the perceived degradation of Brahmanical culture.


title: Ashvamedha

text: Scholar Manohar L. Varadpande, praised the ritual as "social occasions of great magnitude". Rick F. Talbott writes that "Mircea Eliade treated the Ashvamedha as a rite having a cosmogonic structure which both regenerated the entire cosmos and reestablished every social order during its performance."


title: Juan David Ochoa Vásquez

text: Juan David Ochoa Vásquez (13 April 1946 – 25 July 2013) was a Colombian drug trafficker and one of the founders of the Medellín Cartel, a major drug trafficking cartel based in the city of Medellín.


title: Juan David Ochoa Vásquez

text: Juan David was the elder brother of Jorge Luis and Fabio Ochoa Vásquez, powerful figures inside the Medellín Cartel.


title: Juan David Ochoa Vásquez

text: In January 1991, Juan David Ochoa Vásquez, together with his brother Jorge Luis, turned themselves in to the Colombian government in order to receive the benefits of collaborating with the judicial system. Juan David Ochoa negotiated a surrender and was imprisoned in a medium security prison outside Medellín. In January 1996, as the result of a sentence plea bargain with the state, Juan David Ochoa Vásquez was released from prison after serving five years.


title: Tafsir

text: Tafsir ( ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a "tafsir" is a (; plural: ). A Quranic "tafsir" attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding and conviction of God's will.


title: Tafsir

text: Principally, a "tafsir" deals with the issues of linguistics, jurisprudence, and theology. In terms of perspective and approach, "tafsir" can be broadly divided into two main categories, namely "tafsir bi-al-ma'thur" (lit. received tafsir), which is transmitted from the early days of Islam through the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions, and "tafsir bi-al-ra'y" (lit. "tafsir" by opinion), which is arrived through personal reflection or independent rational thinking.


title: Tafsir

text: There are different characteristics and traditions for each of the "tafsirs" representing respective schools and doctrines, such as Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, and Sufism. There are also general distinctions between classic "tafsirs" compiled by authoritative figures of Muslim scholarship during the formative ages of Islam, and modern "tafsir" which seeks to address a wider audience, including the common people.


title: Tafsir

text: The word ' is derived from the three-letter Arabic verbal root of "F-S-R" (', 'interpreted'). In its literal meaning, the word refers to interpreting, explaining, expounding, or disclosing. In Islamic contexts, it is defined as understanding and uncovering God's will which has been conveyed by the Quranic text, by means of the Arabic language and one's own knowledge.


title: Tafsir

text: The first examples of "tafsir" can be traced back to Muhammad. According to Islamic belief, as the Quran was revealed to him, he recited the verses to his companions, usually explaining their meanings to teach them, as it was one of Muhammad's responsibilities. Elements of Muhammad's explanations including clarifying verses whose intents are not understood, the indication of names, places, times etc. which have not been mentioned in the verse, restriction of meanings which have been given as absolute and reconciliation of expressions which seem contradictory. Although scholars including ibn Taymiyyah claim that Muhammad has commented on the whole of the Quran, others including Ghazali cite the limited amount of narratives ("hadith"), thus indicating that he has commented only on a portion of the Quran.


title: Tafsir

text: After the death of Muhammad, his companions ("sahabah") undertook the task of interpretation, thus starting a new age in "tafsir". Most of the sahabah, including Abu Bakr, refrained from commenting based on their personal views, and only narrated comments by Muhammad. Others including ibn Abbas used their own knowledge from the Arabic language to interpret the Quran. At this stage, "tafsir" was selective and concise regarding its coverage, and only certain words, phrases and verses were explained. The Quran was still not fully interpreted, and commentaries were not separated from the hadith collection nor written separately, mainly due to other occupations such as the collection of the Quran.


title: Tafsir

text: By the time of the next generations ensuing the sahabah, scholars in the age of the successors ("tabi'in") started using a wide range of sources for "tafsir". The whole of the Quran is interpreted, and narrations are separated from "tafsir" into separate books and literature. Grammatical explanations and historical data are preserved within these books; personal opinions are recorded, whether accepted or rejected. During this time, a whole range of schools of "tafsir" came into existence in different scholastic centers, including Mecca, Medina and Iraq. Iraqi schools of "tafsir" came to be known for an approach relied on personal judgment aside from the transmitted reports, and Jewish apocryphal reports were also widely employed. Notable compilers on this age including Sufyan al-Thawri.


title: Tafsir

text: Until this age, "tafsir" had been transmitted orally and had not been collected independently in a book, rather, they had been gathered by "muhaddithun" (lit. scholars of hadith) in their hadith books, under the topic of "tafsir", along with other narrations of Muhammad. This indicates that "tafsir", in its formative age, used to be a special domain within hadith. Widening of the scope of "tafsir" and emergence of "mufassirun" in the age of the successors lead to the development of an independent discipline of "tafsir".


title: Tafsir

text: An author of "tafsir" is a "" (; plural: ). According to Sunni Islamic scholar Al-Suyuti, "mufassirs" are required to master 15 fields from different disciplines such as linguistics, rhetoric, theology and jurisprudence before one can authoritatively interpret the Quran. The foremost discipline that constitutes the basis of "tafsir" learning is Arabic language. Arabic in this context specifically means Classical Arabic. One of the earliest Islamic scholars Mujahid ibn Jabr said, "It is not permissible for one who holds faith in Allah and the Day of Judgment to speak on the Qur'an without learning classical Arabic." Especially relevant expertise is how one learns the meaning of each word. In this respect, it should be known that classical Arabic must be mastered in its entirety because one word may have various meanings; a person may only know two or three of them whereas the meaning of that word in the Qur'an may be altogether different. Other fields related to Arabic language includes Philology of Arabic. It is important because any change in the diacritical marks affects the meaning, and understanding the diacritical marks depends on the science of Arabic philology. Morphology of Arabic language is also important because changes in the configuration of verb and noun forms change the meaning. Ibn Faris said, "A person who misses out on Arabic morphology has missed out on a lot." Lastly, "Al-Ishtiqaaq" is the science of etymology which explains the reciprocal relation and radical composition between the root and derived word. It should be learned because sometimes one word derives from two root words, the meaning of each root word being different. For example, a word "masih" derives from the root word "massah" (مَسَّة) which means "to feel something and to touch something with a wet hand," but also derives from the root word "masaahat" which means "to measure."


title: Tafsir

text: Another relevant discipline is the science of interpreting the Arabic sentence. "Ilm al-Ma'ani" is the science by which one figures the syntax through the meaning of a sentence. "Ilm al-Bayaan" is the science by which one learns the similes, metaphors, metonymies, "zuhoor" (evident meanings) and "khafa" (hidden meanings) of the Arabic language. "Ilm al-Badi"' is the science by which one learns to interpret sentences in which the beauty and eloquence of the spoken and written word are considered hidden. The above-mentioned three sciences are categorized as "Ilm-ul-Balagha" (science of rhetoric). It is one of the most principal sciences to a "mufassir" as it is deemed by Muslims that there are literal and non-literal meanings of the Quran, and one is able to reveal the miraculous nature of the Quran through these three sciences. A field from Quranic teaching is called "Ilm al-Qira'at". This is a system of dialecticism of the different readings of the Quran. This science is important because one "qira'at" (way of reading) of the Quran may differ in meaning from another, and one learns to favor one reading over another based on the difference in the meanings.


title: Tafsir

text: General sciences of Islamic theology and Islamic study are also imperative. "Ilm al-Aqa'id" and "Ilm al-Kalam" are comprehensive sciences in Islamic theology and philosophy. They are important because upon these understandings, one may understand issues such as invalidity of attributing the literal meaning of some ayah to God. In this case, one will be required to interpret the ayah as in 'the hand of Allah is over their hand'. Other key issues required to be addressed through comprehension of theology and philosophy includes that of free will and determinism, or the infallibility of the prophets. Comprehension of "Fiqh", Islamic jurisprudence, is important because one cannot gain an overview of any issue until he has understood its particulars. "Usul al-Fiqh", principles of Islamic jurisprudence, is also required so one understands the methodology of legal derivation and interpretation.


title: Tafsir

text: Other distinctive systems linked with "tafsir" study including "Asbaab al-Nuzul", which is the field by which one learns the circumstances in which an ayah is revealed. It is important because the meaning of the ayah is more clearly understood once the circumstances in which it was revealed are known. Sometimes, the meaning of an ayah is wholly dependent on its historical background. Another is "Ilm-ul-Naskh", which is knowledge of the abrogated ayah. In general, due to the Quran made up of revelations that revealed to Muhammad in the course of more than twenty years, certain verses are considered meant to be temporary and subsequently repealed by the following ones. "Ilm-ul-Naskh" is a science of identifying the abrogations, and it is important because abrogated rulings must be separated from the applied rulings. "Ilm al-Hadith" is knowledge of the hadith which explain "mujmal" (general) ayah, and "Ilm al-Ladunni" (علم اللدّني) is the endowed knowledge which is considered granted by God to his closest servants. This is for example a knowledge obtained directly from Allah through inspiration. They are the servants indicated in the hadith: "Allah will grant one who acts upon whatever he knows from a knowledge he never knew."


title: Tafsir

text: There are several frames of reference in which "tafsir" can be categorized. The main issue of framing constitutes its methodology. "Tafsir" can be broadly divided into two categories from the viewpoint of methodology employed in order to approach the interpretation. These categories are called "tafsīr bi'l-ma'thūr" (, also known as "tafsīr bi'r-riwāyah" ()) and "tafsīr bi'r-ra'y" (, also known as "tafsīr bi'd-dirayah" ).


title: Tafsir

text: "Tafsir bi'l-ma'thur", or commonly known as "Tafsir bi'r-riwāyah", is the method of commenting on the Quran using traditional sources. "Tafsir bi'r-riwāyah" connotes "tafsir" using another portion of the Quran, or sayings of Muhammad, or saying of his companions. This classical "tafsir" method is agreed upon by all scholars, and is the most used method throughout history, partly because other methods have been criticized. Criticism of non-riwaya method is mostly based on two grounds; for one, Muhammad has condemned those who interpret the Quran from their own point of view, and for two, most companions of Muhammad have refrained from presenting their own ideas. Some important examples of "tafsir bi'r-riwāyah" are "Jāmiʿ al-Bayān" by al-Tabari and "Tafseer al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓeem" by ibn Kathir. The sources used for "tafsir bi'r-riwāyah" can be ordered by the rank of authority, as the Quran, hadiths, the reports by the "sahabah" and "tabi'iun", classical Arabic literature, and Isra'iliyat.


title: Tafsir

text: The most authoritative source of the interpretation is the Quran itself. Interpretation of the Quran employing other Quranic reference is very common because of the close interrelatedness of the verses of the Quran with one another. The Quranic verses explain and interpret one another, which leads many to believe that it has the highest level of authenticity. Many verses or words in the Quran are explained or further clarified in other verses of the Quran. One example of the hadith which extensively employs this source of method is "Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an" by Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i. The authoritative source of method second to the Quran is Hadith, by using narratives of Muhammad to interpret the Quran. In this approach the most important external aids used are the collected oral traditions upon which Muslim scholars based Islamic history and law. Authority of this method is considered established by the statement made in the Quran that Muhammad is responsible for explanation and guidance. While some narratives are of revelation origin, others can be the result of reasonings made by Muhammad. One important aspect of these narratives is their origin. Narratives used for "tafsir", and in general, must be of authentic origin ("sahih"). Narratives of such origin are considered requisite for "tafsir".


title: Tafsir

text: Other source of the interpretation includes the accounts of "Ṣaḥābah", companions of Muhammad, or "tabi‘un", the generation after sahabah, and "Tabi‘ al-Tabi‘in", the generation after tabi'un. Their authority is based on an account in hadith "Sahih Bukhari", which accordingly, Muhammad said; ""The best people are those living in my generation, then those coming after them (Tābi‘un), and then those coming after (the third generation)"". If nothing is found in the Quran or the Hadīth, the commentator has recourse to what the Ṣaḥābah reported about various verses. These are generally considered above personal opinion, because these people grew up with everyday interaction with Muhammad, and had often asked about the meanings of verses or circumstances of their revelation; and they were very knowledgeable in both Arabic literature and Islamic thought. Another non-scripture based source of the interpretation is classical Arabic literature. Classical Arabic poetry and the text of the Quran are two resources which can be used as foundational reference in ascertaining the meaning and signification of the remaining literal and figurative diction of the Quran and its style of expression. Using Arabic poetry for defining words is a long used practice, in fact there are very few scholars who haven't used this source. Less authoritative source of the interpretation is "Isra'iliyat", which is the body of narratives originating from Judeo-Christian traditions, rather than from other well-accepted sources. The Isra'iliyat are mostly non-biblical explanatory stories and traditions (Hebrew: "midrashim") giving extra information or interpretation about events or individuals recorded in the Hebrew scriptures. Scholars starting with the Sahabah have studied narrative accounts of other Abrahamic religions to further explain and clarify verses, especially parables, in the Quran. While some may be accurate, these narratives are not subject to hadith authenticity criteria, and are generally not favored for use.


title: Tafsir

text: "Tafsir bi'r-ra'y", or commonly known as "tafsir bi-al-diraya", is the method of using one's independent rational reasoning and mind ("ijtihad") to form an opinion-oriented interpretation. The most distinctive feature of "tafsir bi-al-diraya" is the inclusion of the opinions of the commentator, thus forming the more objective view on Quranic verses. The relative paucity of traditional sources is also a practical reason why the scope of the methodology is augmented. This is considered sanctioned by the Quran itself, as written in the surah Sad verse 29: This method is not interpretation by mere opinion however, but rather opinions must be based on the main sources. Performing Quranic interpretation using solely one's own opinion is believed to be prohibited by some Muslims. This is based on an authenticated hadith of Muhammad which states "He who says (something) concerning the Qur'ân without knowledge, he has taken his seat of fire". However, this hadith can alternatively be interpreted to refer to the importance of first properly studying and learning the Quran before attempting to teach or preach it to others. Accordingly, the method of independent reasoning ("ijtihad") has several qualifications and conditions that need to be satisfied. Due to the nature of orientation toward opinions, this method is rejected by certain scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah, and prohibited by Wahhabi Islamic doctrine. Some important examples of such "tafsirs" include "Anwar al-Tanzil" by al-Baydawi and "Mafatih al-Ghayb" by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi. Some parameters used by these scholars including linguistic resources, historical sources, methodological concepts such as "maqasid" or socio-cultural environment taken into consideration.


title: Tafsir

text: In terms of linguistic resources, literary elements of the Arabic language, including morphology, eloquence, syntax are an integral part of "tafsir", as they constitute the basis of understanding and interpretation. Arabic has a systematic way of shaping words so one can know the meaning by knowing the root and the form the word was coined from. If any word can be given a meaning that is compatible with the rules of grammar, Quranic text can be interpreted that way. In terms of historical resources, scholars may choose to interpret verses according to external factors, including their historical context and their place of revelation. Historical context ("Asbab al-nuzul") is particularly important to interpret verses according to how the Quran was revealed, when and under which circumstances, and much commentary was dedicated to history. The early "tafsirs" are considered to be some of the best sources for Islamic history. Classification of the place of revelation, whether it was revealed in Mecca or Medina, is important as well. This is because in general Meccan verses tend to have an "iman" (loosely translated as "faith") nature that includes believing in Allah, Muhammad, and the day of judgment, whether it be theological foundations or basic faith principles. On the other hand, Medinan verses constitute legislation, social obligations, and constitution of a state.


title: Tafsir

text: On the more conceptual level, the idea of "maqasid" (goals or purpose) can be taken into account. Verses may be interpreted to preserve the general goals of shariah, which may be considered simply as bringing happiness to a person in this life and the hereafter. That way, any interpretation that threatens to compromise the preservation of religion, life, lineage, intellect or property may be discarded or ruled otherwise in order to secure these goals. Further, the socio-cultural environment may also taken into consideration. This includes understanding and interpreting the Quran while taking into account the cultural and social environment to which it has been revealed; or according to the scholars' own time. Often than not, the distinction can be made between the "'amm" (general) verses that aimed at universal conditions for Muslims, and "khass" (specific) verses that applied to specific conditions, time or need. This is considered an integral part of analyzing the universality of the Quran. Scholars usually do not favor to confine verses to a single time interval, but rather interpret according to the needs of their time.


title: Tafsir

text: Islamic theology is divided into myriad of schools and branches, and each of the schools' comments on the Quran with their own point of view.


title: Tafsir

text: The time of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari marks the classical period, which encompassed important Sunni "tafsirs", such as "Tafsir al-Thalabi", "Tafsir of Al-Zamakhshari" and "Tafsir al-Tabari".


title: Tafsir

text: "Tafsir al-Tabari" is one of the most important "tafsir" works in Sunni Islam. This work provides exegetical material for the whole Quran, also contains conflicting information, which Tabari tries either to harmonize or argues in support of the one he feels more correct. Further he includes different readings, which according to him, both might be correct and gives his own opinion after each argumentation. Both linguistical and theological subjects are discussed throughout his work.


title: Tafsir

text: Regarding "Sunni tafsir", it seems that Ibn Taimiyya serves as transition points between the Classical and post-Classical exegesis. The post-classical period is marked by the exegetic methodology of Ibn Kathir. Although Ibn Kathir claimed to rely on the works of Tabari, he introduced new methods for his exegesis, based on the teachings of Ibn Taymiyyah. His monovalency and sceptical attitude towards "Isra'iliyyat" are significant for his "tafsir". It is much more selective than previous "tafsirs", and disregards intellectual disciplines of grammar, law and theology, which has been previously brought into debate, but played no role in his Quranic exegesis.


title: Tafsir

text: In contemporary scholarship, translations of previous "tafsirs" into the English language are usually abridged versions of their longer original. One widespread version of "Tafsir Ibn Kathir" is published under the editorship of Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman. Such translations are often omitting content, to guide the readers against "wrong" content, following the puritanical approaches. Ibn Kathir gained widespread popularity, probably due to his straight approach in his own work, and the lack of alternative translations of traditional "tafsirs". Abridged translations into Western language also appeared for "Tafsir Tabari". One French version provided by Pierre Godé appeared in 1983. He edited the work in a way, that the author appears 'orthodox'. An English translation of Tabari by J. Cooper appeared in 1986. "Bayan Ul Quran" is another orthodox sunni tafsir written by Ashraf Ali Thanwi.


title: Tafsir

text: Tafsirs by Shia Muslims similarly deals with the issues concerned by Sunnis, and employs similar methodology as well, except for the adherence toward certain beliefs and creeds Shiism espouses. Distinctive features of Shia "tafsirs" include expounding of the concept of imamate, the heavier weight put on verses that considered to be the foundation of successorship to Muhammad within the Prophet's family begins with Ali, and the heavier authority put on interpretations attributed to The Twelve Imams. These characteristics result in distinction being made between the esoteric and the exoteric meaning of the Quran, and the esoteric meaning attributed to the imams preferred over the exoteric meaning. Certain Shia "tafsirs" are influenced by Mu'tazili thoughts as well, specifically on the theological issues. Some of the important examples of Shia "mufassirs" and their "tafsir" are "Al-Tibbyan Fi Tafsir al-Quran" by Shaykh Tusi (460/1067) and "Majma al-Bayan lif'ulum al-Quran" by Shaykh Tabarsi (d. 548/1153).


title: Tafsir

text: On the other hand, "tafsir" by Zaidi school of jurisprudence, which espouses the doctrine closest with Sunnis of all Shia sects, produces "tafsir" resembling Sunni "tafsir" in its quality. Some Zaidi "tafsirs" are considered popular among Sunnis as well.


title: Tafsir

text: The Mu'tazila tradition of tafsir has received little attention in modern scholarship, owing to several reasons. First, several exegetical works by Mu'tazila scholars have been studied as books on theology rather than as works of "tafsir". Secondly, the large Mu'tazilite "tafsir" "at-Tahdib fi tafsir al-Qur'an" by al-Hakim al-Jishumi has not been edited, and there is no complete copy of it available at any single location, which limits its accessibility to scholars.


title: Tafsir

text: It is an interpretation of the Quran which includes attribution of esoteric or mystic meanings to the text by the interpreter. In this respect, its method is different from the conventional exegesis. Esoteric interpretations do not usually contradict the conventional (in this context called exoteric) interpretations; instead, they discuss the inner levels of meaning of the Quran. A "hadith" from Muhammad which states that the Quran has an inner meaning, and that this inner meaning conceals a yet deeper inner meaning, and so on (up to seven levels of meaning), has sometimes been used in support of this view. Islamic opinion imposes strict limitations on esoteric interpretations especially when interior meaning is against exterior one. Esoteric interpretations are found mainly in Sufism and in the sayings (hadiths) of Shi'a Imams and the teachings of the Isma'ili sect. But Muhammad and the imams gave importance to its exterior as much as to its interior; they were as much concerned with its revelation as they were with its interpretation. These are generally not independently written, however, they are found in the books of Sufis.


title: Tafsir

text: Quranists merely believe in the Qur'an and reject other oral traditions. Turkish Islamic theologian Yaşar Nuri Öztürk denounced contemporary Islamic practices as altered. He distinguished between what he defined as true Islam and what he saw as customs and traditions introduced in the Umayyad period. In 1992, he published a 760-page, "tafsir"-like exegetical work called "Kur'an'daki Islam". Each chapter, which deals with one surah, is structured around certain verses of the surah, or words occurring in the text, which need to be explained.


title: Tafsir

text: Edip Yüksel, Layth Saleh al-Shaiban, and Martha Schulte-Nafeh wrote "Quran: A Reformist Translation," an English translation and commentary of the Qur'an. Yüksel is a follower of Rashad Khalifa.


title: Tafsir

text: Ghulam Ahmed Perwez wrote "Mafhoom-ul-Quran," translated into English as "Exposition of the Holy Qur'an".


title: Tafsir

text: Scholars deeply influenced by the natural and social sciences followed the materialists of Europe or the pragmatists. Under the influence of those secular theories, they declared that the religion's realities cannot go against scientific knowledge. What the religion claims to exist, but which the sciences reject should be interpreted in a way that conforms with the science; as for those things which the science is silent about, like the resurrection etc., they should be brought within the purview of the laws of matter; the pillars upon which the divine religious laws are based — like revelation, angel, Satan, prophethood, apostleship, Imamah (Imamate) etc. - are spiritual things, and the spirit is a development of the matter. As for the Quran itself, one should not explain it in the light of the old philosophy and theories, because they were not based on observations and tests — they were just a sort of mental exercise which has been totally discredited now by the modern science. Found by Ghazali and built upon by Razi, it is one of today's most abundant way of "tafsir". A common example is "Mafatih al-Ghayb" by Fakhruddin al-Razi.


title: Tafsir

text: Legal "tafsir" deals mainly with verses that have a legislative meaning (see ahkam), and it strives to obtain Islamic law from the Quran. Its practice was common in both the classical and modern periods. There is a dispute over the number of verses that contain jurisprudential guidance, with numbers ranging from 5 to 200 being reported. Works of legal tafsir were typically written from the perspectives of the madhhab of their respective authors. For example, "Aḥkam al-Qur'an" by al-Jassas was written according to the Hanafi Madhhab, "Aḥkam al-Qur'an" by Qaḍi Abū Bakr ibn al-'Arabī and "al-Jaami' Li'Aḥkam al-Qur'an" by al-Qurtubi were written according to the Maliki Madhhab, and "Aḥkam al-Qur'an" by Ilkiya was written according to the Shafi'i Madhhab. Some also cite "Zad al-Maseer" of ibn al-Jawzi as an example of a legal tafsir according to the Hanbali Madhhab.


title: Tafsir

text: A newer work which incorporates and quotes the work of a multitude of previous scholars and analyzes the relevant Arabic root words (based on all available classic Arabic meanings), and references all relevant passages of the Quran, was done by Abdul Mannan Omar.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Shelley Bob Graham (born March 1, 1936), known professionally as Georgina Spelvin, is a former American actress and pornographic performer who is best known as the star of the classic 1973 pornographic film "The Devil in Miss Jones", released during the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984).


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Spelvin was born in Houston, Texas at 2:24 pm on March 1, 1936 as Shelley Bob Graham. Her father was a geophysicist, and the family moved frequently. She often took dancing lessons during childhood. She graduated from high school in 1954.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Graham began her professional career as dancer and later as a chorus girl in "Pajama Game", and was featured in the Broadway productions of "Cabaret", "Guys and Dolls," and "Sweet Charity". During that time she changed the spelling of her name to "Chele Graham" but kept the pronunciation the same as Shelley Graham. When performance offers dwindled, she worked in theater production as a choreographer, director, and lighting technician in a number of musicals, which led to the underground film scene.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: The stage name she adopted is a variation on George Spelvin, a name traditionally used as a pseudonym by stage actors for the second billing, when playing two roles.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: She made her first movie, "The Twilight Girls", a softcore lesbian film, in 1957, and appeared in a few sexploitation features during the late 1960s.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Graham moved into porn when her friend, actor Marc Stevens, introduced her to adult film director Gerard Damiano. She became one of the best-known figures in hardcore pornography for her starring role in "The Devil in Miss Jones" in 1973.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 1973, Robert Berkvist, writing in "The New York Times", commented that "'Miss Jones' is as familiar in [the respectable and well-to-do New York suburb of] Scarsdale as she is on Broadway."


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 1974, she appeared in the low-budget exploitation film "Girls For Rent (aka I Spit on Your Corpse)", for which she also served as costume designer.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 1974, while living in Maine, she was charged with transporting obscene materials across state lines for her film "Devil in Miss Jones" in Tennessee. The charges were eventually dropped in 1977.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 1975, she moved to El Cajon with Claire Lumiere (AKA Judith Hamilton), met Vince Miranda and appeared in "Take it Off" at his "Off Broadway".


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Spelvin appeared in over 70 adult films, such as "Desires Within Young Girls" (1977), "Sensual Encounters of Every Kind" (1978), "Honky Tonk Nights" (1978), "The Ecstasy Girls" (1979), "Ring of Desire" (1981) and "Center Spread Girls" (1982), before retiring from the industry in 1982.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Spelvin made cameo appearances in "Police Academy" (1984) and "" (1986). She later had film roles in "Bad Blood" (1989), in which she was credited as "Ruth Raymond," "Return to Justice" (1990) and "Next Year in Jerusalem" (1997), as well as guest-starring roles on the television shows "Dream On" and "The Lost World."


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: Spelvin learned desktop publishing and worked for the "Los Angeles Times" until she retired from its staff in 2004.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 2004, she made a cameo appearance in Vivid Video's remake of "The Devil in Miss Jones", which is titled "The New Devil in Miss Jones." Her role did not involve any sex acts.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 2005, she was interviewed for the documentary film "Inside Deep Throat". In 2006, she was interviewed for the documentary film "Devil In Miss Spelvin", a special feature intended for inclusion with "Devil in Miss Jones, The Definitive Collector's Edition".


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In 2011, Spelvin was a guest on an episode (season 1, episode 5) of the Showtime series "Dave's Old Porn", in which she viewed and discussed clips from a number of her films (including "The Devil in Miss Jones") with host Dave Attell and guest Adam Carolla.


title: Georgina Spelvin

text: In May 2008, she published her autobiography, "The Devil Made Me Do It", and appeared on camera in a short web clip announcing its release on the internet. A self-published work, the book is available through her official website, georgiespelvin.com.


title: Gondola

text: The gondola (, ; ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a sculling manner and also acts as the rudder. The uniqueness of the gondola includes its being asymmetrical along the length making the single-oar propulsion more efficient.


title: Gondola

text: For centuries, the gondola was a major means of transportation and the most common watercraft within Venice. In modern times, the boats still do have a role in public transport in the city, serving as "traghetti" (small ferries) over the Grand Canal operated by two oarsmen.


title: Gondola

text: Various types of gondola boats are also used in special regattas (rowing races) held amongst gondoliers. Their primary role today, however, is to carry tourists on rides at fixed rates. There are approximately 400 licensed gondoliers in Venice and a similar number of boats, down from the thousands that travelled the canals centuries ago. However, they are now elegantly crafted, instead of the various types of shabby homemade boats of the distant past.


title: Gondola

text: The gondola is propelled by a person (the gondolier) who stands on the stern facing the bow and rows with a forward stroke, followed by a compensating backward stroke. The oar rests in an elaborately carved wooden rest ("forcola") shaped to project from the side of the craft so as to allow the slight drag of each return stroke to pull the bow back to its forward course. Because of the vessel's flat bottom it may also be "drifted" sideways when required. Contrary to popular belief, the gondola is never poled like a punt as the waters of Venice are too deep. Until the early 20th century, as many photographs attest, gondolas were often fitted with a "felze", a small cabin, to protect the passengers from the weather or from onlookers. Its windows could be closed with louvered shutters—the original "Venetian blinds".


title: Gondola

text: After the elimination of the traditional felze—possibly in response to tourists' complaining that it blocked the view—there survived for some decades a kind of vestigial summer awning, known as the "tendalin" (these can be seen on gondolas as late as the mid-1950s, in the film "Summertime" (1955)). While in previous centuries gondolas could be many different colors, a sumptuary law of Venice required that gondolas should be painted black, and they are customarily so painted now.


title: Gondola

text: The gondola has existed in Venice since the 11th century, being first mentioned by name in 1094. It is estimated that there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century, but there are only around four hundred in active service today, with virtually all of them used for hire by tourists. Those few that are in private ownership are either hired out to Venetians for weddings or used for racing. Even though the gondola, by now, has become a widely publicized icon of Venice, in the times of the Republic of Venice it was by far not the only means of transportation; on the map of Venice created by Jacopo de' Barbari in 1500, only a fraction of the boats are gondolas, the majority of boats are , , galleys, and other boats. Now, only a handful of batellas survive, and are used for racing only.


title: Gondola

text: The historical gondola was quite different from its modern evolution; the paintings of Canaletto and others show a much lower prow, a higher "ferro", and usually two rowers. The banana-shaped modern gondola was developed only in the 19th century by the boat-builder Tramontin, whose heirs still run the Tramontin boatyard. The construction of the gondola continued to evolve until the mid-20th century, when the city government prohibited any further modifications.


title: Gondola

text: In the 1500s an estimated 10,000 gondolas of all types were in Venice; in 1878 an estimated 4000 and now approximately 400.


title: Gondola

text: Today's gondola is up to 11 m long and 1.6 m wide, with a mass of 350 kg. They are made of 280 hand-made pieces using eight types of wood (lime, oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry, fir, larch and elm). The process takes about two months; in 2013, the cost of a gondola was about 38,000 euros. The oar or "rèmo" is held in an oarlock known as a "fórcola". The forcola is of a complicated shape, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, turning, slowing down, rowing backwards, and stopping. The ornament on the front of the boat is called the "fèrro" (meaning iron) and can be made from brass, stainless steel, or aluminium. It serves as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern.


title: Gondola

text: Every detail of the gondola has its own symbolism. The iron prow-head of the gondola, called "fero da prorà" or "dolfin", is needed to balance the weight of the gondolier at the stern and has an "Ƨ" shape symbolic of the twists in the Canal Grande. Under the main blade there is a kind of comb with six teeth or prongs ("rebbi") pointing forward standing for the six districts or "sestieri" of Venice. A kind of tooth juts out backwards toward the centre of the gondola symbolises the island of Giudecca. The curved top signifies the Doge's cap. The semi-circular break between the curved top and the six teeth is said to represent the Rialto Bridge. Sometimes three friezes can be seen in-between the six prongs, indicating the three main islands of the city: Murano, Burano and Torcello. This symbolism is likely influenced by the need to explain the shape to tourists, rather than the shape being influenced by those symbols, as they are not mentioned in any writings about the gondola prior to the current evolution of the shape of the Fero.


title: Gondola

text: The gondola is also one of the vessels typically used in both ceremonial and competitive regattas, rowing races held amongst gondoliers using the technique of Voga alla Veneta.


title: Gondola

text: During their heyday as a means of public transports, teams of four men would share ownership of a gondola three oarsmen ("gondoliers") and a fourth person, primarily shore-based and responsible for the booking and administration of the gondola ("Il Rosso Riserva").


title: Gondola

text: However, as the gondolas became more of a tourist attraction than a mode of public transport all but one of these cooperatives and their offices have closed. The category is now protected by the Institution for the Protection and Conservation of Gondolas and Gondoliers, headquartered in the historical center of Venice.


title: Gondola

text: The profession of gondolier is controlled by a guild, which issues a limited number of licenses (approximately 400), granted after periods of training (400 hours over six months) and apprenticeship, and a major comprehensive exam which tests knowledge of Venetian history and landmarks, foreign language skills, and practical skills in handling the gondola. Such skills are necessary in the tight spaces of Venetian canals. Gondoliers dress in a blue or red striped top, red neckerchief, wide-brimmed straw hat and dark pants. A gondolier can earn the equivalent of up to US$150,000 per year.


title: Gondola

text: Alex Hai had begun work in gondolas earlier than Boscolo, in 2007, as Alexandra, but not with a full license because of failures to pass various tests. In June 2017, Hai came out as transgender and said that he had been working "in the body of a woman". Hai is the first openly transgender person to be a gondola operator in Venice. He continues to work as a private gondola operator for hotels and individual clients in a self-run business, Alex Hai Gondola Tours.


title: Gondola

text: There are about a half dozen cities in the United States where gondolas are operated as tourist attractions, including New Orleans, the Charles River in Boston, Stillwater (Minnesota), New York's Central Park, and the Providence River in Rhode Island, as well as several in California. The annual "U.S. Gondola Nationals" competitions have been held since 2011, and feature American Gondoliers competing in sprints and slalom races,


title: Gondola

text: Mark Twain visited Venice in the summer of 1867. He dedicated much of "The Innocents Abroad", chapter 23, to describing the curiosity of urban life with gondolas and gondoliers.


title: Gondola

text: The first act of Gilbert and Sullivan's two-act comic operetta "The Gondoliers" is set in Venice, and its two protagonists (as well as its men's chorus) are of the eponymous profession, even though the political irony that makes up the core of the piece has much more to do with British society than with Venice.


title: Ron Chernow

text: Ronald Chernow (; born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies.


title: Ron Chernow

text: He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for his 2010 book "". He is also the recipient of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for his 1990 book "The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance". His biographies of Alexander Hamilton (2004) and John D. Rockefeller (1998) were both nominated for National Book Critics Circle Awards, while the former served as the inspiration for the popular "Hamilton" musical, for which Chernow worked as a historical consultant. Another book, "The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family", was honored with the 1993 George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. As a freelance journalist, he has written over sixty articles in national publications.


title: Ron Chernow

text: Ronald Chernow was born on March 3, 1949, in Brooklyn, New York. His father Israel was the owner of a discount store and creator of a stock brokerage firm; his mother Ruth was a bookkeeper. He is brother to Bart Chernow and uncle to Shandee Chernow. Chernow was voted "Most Likely to Succeed", and was Class President and Valedictorian when he graduated in 1966 from Forest Hills High School in Queens, New York. Chernow graduated "summa cum laude" from Yale University in 1970 and Pembroke College at Cambridge University with degrees in English literature. He began but did not finish a PhD program. He says that in politics he is a "disgruntled Democrat" and gives his religion as "Jewish, though more in the breach than the observance."


title: Ron Chernow

text: He married Valerie Stearn in 1979; she died in January 2006. Valerie S. Chernow was an assistant professor of languages and social sciences at the New York City College of Technology.


title: Ron Chernow

text: Ron Chernow has received honorary degrees from Long Island University, Marymount Manhattan College, Hamilton College, Washington College, and Skidmore College.


title: Ron Chernow

text: Chernow began his career as a freelance journalist. He wrote more than 60 articles in national newspapers and magazines from 1973 to 1982. In the mid-1980s, he put his writing pursuits aside when he began serving as the director of financial policy studies with the Twentieth Century Fund, which is based in New York City. In 1986, he left the organization and refocused his efforts on writing. In addition to his background in writing nonfiction and biographies, Chernow continues to contribute articles to "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal". He has also provided commentary on business, politics, and finance on national radio and television shows, while also appearing as an expert in documentary films.


title: Ron Chernow

text: In 1990, Chernow published his first book, "The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance", which traces the history of four generations of the J.P. Morgan financial empire. The reviewer for "The New York Times" Book Review said, "As a portrait of finance, politics and the world of avarice and ambition on Wall Street, the book has the movement and tension of an epic novel. It is, quite simply, a tour de force." "The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance" was honored with the National Book Award for Nonfiction.


title: Ron Chernow

text: In 1993, Chernow published "The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family", which is an account of the Warburg family, who immigrated to the US from Germany in 1938. The Warburg family was a prominent financial dynasty of German Jewish descent, known for their accomplishments in physics, classical music, art history, pharmacology, physiology, finance, private equity and philanthropy. The book was awarded the Columbia Business School's George S. Eccles Prize for Excellence in Economic Writing. It was additionally named as one of the year's ten best works by the American Library Association and a Notable Book by "The New York Times".


title: Ron Chernow

text: Chernow's 1997 collection of essays, "The Death of the Banker", touched upon his earlier writings and chronicled "the decline and fall of the great financial dynasties and the triumph of the small investor" (to quote its subtitle).


title: Ron Chernow

text: In 1998, Chernow published the 774-page "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.", which was selected by "Time" and "The New York Times" as one of the year's ten best books. A prominent figure in American business history, Rockefeller was an industrialist, philanthropist, and the founder of the Standard Oil Company. The book reflected Chernow's continued interest in financial history, especially when shaped by compelling and influential individuals. The book remained on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for 16 weeks. "Time" called it "one of the great American biographies".


title: Ron Chernow

text: In 2004, Chernow published "Alexander Hamilton". The biography was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award and was named as the winner of the inaugural George Washington Book Prize for early American history. It remained on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for three months. In his review for the "Journal of American History", Stephen B. Presser, who is professor of business law emeritus at Northwestern University, wrote:


title: Ron Chernow

text: The biography was adapted into a Tony award-winning musical, "Hamilton", by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which opened on Broadway in August 2015. Chernow served as historical consultant to the production.


title: Ron Chernow

text: Chernow's 904-page "" was released on October 5, 2010 (). It won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the American History Book Prize. Professor Gordon S. Wood, renowned scholar of the Founding era, wrote:


title: Ron Chernow

text: In 2011, Chernow signed a deal to write a comprehensive biography on Ulysses S. Grant. Chernow explained his transition from writing about George Washington to Grant: "Makes some sense as progression. Towering general of Revolution to towering general of Civil War. Both two-term presidents, though with very different results." "Grant" was released on October 10, 2017, and the biography strongly argues against the conventional wisdom that Grant was an "adequate president, a dull companion and a roaring drunk." The book received overwhelmingly positive reviews and was named by "The New York Times" as one of the 10 Best Books of 2017.


title: Ron Chernow

text: In 1990, Chernow became a member of the PEN American Center. In 2006, he was named as the President of the Board of Trustees, succeeding novelist Salman Rushdie.


title: Kara (Sikhism)

text: A kara () is a steel or cast iron ("sarb loh") bangle worn by Sikhs. It is expected to be worn by all Sikhs.


title: Kara (Sikhism)

text: It is one of the five kakars or five Ks—external articles of faith—that identify a Sikh as dedicated to the religious order of Sikhism. The kara was instituted by the tenth Sikh guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanchar in 1699. Guru Gobind Singh Ji explained:


title: Kara (Sikhism)

text: The Kara is a symbol of unbreakable attachment and commitment to God. As the Sikhs' holy text the Guru Granth Sahib says "In the tenth month, you were made into a human being, O my merchant friend, and you were given your allotted time to perform good deeds." Similarly, Bhagat Kabir reminds the Sikh to always keep one's consciousness with God: "With your hands and feet, do all your work, but let your consciousness remain with the Immaculate Lord." The kara is also worn by many Sikhs and other non-Sikh Indian families across the states in the North, North-West and West of India (such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, and even Maharashtra) by Hindus; moreover, the use of the kara by non-Sikhs is encouraged as it represents the "totality of God".


title: Kara (Sikhism)

text: The basic kara is a simple unadorned iron bracelet, but other forms exist. The Kara is one of the most basic symbols of the Sikh faith. All Sikhs are expected to wear the Kara as all are expected to not cut their hair (a second very critical element of the identity of the Sikh). Both of these fall in the realm of the 5 articles worn by Sikhs as a part of their uniform.


title: Kara (Sikhism)

text: It was also historically used like a knuckle-duster for hand-to-hand combat. Battlefield variations include kara with spikes or sharp edges. Sikh soldiers serving for the British army in India would settle disputes by competing in a form of boxing known as "loh-muthi" (lit. iron fist) with a kara on one hand.


title: Los Ántrax

text: Los Ántrax is a large enforcer unit and hit squad for the Sinaloa Cartel, a major crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The group was led by the drug lords Jesús Peña (alias "El 20"), José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa (alias "El Chino Ántrax"), René Velázquez Valenzuela (alias "El Sargento Phoenix"), among others, and they are responsible for a number of homicides and for providing armed security services to Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. The gang operates in the capital city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, where its members conduct homicides and violent attacks. Los Antrax is the Sinaloa Cartel's largest and deadliest enforcer unit.


title: Los Ántrax

text: The name of the group is inspired from the bacterium spores anthrax, although the Sinaloa state authorities have never officially recognized the group's existence.


title: Los Ántrax

text: Los Ántrax works as the security force of the drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who leads the Sinaloa Cartel along with Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán (now arrested). Several homicides have been attributed to the gang, which was led by a drug trafficker named Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa ("El Chino Antrax"), who died on May 15, 2020, and his right-hand man Jesus Peña ("El 20"). Peña escaped from a prison in Sinaloa on March 16, 2017 with four other suspects, including alleged Ántrax member Rafael Guadalupe Félix Núñez (alias "Changuito Ántrax") and Juan José Esparragoza Monzón, son of Juan José Esparragoza Moreno.


title: Los Ántrax

text: A fierce gunfight between members of the Sinaloa Cartel (with the backing of Los Ántrax) and the Beltrán Leyva Cartel (with the support of Los Zetas) left about 30 dead in the town of Tubutama, Sonora in northern Mexico on 1 July 2010. The drug gangs clashed just a few miles across the international border with the U.S. state of Arizona – an area notorious for being a smuggling route for narcotics and human trafficking. Eleven late-model, bullet-ridden vehicles were found at the scene, along with dozens of high caliber assault rifles. Some of the vehicles had "X" painted on their windows, a method often used by the Mexican drug trafficking organizations to distinguish the vehicles of rival drug cartels during armed confrontations.


title: Los Ántrax

text: Los Ántrax gained public attention on 26 May 2011, when a squadron of the Mexican Army that was patrolling a neighborhood in southern Culiacán spotted three vehicles with armed assailants. The encounter prompted a gunfight, but the Mexican forces managed to neutralize three members of Los Ántrax; they also liberated three kidnapping victims from a safe house in the area (a woman; a man who had his toes and ears mutilated; and a 5-year-old girl). Although preliminary reports indicated that the three gunmen killed by the army – Jesús Humberto Corona Guillén, Franklin Olguín Velázquez and Pedro Valenzuela Meza – had died from gunshot wounds during the shootout, the post-mortem reports indicated that the gunmen had been beaten and tortured by the soldiers before being killed, even though the official account of the event was that they "died in a gun battle."


title: Los Ántrax

text: On 1 November 2011, during an indoor football game in Culiacán, Sinaloa, an armed commando interrupted the game and killed Francisco Arce Rubio, the leader of Los Ántrax. According to police reports, several armed men carrying AK-47s and handguns interrupted the soccer game at the Deportivo Jimmy Ruiz stadium and forced all of the players to lie face down on the field at around 11:00 p.m. Once they had subjugated everyone on the field, the gunmen executed one of the team's managers, and then went on to kill Arce Rubio (aged 30). After the double-homicide, the gunmen departed.


title: Los Ántrax

text: Arce Rubio was reportedly killed by rival members of Los Mazatlecos, a gang headed by Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, nicknamed "El Chapo" Isidro. Arce Rubio was also reportedly responsible for assassinating two nephews of Amado and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes in Sinaloa. Meza Flores and his gang are reportedly part of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel, which disputes the drug trafficking corridors with the Sinaloa Cartel in western Mexico.


title: Los Ántrax

text: The weekend Arce Rubio was killed, the state of Sinaloa experienced at least 20 homicides possibly linked to the drug lord's death. In one incident, gang members hung three bodies from a bridge in the town of Guamúchil. In another incident at a volleyball court in Culiacán, unidentified gunmen killed 8 people and injured several others. Several other bullet-ridden corpses were found throughout the state that same weekend.