History.

Portland has been inhabited since at least the Mesolithic period (the Middle Stone Age)—there is archaeological evidence of Mesolithic inhabitants at the Culverwell Mesolithic Site, near Portland Bill, and of habitation since then. The Romans occupied Portland, reputedly calling it "Vindelis".  Although the beginning of the Viking Age in England is dated to their raid in 793, when they destroyed the abbey on Lindisfarne, their first documented landing occurred in Portland four years earlier, in 789, as recorded in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". Three lost Viking ships from Hordaland (the district around Hardanger fjord in west Norway) landed at Portland Bill. The king's reeve tried to collect taxes from them, but they killed him and sailed on.  Rufus Castle, standing over Church Ope Cove was built for William II of England (also known as William Rufus) soon after the conquest of England by his father William the Conqueror. None of that castle remains; the existing castle dates from the 15th century.  In 1539 King Henry VIII ordered the construction of Portland Castle for defence against attacks by the French; the castle cost £4,964. It is one of the best preserved castles from this period, and is opened to the public by the custodians English Heritage.  In the 17th century, chief architect and Surveyor-General to James I, Inigo Jones, surveyed the area and introduced the local Portland stone to London, using it in his Banqueting House, Whitehall, and for repairs on St Paul's Cathedral. His successor, Sir Christopher Wren, the architect and Member of Parliament for nearby Weymouth, used six million tons of white Portland limestone to rebuild destroyed parts of the capital after the Great Fire of London of 1666. Well-known buildings in the capital, including St Paul's Cathedral and the eastern front of Buckingham Palace feature the stone. After the First World War, a quarry was opened by The Crown Estate to provide stone for the Cenotaph in Whitehall and half a million gravestones for war cemeteries, and after the Second World War hundreds of thousands of gravestones were hewn for soldiers who had fallen on the Western Front. Portland cement has nothing to do with Portland; it was so named due to its similar colour to Portland stone when mixed with lime and sand. There have been railways in Portland since the early 19th century. The Merchant's Railway was the earliest—it opened in 1826 (one year after the Stockton and Darlington railway) and ran from the quarries at the north of Tophill to a pier at Castletown, from where the Portland stone was shipped around the country. The Weymouth and Portland Railway was laid in 1865, and ran from a station in Melcombe Regis, across the Fleet and along the low isthmus behind Chesil Beach to a station at Victoria Square in Chiswell. At the end of the 19th century the line was extended to the top of the island as the Easton and Church Ope Railway, running through Castletown and ascending the cliffs at East Weares, to loop back north to a station in Easton. The line closed to passengers in 1952, and the final goods train (and two passenger'specials') ran in April 1965.  The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck stationed a lifeboat at Portland in 1826, which was withdrawn in 1851. Coastal flooding has affected Portland's residents and transport for centuries—the only way off the island by land is along the causeway in the lee of Chesil Beach. At times of extreme floods (about every 10 years) this road link is cut by floods. The low-lying village of Chiswell used to flood on average every 5 years. Chesil Beach occasionally faces severe storms and massive waves, which have a fetch across the Atlantic Ocean. Following two severe flood events in the 1970s, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and Wessex Water decided to investigate the structure of the beach, and coastal management schemes that could be built to protect Chiswell and the beach road. In the 1980s it was agreed that a scheme to protect against a one-in-five-year storm would be practicable; it would reduce flood depth and duration in more severe storms. Hard engineering techniques were employed in the scheme, including a gabion running to the north of Chiswell, an extended sea wall in Chesil Cove, and a culvert running from inside the beach, underneath the beach road and into Portland Harbour, to divert flood water away from low-lying areas.  At the start of the First World War, HMS "Hood" was sunk in the passage between the southern breakwaters to protect the harbour from torpedo and submarine attack. Portland Harbour was formed (1848–1905) by the construction of breakwaters, but before that the natural anchorage had hosted ships of the Royal Navy for more than 500 years. It was "the home of the Asdics," a centre for Admiralty research into asdic submarine detection and underwater weapons from 1917 to 1998; the shore base HMS Serepta was renamed HMS Osprey in 1927. During the Second World War Portland was the target of heavy bombing, although most warships had moved north as Portland was within enemy striking range across the Channel. Mulberry Harbour Phoenix Units can be seen at Black Barge beach, near Portland Castle. Portland was a major embarkation point for Allied forces on D-Day in 1944. Early helicopters were stationed at Portland in 1946–1948, and in 1959 a shallow tidal flat, The Mere, was infilled, and sports fields taken to form a heliport. The station was formally commissioned as HMS Osprey, which then became the largest and busiest military helicopter station in Europe. The base was gradually improved with additional landing areas and one of England's shortest runways, at.  The naval base closed after the end of the Cold War in 1995, and the Royal Naval Air Station closed in 1999, although the runway remained in use for Her Majesty's Coastguard Search and Rescue flights as MRCC Portland until 2014. MRCC Portland's area of responsibility extended midway across the English Channel, and from Start Point in Devon to the Dorset/Hampshire border, covering an area of around. The 12 Search and Rescue teams in the Portland area dealt with almost 1000 incidents in 2005.  There are still two prisons on Portland: HMP The Verne, which until 1949 was a huge Victorian military fortress, and a Young Offenders' Institution (HMYOI) on the Grove clifftop. This was the original prison (HM Prison Portland) built for convicts who quarried stone for the Portland Breakwaters from 1848. For a few years until 2005 Britain's only prison ship, HMP "The Weare", was berthed in the harbour.

Governance.

Portland is an ancient royal manor, and until the 19th century remained a separate liberty within Dorset for administration purposes. It was an urban district from 1894 to 1974, until the borough of Weymouth and Portland formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. This merged the borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis with Portland urban district. For local elections the borough is divided into 15 wards, and three of them cover Portland. Elections take place in a four-year cycle; one third of the councillors in all but three wards retire or seek re-election in years one, two and three, and county council elections are held in year four.  The mayor of Weymouth and Portland is Ray Banham (Liberal Democrat), Kate Wheller (Labour Party) is deputy mayor. Weymouth, Portland and the Purbeck district are in the South Dorset parliamentary constituency, created in 1885. The constituency elects one Member of Parliament; the current MP is Richard Drax (Conservative). South Dorset, the rest of the South West England, and Gibraltar are in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.  Weymouth and Portland have been twinned with the town of Holzwickede in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany since 1986, and the French town of Louviers, in the department of Eure in Normandy, since 1959. The borough and nearby Chickerell have been a Fairtrade Zone since 2007.

Geography.

The Isle of Portland lies in the English Channel, south of Wyke Regis, and west-southwest of London, at (50.55, −2.44). Portland is situated approximately halfway along the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site; the site includes of the Dorset and east Devon coast that is important for its geology and landforms. The South West Coast Path runs around the coast; it is the United Kingdom's longest national trail at. Portland is unusual as it is connected to the mainland at Abbotsbury by Chesil Beach, a tombolo which runs north-west to West Bay. Portland is sometimes defined incorrectly as a tombolo—in fact Portland is a tied island, and Chesil Beach is the tombolo (a spit joined to land at both ends).  There are eight settlements on Portland, the largest being Fortuneswell in Underhill and Easton on Tophill. Castletown and Chiswell are the other villages in Underhill, and Weston, Southwell, Wakeham and the Grove are on the Tophill plateau. Many old buildings are built out of Portland Stone; several parts have been designated Conservation Areas to preserve the unique character the older settlements which date back hundreds of years.  The Isle of Portland has been designated by Natural England as National Character Area 137. It is adjoined by the Weymouth Lowlands to the north.

Geology.

Geologically, Portland is separated into two areas; the steeply sloping land at its north end called Underhill, and the larger, gently sloping land to the south, called Tophill. Portland stone lies under Tophill; the strata decline at a shallow angle of around 1.5 degrees, from a height of near the Verne in the north, to just above sea level at Portland Bill. The geology of Underhill is different to Tophill; Underhill lies on a steep escarpment composed of Portland Sand, lying above a thicker layer of Kimmeridge Clay, which extends to Chesil Beach and Portland Harbour. This Kimmeridge Clay has resulted in a series of landslides, forming West Weares and East Weares.

Portland Bill.

Portland Bill is the southern tip of the island of Portland. The Bill has three lighthouse towers: The Higher Lighthouse is now a dwelling and holiday apartments; the Lower Lighthouse is now a bird observatory and field centre providing records of bird migration and accommodation for visitors, which opened in 1961. The white and red lighthouse on Bill Point replaced the Higher and Lower Lighthouses in 1906. It is a prominent and much photographed feature; an important landmark for ships passing the headland and its tidal race. The current lighthouse was refurbished in 1996 and became remotely controlled. It now contains a visitors' centre giving information and guided tours of the lighthouse. As of June 2009, the lighthouse uses a 1 kW metal-halide US-made lamp with an operational life of about 4000 hours, or 14 months.  Portland Ledge is an underwater extension of Portland Stone into the English Channel at a place where the depth of Channel is 20 to 40 metres (about 10 to 20 fathoms). Tidal flow is disrupted by the feature; at 10 metres (about 5 fathoms) deep and long, it causes a tidal race to the south of Portland Bill, the so-called "Portland Race". The current only stops for brief periods during the -hour tidal cycle and can reach at the spring tide of.

Ecology.

Due to its isolated coastal location, the Isle of Portland has an extensive range of flora and fauna; the coastline and disused quarries are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Sea and migratory birds occupy the cliffs in different seasons, sometimes these include rare species which draw ornithologists from around the country. Rare visitors to the surrounding seas include dolphins, seals and basking sharks. Chesil Beach is one of only two sites in Britain where the scaly cricket can be found; unlike any other cricket it is wingless and does not sing or hop. Ten British Primitive goats were introduced to the East Weares part of the island to control scrub in 2007.  The comparatively warm and sunny climate allows species of plants to thrive which do not on the mainland. The limestone soil has low nutrient levels; hence smaller species of wild flowers and grasses are able to grow in the absence of larger species. Portland sea lavender can be found on the higher sea cliffs; unique to Portland, it is one of the United Kingdom's rarest plants. The wild flowers and plants make an excellent habitat for butterflies; over half of the British Isles' 57 butterfly species can be seen on Portland, including varieties that migrate from mainland Europe. Species live on Portland that are rare in the United Kingdom, including the limestone race of the silver-studded blue.

Climate.

The mild seas which almost surround the tied island produce a temperate climate (Köppen climate classification "Cfb") with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The average annual mean temperature from 1981 to 2010 was. The warmest month is August, which has an average temperature range of, and the coolest is February, which has a range of. Mean winter temperatures are amongst the highest in the British Isles, and by far warmer than the United Kingdom average. However, due to the islands proximity to the sea, summers are cooler than the national average, with temperatures rarely climbing to the extremes seen in in-land areas further north. As a result, Portland is in AHS Heat zone 1. Mean sea surface temperatures range from in February to in August; the annual mean is.  The mild seas that surround Portland act to keep night-time temperatures above freezing, making winter frost rare: on average 9.6 days per year — this is far below the United Kingdom's average annual total of 55.6 days of frost. Days with snow lying are equally rare: on average zero to six days per year; almost all winters have no more than one day with snow lying. It may snow or sleet in winter, yet it almost never settles on the ground—coastal areas in South West England such as Portland generally experience the mildest winters in the UK. Portland is less affected by the Atlantic storms that Devon and Cornwall experience. The growing season lasts for more than 310 days per year, and the borough is in Hardiness zone 9.  Weymouth and Portland, and the rest of the south coast, has the sunniest climate in the United Kingdom. Portland averaged 1798.9 hours of sunshine annually between 1981 and 2010, which is 41% of the maximum possible, and 34% above the United Kingdom average of 1339.7 hours. December is the cloudiest month (59.7 hours of sunshine), October and November the joint wettest ( of rain) and July is the sunniest and driest month (236.9 hours of sunshine, of rain). Sunshine totals in all months are well above the United Kingdom average, and monthly rainfall totals throughout the year are less than the UK average, particularly in summer; this summer minimum of rainfall is not experienced away from the south coast of England. The average annual rainfall of is well below the UK average of.

Demography.

The mid-year population of Portland in 2010 was 12,400; this figure has remained around twelve to thirteen thousand since the 1970s. In 2010 there were 5,786 dwellings in an area of, giving an approximate population density of 1100 people per km (4.5 per acre). The population is almost entirely native to England—94.9 percent of residents are of white British ethnicity, well above the England and Wales average of 80.5 percent. The average price of a detached house on Portland in 2010 was £194,200; terraced houses are cheaper, at £149,727, and an apartment or maisonette costs £110,500.  Crime rates are below average—there were 5.4 burglaries per 1000 households in 2009 and 2010; which is lower than South West England (7.6 per 1000) and significantly lower than England and Wales (11.6 per 1000). Unemployment levels are very low, at 1.9 percent in July 2011, compared to the United Kingdom average of 7.7 percent. The most common religious identity in Weymouth and Portland is Christianity, at 61.0 percent, which is slightly above the England and Wales average of 59.3 percent. The next-largest sector is those with no religion, at 29.3 percent, also slightly above the average of 25.1 percent.

Transport.

The A354 road is the only land access to Portland, via Ferry Bridge, connecting to Weymouth and to the wider road network at the A35 trunk road in Dorchester. It runs from Easton, splitting into a northbound section through Chiswell and a southbound section through Fortuneswell, then along Chesil Beach and across a bridge to the mainland in Wyke Regis. Formerly the Portland Branch Railway also crossed to the island. The corridor is now a traffic-free walking and cycle path.  Local buses are run by FirstGroup, with services to Weymouth. Weymouth is the hub for south Dorset bus routes, with services to Dorchester and local villages. Weymouth is connected to towns and villages along the Jurassic Coast by the Jurassic Coast Bus service, which runs for from Exeter to Poole, through Sidford, Beer, Seaton, Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Bridport, Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Wool, and Wareham. Trains run from Weymouth to London, Southampton, Bristol and Gloucester. but ferries no longer transport passengers to the French port of St Malo and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey.

Education.

St George's Community Primary School is located in Easton. The only other school on Portland is the Atlantic Academy, an all-through school for pupils aged 3 to 19 based at two different sites. Formerly known as the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy, it formed in 2012 by merging four primary schools and one secondary school.  Some students commute to Weymouth or Dorchester to study A-Levels, or to attend other secondary schools nearby. Weymouth College in Melcombe Regis is the nearest further education college, which has around 7,500 students from south west England and overseas, about 1500 studying A-Level courses.

Culture.

Sport and recreation.

In 2000, the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy was built in Osprey Quay in Underhill as a centre for sailing in the United Kingdom. Weymouth and Portland's waters were credited by the Royal Yachting Association as the best in Northern Europe. Weymouth and Portland regularly host local, national and international sailing events in their waters; these include the J/24 World Championships in 2005, trials for the 2004 Athens Olympics, the ISAF World Championship 2006, the BUSA Fleet Racing Championships, and the RYA Youth National Championships.  In 2005, the WPNSA was selected to host sailing events at the 2012 Olympic Games—mainly because the Academy had recently been built, so no new venue would have to be provided. However, as part of the South West of England Regional Development Agency's plans to redevelop Osprey Quay, a new 600-berth marina and an extension with more on-site facilities were built. Construction was scheduled between October 2007 and the end of 2008, and with its completion and formal opening on 11 June 2009, the venue became the first of the 2012 Olympic Games to be completed.  Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour are used for other water sports – the reliable wind is favourable for wind and kite-surfing. Chesil Beach and Portland Harbour are used regularly for angling, scuba diving to shipwrecks, snorkelling, canoeing, and swimming. The limestone cliffs and quarries are used for rock climbing; Portland has areas for bouldering and deep water soloing, however sport climbing with bolt protection is the most common style. Since June 2003 the South West Coast Path National Trail has included of coastal walking around the Isle of Portland, including following the A354 Portland Beach Road twice.  Isle of Portland has a Non-League football club Portland United F.C. who play at Grove Corner. They also have a youth set up called Portland United youth football Club.

Rabbits.

Rabbits have long been associated with bad luck on Portland. Use of the name is still taboo—the creatures are often referred to as "underground mutton", "long-eared furry things" or just "bunnies". The origin of this superstition is obscure (there is no record of it before the 1920s) but it is believed to derive from quarry workers. They would see rabbits emerging from their burrows immediately before a rock fall and blame them for increasing the risk of dangerous, sometimes deadly, landslides. If a rabbit was seen in a quarry, the workers would go home for the day, until the safety of the area had been assured.  Today older Portland residents are 'offended' (sometimes for the benefit of tourists) by the mention of rabbits; this superstition came to national attention in October 2005 when a special batch of advertisement posters were made for the Wallace and Gromit film, "". Out of respect for local beliefs the adverts omitted the word 'rabbit' and replaced the film's title with the phrase ""Something bunny is going on"".

Literature.

Thomas Hardy described Portland as "the peninsula carved by Time out of a single stone", and named it the "Isle of Slingers" and "Isle of the Race" in his Wessex novels; it was the main setting of "The Well-Beloved" (1897), and was featured in "The Trumpet-Major" (1880). The cottage that now houses Portland Museum was the inspiration for the heroine's house in "The Well-Beloved". Portlanders were expert stone-throwers in the defence of their land, and Hardy's "Isle of Slingers" is heavily based on Portland; the "Street of Wells" representing Fortuneswell and "The Beal" Portland Bill. Hardy also called Portland the "Gibraltar of the North", with reference to its similarities with Gibraltar; its physical geography, isolation, comparatively mild climate, and Underhill's winding streets.  Hilaire Belloc's book "The Cruise of the ""Nona""" is about sailing near Portland, and the reflections it occasions. He describes Portland Race as "the master terror of our world", and says "... if you were to make a list of all the things which Portland Race has swallowed up, it would rival Orcus".  In "Museums Without Walls", Jonathan Meades declares that "Portland is a bulky chunk of geological, social, topographical and demographic weirdness. It is the obverse of a beauty spot. 'Beauty' in this construction implies the picturesque. Portland is gloriously bereft of this quality. It is awesome. There is nothing pretty about it."  In "The Warlord Chronicles" (1995–97), Bernard Cornwell makes Portland the Isle of the Dead, a place of internal exile, where the causeway was guarded to keep the 'dead' (people suffering insanity) from crossing the Fleet and returning to the mainland. No historical evidence exists to support this idea.  The Portland Chronicles series of four children's books, set on and around Portland and Weymouth and written by local author Carol Hunt, draw on local history to explore a seventeenth century world of smuggling, witchcraft, piracy and local intrigue.  In the Louis L'Amour novel "To the Far Blue Mountains" the novel's main character, Barnabas Sackett, hides in Cave Hole at the Bill of Portland before meeting a sailing ship in an attempt to escape from England.  "Pink Pippos of Portland", a children's storybook about nearby Chesil Beach was written by Portland author Sandra Fretwell.

Vernacular.

"Bunnies": (see above).  "Kimberlin": slang for any'strangers' who live on the island but are not from the island.  "Portland screw": fossil mollusc ("Aptyxiella portlandica") with a long screw-like shell or its cast.

References.

Informational notes  Citations Further reading

The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier beach called Chesil Beach joins it to the mainland. The A354 road passes down the Portland end of the beach and then over the Fleet Lagoon by bridge to the mainland. Portland and Weymouth together form the borough of Weymouth and Portland. The population of Portland is 12,400.

Isle of Portland je poloostrov v anglickém hrabství Dorset. Má rozlohu 11,5 km2 a žije na něm 12 400 obyvatel. Největším sídlem je Fortuneswell. Původně byl ostrovem, později však vznikla úzká šíje Chesil Beach, která ho propojila s pevninou. Nejvyšším bodem je Verne Hill (149 m n. m.).


Recording and production.

Johnny Walker of the Soledad Brothers played slide guitar on two songs: "Suzy Lee" and "I Fought Piranhas". Walker is credited with having taught Jack White how to play slide, a technique featured heavily on the White Stripes' first two albums. Walker explains, "[Jack] had a four track in his living room and invited me to come by and do some recording. In return, I showed him how to play slide."  The duo covered "St. James Infirmary Blues" after, according to Jack, he and Meg were introduced to the song from a "Betty Boop" cartoon.

Critical reception.

The album received mostly positive reviews. Norene Cashen of "The Metro Times" said the LP "serves better to remind us that [Detroit's] local identity has more options than a membership card to the latest cliché...or a one-way ticket to the coast."  Much of the media feedback came two or three years later its initial release, after the duo's fame spread beyond Detroit. AllMusic said of the album, "Jack White's voice is a singular, evocative combination of punk, metal, blues, and backwoods while his guitar work is grand and banging with just enough lyrical touches of slide and subtle solo work... Meg White balances out the fretwork and the fretting with methodical, spare, and booming cymbal, bass drum, and snare... All D.I.Y. punk-country-blues-metal singer-songwriting duos should sound this good."  John Peel, the late, influential DJ for the BBC, first spotted the album in a record store and said, "I just liked the look of it and I looked at the titles – you develop an instinct, d'you know what I mean? And it looked like the sort of record I would like, so I took it out and I did like it, and started playing it." His endorsement was key in heightening their popularity in the UK.

The White Stripes is the debut studio album by American rock duo the White Stripes, released on June 15, 1999. The album was produced by Jim Diamond and vocalist/guitarist Jack White, recorded in January 1999 at Ghetto Recorders and Third Man Studios in Detroit. White dedicated the album to deceased blues musician Son House.

The White Stripes je první studiové album amerického dua The White Stripes. Vydáno bylo v červnu 1999 společností Sympathy for the Record Industry a spolu s Jackem Whitem, zpěvákem skupiny, jej produkoval Jim Diamond. Obsahuje jak autorské písně převážně z pera Jacka Whitea, tak i coververze například od Boba Dylana a Roberta Johnsona a tradicionál „St. James Infirmary Blues“.


Plot.

Allie Fox is a brilliant but stubborn inventor who has grown fed up with the American Dream and consumerism. Furthermore, he believes that there is a nuclear war on the horizon as a result of American greed and crime. After Allie and his eldest son Charlie acquire the components at a local dump, he finishes assembling his latest creation, an ice machine known as Fat Boy. Allie's boss, Mr. Polski, an asparagus farm owner, complains that Allie is not tending to the asparagus, which is rotting. Allie, Charlie, and Allie's youngest son, Jerry, meet Mr. Polski, and Allie shows him "Fat Boy." The machine leaves Polski unimpressed. As he drives past the fields, a dejected Allie comments on immigrants picking asparagus, and says that where they come from, they might think of ice as a luxury.  The next morning, Allie throws a party for the immigrant workers before telling his family that they're leaving the United States. On board a Panamanian barge, the family meets Reverend Spellgood, a missionary, his wife, and their daughter, Emily. Allie and the Reverend clash due to their opposing religious views. When the barge docks in Belize City, the families disembark and go their separate ways. Allie purchases a small village called Jeronimo in the rainforest along the river from a drunk German.  Mr. Haddy takes Allie and his family upriver to Jeronimo. Allie meets the inhabitants and proceeds to start building a new, 'advanced' civilization, in the process inventing many new things. The locals take kindly to Allie and his family, but Allie's will to build a utopian civilization keeps them working to their limits. Reverend Spellgood arrives to convert Jeronimo's citizens. In the process, Allie and Spellgood angrily denounce each other, leading to a permanent schism: Allie believes Spellgood to be a religious zealot; Spellgood believes Allie to be a communist. Allie sets to constructing a huge version of "Fat Boy" that can supply the town with ice. Upon completing the machine, Allie hears rumors of a native tribe in the mountains that have never seen ice. Allie recruits his two sons to carry a load of ice into the jungle to supply the tribe. Upon arriving, Allie finds that the load has melted, and that the tribe has already been visited by missionaries.  When Allie returns to Jeronimo, he learns that Spellgood has left with much of the populace, scaring them with stories of God's biblical destruction. The near-empty town is visited by three rebels, who demand to use Jeronimo as a base. Allie and his family agree to accommodate them while Allie concocts a plan to be rid of them. Set on freezing them to death, Allie bunks the rebels up in the giant ice machine, tells Charlie to lock its only other exit, and activates it. The rebels, waking in panic, try to shoot their way out. To Allie's horror, the rebels' gunfire sets off an explosion within the machine. By the next morning, both the machine and the family's home is in ruins, and chemicals from the destroyed machine have severely polluted the river.  Forced downstream, Allie and his family arrive at the coast. Mother and the children rejoice, believing they can return to the United States. Allie, refusing to believe his dream has been shattered, announces that they have all they need on the beach and tells them that the United States has been destroyed in a nuclear war. Settling on the beach in a houseboat he has built, and refusing assistance from Mr. Haddy, Allie believes that the family has accomplished building a utopia. One night, the storm surge from a tropical cyclone nearly forces the family out to sea until Charlie reveals that he has been hiding motor components given to him by Mr. Haddy, allowing them to start the motor on the boat.  Forced to travel upstream once again, Charlie and Jerry grow resentful of their father. Coming ashore when the family stumbles across Spellgood's compound, Allie sees barbed wire, and mutters that the settlement is a Christian concentration camp. While the rest of the family sleeps, Charlie and Jerry sneak over to the Spellgood home. They find out that the United States was not destroyed and that Emily will assist them in escaping from Allie. Before Charlie can persuade Mother and his sisters to leave, Allie sets Spellgood's church on fire. Spellgood shoots Allie, paralyzing him from the neck down. The family escapes aboard the boat.  The family begins traveling downriver again, with Allie drifting in and out of consciousness. Allie asks his wife if they are going upstream. She lies to him for the first time. Charlie's narration reports the death of Allie, but gives hope that the rest of the family can live their lives freely from now on.

Production.

Producer Jerome Hellman bought the rights to Theroux's novel as soon as it was published, and Weir committed to filming it. Jack Nicholson was originally offered the lead role, but backed out partly because he could not watch Los Angeles Lakers games in Belize, where part of the film was to be shot.  As the film went into pre-production, and Weir was in Central America scouting for locations, the financial backing for the film fell through and the project was suspended indefinitely. In the meantime, Weir was approached to direct "Witness" starring Harrison Ford. The film, which was Weir's first American production, was a critical and commercial success, garnering eight Academy Award nominations including Weir for Best Director, Ford for Best Actor, and the film itself for Best Film. During the production of "Witness", Weir discussed "The Mosquito Coast" with Ford who became interested in the role of Allie Fox (though Ford's agent was less enthusiastic). With Ford attached to the project, financial backing and distribution for the film was easier to find (ultimately from Saul Zaentz and Warner Bros.).  Filming began the week of February 7, 1986 in Belize and finished there on April 26 before moving to Georgia. Weir and Ford famously missed the Academy Awards ceremony for which they had both been nominated for "Witness", which won two Oscars, for Best Screenplay and Best Film Editing.  The film contains the last feature film role of Butterfly McQueen, who had a prominent role in "Gone with the Wind". She plays a lapsed churchgoer, and in real life was a vocal atheist.

Reception.

The film was initially a critical and commercial disappointment, but has since received much stronger modern reviews. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a positive score of 76% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 6.42/10. The site's consensus reads: "Harrison Ford capably tackles a tough, unlikable role, producing a fascinating and strange character study". Siskel & Ebert were split, Siskel giving the film a "thumbs up" and Ebert giving it a "thumbs down," criticizing Allie Fox for being "boring." However, he did compliment Ford's performance. Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" called it "utterly flat." In her review for "The Washington Post", Rita Kempley wrote: In her review for the "Los Angeles Times", Sheila Benson wrote, "He's orchestrated "The Mosquito Coast"'s action to match Fox's progressive mental state, from rage to explosion to squalls and finally to hurricane velocity; however, the film leaves us not with an apotheosis, but exhaustion." In his review for "The Globe and Mail", Jay Scott wrote, ""The Mosquito Coast" is a work of consummate craftsmanship and it's spectacularly acted, down to the smallest roles... but its field of vision is as narrow and eventually as claustrophobic as Allie's." The negative reviews the film received prompted Harrison Ford to defend the film in the media:  With a production budget of $25 million, the film made a little over $14 million in North America. Despite being one of his least commercially successful films, Ford has defended it, saying in a 1992 interview:

The Mosquito Coast is a 1986 American drama film directed by Peter Weir and starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Andre Gregory, and River Phoenix. It is based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Paul Theroux. The film tells the story of a family that leaves the United States and tries to find a happier and simpler life in the jungles of Central America. However, their jungle paradise quickly turns into a dystopia as their stubborn father's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and aggressive. It was shot in the cities of Cartersville and Rome in Georgia, in addition to Baltimore, Maryland, and Belize.

Pobřeží moskytů (v anglickém originále "The Mosquito Coast") je americký film z roku 1986, který natočil režisér Peter Weir podle scénáře Paula Schradera. Ten vznikl na motivy stejnojmenné knihy od Paula Therouxe. Hlavní roli otce čtyř dětí, vynálezce, který nenávidí civilizaci, ve filmu ztvárnil Harrison Ford. Jeho manželku ztvárnila Helen Mirrenová a jedno z dětí River Phoenix. Rodina se vydává na cestu do střední Ameriky a začne žít v džungli (natáčelo se v Belize). Hlavní role byla původně nabídnuta Jacku Nicholsonovi, který ji odmítl. Harrison Ford byl za svůj výkon nominován na Zlatý glóbus, stejně jako skladatel Maurice Jarre.


Biography.

Early life.

Pompeo Batoni was born in Lucca, the son of a goldsmith, Paolino Batoni. He moved to Rome in 1727, and apprenticed with Agostino Masucci, Sebastiano Conca and/or Francesco Imperiali (1679–1740).

Career.

Batoni owed his first independent commission to the rains that struck Rome in April 1732. Seeking shelter from a sudden storm, Forte Gabrielli di Gubbio, count of Baccaresca took cover under the "portico" of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill. Here the nobleman met the young artist who was drawing the ancient bas-reliefs and the paintings of the staircase of the palace. Impressed by his skill and the purity of the design, Gabrielli asked Batoni to see some of his works, and when conducted to the painter's studio he was so awed by his talent that he offered him to paint a new altarpiece for the chapel of his family in San Gregorio Magno al Celio, the "Madonna on a Throne with Child and four Saints and Blesseds of the Gabrielli family" (1732–33), a second version of which (1736) is now at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. The Gabrielli "Madonna" obtained general admiration and by the early 1740s Batoni started to receive other independent commissions. His celebrated painting, "The Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena" (1743) illustrates his academic refinement of the late-Baroque style. Another masterpiece, his "Fall of Simon Magus" was painted initially for the St Peter's Basilica.  Batoni became a highly-fashionable painter in Rome, particularly after his rival, the proto-neoclassicist Anton Raphael Mengs, departed for Spain in 1761. Batoni befriended Winckelmann and, like him, aimed in his painting to the restrained classicism of painters from earlier centuries, such as Raphael and Poussin, rather than to the work of the Venetian artists then in vogue. Commenting on Batoni, the art historians Boni and de Rossi said of Batoni and Mengs the other prominent painter in Rome during the second half of the 18th century, that "Mengs was made painter by philosophy: Batoni by nature...(Batoni) was more painter than philosopher, (Mengs) more philosopher than painter." In 1741, he was inducted into the Accademia di San Luca.  He was greatly in demand for portraits, particularly by the British travelling through Rome, who took pleasure in commissioning standing portraits set in the milieu of antiquities, ruins, and works of art. There are records of over 200 portraits by Batoni of visiting British patrons. Such "Grand Tour" portraits by Batoni came to proliferate in the British private collections, thus ensuring the genre's popularity in the United Kingdom, where Reynolds would become its leading practitioner. In 1760 the painter Benjamin West, while visiting Rome would complain that Italian artists ""talked of nothing, looked at nothing but the works of Pompeo Batoni"".  In 1769, the double portrait of the emperor Joseph II and his brother Pietro Leopoldo I (then Grand Duke of Tuscany, later emperor Leopold II), won an Austrian nobility for Batoni. He also portrayed Pope Clement XIII and Pope Pius VI.  It is believed he painted the staffage (background figures) for some of the landscape paintings of Hendrik Frans van Lint.  According to a rumour, before dying in Rome in 1787, he bequeathed his palette and brushes to Jacques-Louis David, to whom, full of admiration for his "Oath of the Horatii", Batoni would have confessed: ""Only the two of us can call themselves painters"".

Death.

His late years were affected by declining health; he died in Rome in 1787 at the age of 79, and was buried at his parish church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. Batoni's last will executors were cardinal Filippo Carandini and James Byres, the Scottish antiquary, but the estate was insolvent and his widow was forced by the events to petition the Grand Duke of Tuscany, whom Batoni had painted in 1769, for financial assistance, offering in exchange her husband's unfinished self-portrait, today at the Uffizi in Florence.

Personal life.

From 1759 Batoni lived in a large house at 25, Via Bocca di Leone in Rome, which included a studio as well as exhibition rooms and a drawing academy. He was married twice, in 1729 to Caterina Setti (died 1742), and then in 1747 to Lucia Fattori, and had twelve children; three of his sons assisted in his studio.

Influence.

Vincenzo Camuccini is said to have frequented his studio. The Italian Angelo Banchero of Sestri Ponente, Benigno Bossi of Arcisate, Paolo Girolamo Brusco of Genoa, Antonio Cavallucci of Sermoneta, Marco Cavicchia of Arpino, Adamo Chiusole, Antonio Concioli of Pergola, Domenico Conti Bazzani of Mantua, Domenico Corvi of Viterbo, Felice Giani of San Sebastiano Curone, Gregorio Giusti of Pistoia, Gaspare Landi of Piacenza, Nicola Antonio Monti of Ascoli Piceno, Giuseppe Pirovani of Pavia, Pasquale Ciaramponi of Treia, and Carlo Giuseppe Ratti of Savona, were among his students or were influenced by his work. Among the foreigners, Henry Benbridge of Philadelphia, Maria Cosway of Florence, Ivan Martos of Poltava, Johann Gottlieb Puhlmann of Zieko, and Johannes Wiedewelt of Copenhagen were among Batoni's most notable followers.

Criticism and exhibitions.

Pompeo Batoni was among the most celebrated Italian painters in his day, and his patrons and collectors included royals and aristocrats from all over Europe. His fame and reputation decreased over the 19th century until 20th-century scholars dedicated their critical attention to him and again revived his fame among the general public. Among them the following can be noted: the German Ernst Emmerling, the Englishmen John Steegman and Benedict Nicolson, the Italian Isa Belli Barsali, and the Americans Anthony M. Clark and Edgar Peters Bowron.  The first exhibition devoted to Pompeo Batoni was held in his hometown of Lucca in 1967, after which two other were organized in London and New York in 1982. He was again the subject of a major exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the National Gallery in London, and the Ducal Palace in Lucca in 2007-2008.  A portrait of George Oakley Aldrich, a fellow of Merton College, Oxford from the 1750s, identified in the Bodleian Library in Oxford by art historian Bendor Grosvenor and visual sociology researcher Emma Dabiri, is the subject of an episode of BBC Four's "Britain's Lost Masterpieces" first broadcast on 30 October 2019. After a full restoration by Simon Gillespie, the programme concludes with a positive attribution to Batoni made by expert in British 18th-century portraiture Prof. Robin Simon.

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors travelling throughout Italy and reaching Rome during their "Grand Tour" made the artist specialize in portraits. Batoni won international fame largely thanks to his customers, mostly British of noble origin, whom he portrayed, often with famous Italian landscapes in the background. Such Grand Tour portraits by Batoni were in British private collections, thus ensuring the genre's popularity in Great Britain. One generation later, Sir Joshua Reynolds would take up this tradition and become the leading English portrait painter. Although Batoni was considered the best Italian painter of his time, contemporary chronicles mention his rivalry with Anton Raphael Mengs.

Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25. ledna 1708 Lucca – 4. února 1787 Řím) byl italský malíř, který ve svých portrétních dílech a ve svých četných alegorických a mytologických obrazech vykazoval solidní technické znalosti.


Plot.

In 1986, Richard Jewell works as an office supply clerk in a small public law firm, where he builds a rapport with attorney Watson Bryant. He leaves the firm to pursue a law enforcement career. At some point he's hired as a sheriff's deputy, but ends up discharged. In early 1996, he's working as a security guard at Piedmont College, but is fired after multiple complaints of acting beyond his jurisdiction. Jewell later moves in with his mother Bobi in Atlanta. In the summer of 1996, he works as a security guard at the Olympic Games, monitoring Centennial Park.  In the early morning of July 27, 1996, after chasing off drunken revelers during a Jack Mack and the Heart Attack concert, Jewell notices a suspicious package beneath a bench, which an explosives expert confirms contains a bomb. The security team, including police officers, FBI agent Tom Shaw, and Jewell's friend Dave Dutchess, are moving concert attendees away from the bomb when it detonates, and Jewell is initially heralded as a hero.  At Atlanta's FBI office, Shaw and his team determine that Jewell, as a white, male, "wanna-be" police officer, fits the common profile of perpetrators committing similar crimes, comparing him to others who sought glory and attention by rescuing people from a dangerous situation they created themselves.  Shaw is approached by journalist Kathy Scruggs of the "Atlanta-Journal Constitution". In exchange for sex, Shaw reveals that Jewell is under FBI suspicion. The "Constitution" publishes Scruggs's story on the front page, disclosing the FBI's interest in Jewell as a possible suspect. Scruggs makes particular note of Jewell's physique, the fact he lives with his mother, and work history to reassure herself that he fits the FBI's profile. The story quickly becomes international news.  Jewell, initially unaware of his changing public perception, is lured to the FBI office. He initially cooperates but refuses to sign an acknowledgement he has been read his Miranda rights, and instead phones Watson Bryant for legal representation. Bryant, now running his own struggling law firm, agrees and makes Jewell aware he is a prime suspect.  Shaw and partner Sam Bennet visit the dean of Piedmont College, who reinforces their suspicion of Jewell. The FBI searches Jewell's home and seize property including true crime books and a cache of firearms. Jewell admits to Bryant that he has been evading income taxes for years and was once arrested for exceeding his authority. Bryant scolds Jewell for being too collegial with the police officers investigating him. Jewell admits his ingrained respect for authority makes it difficult for him not to be deferential, even when the authorities are trying to do him harm.  Jewell and Bryant confront Scruggs, demanding a retraction and apology, but she stands by her reporting. Still not completely convinced of Jewell's innocence, Bryant and his long-suffering secretary Nadya time the distance between the phone booth which was discovered to have made the initial threat of the bomb, and the bomb site, concluding it is impossible for someone to phone in the bomb threat and discover the bomb at the time it was found. Scruggs and Shaw have made the same conclusion, and the FBI changes their picture of the crime to include an accomplice. As their case weakens, the FBI try to link Dutchess to Jewell as a possible homosexual accomplice.  Bryant arranges a polygraph examination which Jewell passes, removing Bryant's doubt about his innocence. Bobi holds a press conference and pleas for the investigation to cease so she and her son may get on with their lives. Jewell and Bryant meet with Shaw and Bennet at the FBI office, and after some irrelevant questions, Jewell realizes they have no evidence against him. When he asks pointedly if they are ready to charge him, their silence convinces him to leave, finally having lost his sense of awe for law enforcement officers.  Eighty-eight days after being named "a person of interest", Jewell is informed by formal letter that he is no longer under investigation.  In April 2005, Jewell, now a police officer in Luthersville, Georgia, is visited by Bryant who tells him that Eric Rudolph has confessed to the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.  An epilogue states that two years later, on August 29, 2007, Jewell died at the age of 44 of complications from diabetes and heart failure. It also mentions that Bryant and Nadya got married and had two sons, both of whom Bobi babysits to this day.

Production.

The project was initially announced in February 2014, when Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill teamed to produce the film, with Hill set to play Jewell, and DiCaprio set to play the lawyer who helped Jewell navigate the media blitz that surrounded him. Paul Greengrass began negotiations to direct the film, with Billy Ray writing the screenplay. Other directors considered include Ezra Edelman and David O. Russell, before Clint Eastwood was officially attached in early 2019. DiCaprio and Hill did not star in the film, though they remained as producers.  In May 2019, Warner Bros. acquired the film rights from 20th Century Fox, which had been acquired by The Walt Disney Company earlier that year. In June, Sam Rockwell was cast as the lawyer, and Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell. Kathy Bates, Olivia Wilde, Jon Hamm, and Ian Gomez were also cast. In July 2019, Nina Arianda joined the cast. Filming began on June 24, 2019, in Atlanta.  In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres during her talk show, Eastwood explained how he continued to work on the film despite a looming studio wildfire. Ellen described the November 10 blaze, known as the Barham brush fire, as a "really bad fire that came really close to the lot," adding that "air quality was so bad that everyone evacuated." Clint replied: "I was coming back down to do some work at a sound stage and I saw all this smoke going. And I'm getting closer and closer and its Warner Bros. and its smoke and I got almost up there and I thought, the whole studio's burning down, maybe I'll go in and see if I can retrieve something. So we went on the sound stage and started working and we forgot about it and...everybody said, 'The studio's been evacuated!' And I said, 'We're not evacuated, we're here working!'"

Release.

Premiere and theatrical release.

"Richard Jewell" premiered at the AFI Fest on November 20, 2019 and was theatrically released in the United States on December 13, 2019 by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Marketing.

A trailer for the film was released on October 3, 2019.

Box office.

"Richard Jewell" grossed $22.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $21.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $43.7 million, against a production budget of $45 million. The film's performance was characterized as a box office flop by several media outlets.  In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside "" and "Black Christmas", and was initially projected to gross around $10 million from 2,502 theaters in its opening weekend. However, after making $1.6 million on its first day, estimates were lowered to $5 million. The film ended up debuting at $4.7 million, one of the 50 worst wide openings ever. It was Eastwood's worst opening weekend since "Bronco Billy" in 1980, and the second-lowest opening of his career. It finished fourth at the box office, behind "Jumanji: The Next Level", "Frozen II", and "Knives Out".  The film fell 45% to $2.6 million in its second weekend, finishing in seventh. In its third weekend the film made $3 million (and a total of $5.4 million over the five-day Christmas weekend), finishing tenth.

Reception.

Critical response.

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 76% based on 273 reviews, with an average rating of 6.79/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Richard Jewell" simplifies the real-life events that inspired it—yet still proves that Clint Eastwood remains a skilled filmmaker of admirable economy." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Controversy.

The film came under fire for its portrayal of "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" reporter Kathy Scruggs, who died of a prescription drug overdose in 2001. Criticism was directed at the film for depicting her as offering to engage in sex with an FBI agent in return for confidential information. The editor-in-chief of "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" wrote in an open letter that this depicted incident was "entirely false and malicious." Employees of the newspaper demanded the film have a prominent disclaimer that "some events were imagined for dramatic purposes and artistic license." The film was accused of perpetuating a sexist trope of women journalists exchanging sex for information.  Wilde, who plays Scruggs in the film, defended her role and stated that there was a sexist double standard, in that Jon Hamm's portrayal of the FBI agent was not held to the same scrutiny. Commentators noted that Wilde's character was based on a real person, whereas the FBI agent was an amalgamation of multiple individuals. They also noted that the purpose of the film was to expose and condemn the character assassination of Jewell. However, in the process, some insisted the film committed the same act to Scruggs. Multiple media outlets connected the film's poor box office performance to the controversy.

Richard Jewell is a 2019 American biographical drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by Billy Ray. It is based on the 1997 "Vanity Fair" article "American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell" by Marie Brenner, and the 2019 book "The Suspect: An Olympic Bombing, the FBI, the Media, and Richard Jewell, the Man Caught in the Middle" by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen. The film depicts the July 27 Centennial Olympic Park bombing and its aftermath, as security guard Richard Jewell finds a bomb during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and alerts authorities to evacuate, only to later be wrongly accused of having placed the device himself. The film stars Paul Walter Hauser as Jewell, alongside Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, and Olivia Wilde.

Richard Jewell (případně "The Ballad of Richard Jewell") je americký film režiséra Clinta Eastwooda. Scénář napsal Billy Ray podle článku novinářky Marie Brenner o Richardu Jewellovi. Hrají v něm Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Kathy Batesová, Olivia Wilde a další. Americká premiéra byla 13. prosince 2019.


Development history.

In 1936 the Red Army adopted the 122 mm gun M1931, also known as A-19. Unlike earlier ordnance pieces used by the Red Army, it had split trail carriage with suspension, and consequently improved mobility and traverse. The carriage of M1931 had a number of shortcomings though. The elevation mechanism was slow and unreliable; solid-tired wheels hindered mobility to some extent; there were technological problems in carriage production.  Soon after the M1931, the Red Army received another artillery piece in form of the 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20), developed at the No. 172 Plant, under F. F. Petrov. This led to an upgrade of the M1931, handled also by Petrov's design bureau. The barrel of the M1931 was placed on the carriage of a ML-20. The improved gun successfully underwent trials in September–October 1938 and on 29 April 1939 was adopted as 122 mm corps gun M1931/37. Unusually, the new variant, like the old one, was referred to as A-19.

Production history.

The M1931/37 was manufactured by the "Barrikady Plant" in Stalingrad (1939–41), "No. 172 Plant" (1941–46). The number of M1931/37s manufactured can be estimated at about 2,450, not including those mounted on vehicles.

Description.

Like barrel of late production M1931, the barrel of the M1931/37 was of loose liner construction, and consisted of liner, jacket and screwed-upon breech. The breechblock was of interrupted screw type, similar in construction to that of the 152 mm howitzer M1910/37. Recoil system consisted of hydraulic recoil buffer and hydro-pneumatic recuperator, both located inside the cradle under the barrel.  The gun had split trail carriage adapted from the 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20). The carriage was fitted with leaf spring suspension and metal wheels with pneumatic tires. The carriage also featured an equilibrator. The shield gave the crew some protection from small arms and shell fragments.  The M1931/37 was transported as a single piece, with barrel pulled back. It was permitted to tow the gun with barrel in its normal position, but for short distances only and with speed of no more than 4–5 km/h. Several types of artillery tractors were used: S-2 Stalinets-2, Komintern and, from 1943, Ya-12.

Organization and employment.

Both variants, M1931 and M1931/37, had the same place in army organizations, were often used alongside each other and combat reports rarely differentiate between them; consequently, the data in this section is for M1931 and M1931/37 together, unless specified otherwise.

Red Army.

The A-19 was originally intended for corps artillery. Together with ML-20 it formed a so-called "corps duplex". In 1940–41 there were three types of corps artillery regiments: Soon after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War the corps artillery was eliminated (as rifle corps themselves were eliminated) and was only reintroduced late in the war. Those new artillery regiments were issued 122 mm guns along with other pieces, mainly 107 mm guns and 152 mm howitzers, in total 16-20 pieces per regiment. On 1 June 1944, RKKA corps artillery possessed 387 A-19s (along with some 750 107 mm and 152 mm pieces), and on 1 May 1945—289 A-19s (again along with some 750 100 mm, 107 mm and 152 mm pieces).  The gun was also used by artillery units of the Reserve of the Main Command (RVGK). In mid-1941 a cannon regiment of the RVGK had 48 A-19; in autumn 1941 these regiments were reorganized, a new, smaller, regiment had 18 A-19s. From 1942 cannon brigades were introduced, with 36 A-19s each. Such brigade could be a part of an artillery division—a huge formation, with up to four brigades of A-19 or ML-20 (meaning up to 144 pieces).  The first combat use of the A-19 was in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. It also saw combat in the Winter War. On 1 March 1940 there were 130 A-19 guns at the frontline. Three pieces were lost.  By June 1941 the RKKA possessed, according to different sources, 1257 (1236 in the Army and 21 in the Navy) or 1300 A-19s. The gun proceeded to be used throughout the Great Patriotic War.  The A-19 was primarily used for indirect fire against enemy personnel, fortifications and key objects in the near rear. It was also equipped with armour-piercing shells for direct fire against armoured targets. Although not an ideal anti-tank gun because of its large size, slow traverse and relatively slow rate of fire, in 1943 the A-19 was one of only a few Soviet guns effective against the new German tanks, such as the Tiger and Elefant. The Tank gun variant, the D-25 was even able to penetrate the upper frontal plate of the Tiger II at a range of 500-600 metres although it did require multiple rounds to be fired to do so.  An A-19 No. 501 was the first gun to open fire on 20 April 1945 at the Battle of Berlin.

Other operators.

In the early stage of the Great Patriotic War hundreds of A-19s fell into the hands of Wehrmacht. Both variants were adopted - M1931 as 12,2 cm K.390/1(r) and M1931/37 as 12,2 cm K.390/2(r). Germans used a total of 424 of these guns in field and coastal artillery and manufactured ammunition for them.  Germany sold 150 of the captured A-19s to Spain in 1943. This transaction was part of the "Bär Program", a program to complete and modernize the equipment of the Spanish Armed Forces using armament delivered by Germany. Most of these A-19 were assigned to the Corps Field Artillery Regiments of the Spanish Army, each regiment receiving 12 pieces to equip a group. The model was well liked in Spain, and 32 additional pieces were ordered by the Army and produced – with neither documentation nor licenses – by the Trubia Arms Factory. After acquisition of more modern American artillery, the Spanish A-19s were relegated to the artillery regiments of territorial defense units. 173 of the Spanish A-19s were modernized in the 1970s, and the guns remained in service with the Spanish Army until the 1990s.  The Finnish Army captured 25 pieces in 1941 and also pressed them into service. The same designation 122 K/31 was applied to both variants. Because of shortage in heavy tractors, the gun was mostly used in coastal artillery. Four pieces were lost; the rest remained in service after the war. In 1980s some pieces had their barrels replaced with 152 mm barrels of ML-20; the resulting pieces were designated 152 H 37-31. In late 1980s both 152 H 37-31 and the remaining 122 K/31 received new 152 mm L/32 barrels manufactured by Vammas, to become 152 H 88-31.  The Kingdom of Romania captured in 1941 a number of 477 various types of 122 mm howitzers and guns including M1931/37 and the modern ones were used as divisional artillery for units rebuilt after 1941 campaign. Some guns captured by the Romanians were modified and fitted on the initial prototypes of the Mareșal tank destroyer.  The A-19s were used by Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1944-45 and remained in Polish service after the war. In 1952 the Polish Army possessed 63 pieces. In 1980s, in order to improve their mobility, the Polish guns were fitted with wheels from KrAZ-255B truck, resulting in 122 mm armata wz. 1931/37/85.  78 122 mm guns were supplied to Yugoslavia. The People's Army of Vietnam also received A-19s and used them during the Vietnam War.  Other recipients of the M1931/37 were Syria (at least 100 pieces, currently in storage) and Egypt. China also purchased a number of the M1931/37 during early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Ammunition.

The gun fired separate loading, cased charge ammunition, with one of four possible propellant charges - the full, no. 1, no. 2 and no. 3 (the smallest). In addition to 122 mm gun shells, the A-19 could fire 122 mm howitzer shells; however because of lesser durability of those shells they could not be used with full charge.

Surviving pieces.

The M1931/37 can be seen, among other places:

122 mm corps gun M1931/37 (A-19) () was a Soviet field gun developed in late 1930s by combining the barrel of the 122 mm gun M1931 (A-19) and the carriage of the 152 mm howitzer-gun M1937 (ML-20). The gun was in production from 1939 until 1946. It saw action in World War II (primarily with corps and RVGK artillery of the Red Army) and remained in service for a long time after the end of the war. Vehicle-mounted variants of the gun were fitted to the IS-2 and IS-3 tanks of the Iosif Stalin series of tanks and the ISU-122 self-propelled gun.

122mm kanón M1931/37 (A-19) ( "122-мм корпусная пушка обр. 1931/1937 гг. (А-19)") byl sovětský polní kanón vyvinutý koncem 30. let zkombinováním hlavně 122mm kanónu M1931 (A-19) a lafety 152 mm houfnice vzor 1937 (ML-20). Vyráběl se od roku 1939 do roku 1946. Byl zbraní jednotek Rudé armády v bojích 2. světové války a po válce zůstal ještě dlouho ve službě. Upravené verze tohoto kanónu byly montovány do těžkých tanků IS-2 a IS-3 a do samohybných děl ISU-122S.


Effect on street grid.

The diagonal path of Flatbush Avenue creates a unique street pattern in every neighborhood it touches. It is the central artery of the borough, carrying traffic to and from Manhattan past landmarks such as MetroTech Center, City Point, the Fulton Mall, Junior's, Long Island University Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Terminal, the Barclays Center, Grand Army Plaza, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, Erasmus Hall High School, Kings Theatre, Brooklyn College, and Floyd Bennett Field.  Flatbush Avenue is the border of Prospect Heights/Park Slope and many other neighborhoods. Other main Brooklyn thoroughfares start at Flatbush Avenue, including Ocean Avenue and Empire Boulevard (both at Willink Plaza), Linden Boulevard, Eastern Parkway, and Utica Avenue.  It was originally a Native American trail, running roughly along what is now the eastern edge of Prospect Park and taking advantage of a low point in the Heights of Guan that form the spine of Long Island. A monument beside the former Flatbush Road, now inside the park, commemorates an attempt to block the road at Battle Pass during the Battle of Long Island. For much of the 19th century, it had a plank road run by a turnpike company. Historic homes line the neighborhoods around the avenue, which in the late 1920s was straightened to its current form. Streets such as Amersfort Place that are remnants of old parts of the avenue remain in the city grid as an echo of the past.

Transportation.

The majority of Flatbush Avenue is served by the route of MTA Regional Bus Operations, though the route also serves Flatbush Avenue south of Nostrand Avenue. Several bus routes also use the avenue for shorter stretches.  The New York City Subway's IRT Nostrand Avenue Line () has a southern terminus at the Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College station, while the BMT Brighton Line () and IRT Eastern Parkway Line () run under the avenue between Prospect Park and DeKalb Avenue, and Grand Army Plaza and Nevins Street, respectively.

Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. The north end was extended from Fulton Street to the Manhattan Bridge as "Flatbush Avenue Extension".

Flatbush Avenue je ulice v newyorském Brooklynu. Je dlouhá bezmála 16 km a vede od mostu Marine Parkway Bridge u letiště Floyd Bennett Field až k Manhattanskému mostu, který spojuje Brooklyn s Manhattanem. Prochází mimo jiné parkem Prospect Park. Po většinu své trasy je čtyřproudou silnicí. Ulice je obsluhována autobusy linky B41, které provozuje MTA Regional Bus Operations. V kratší délce je rovněž obsluhována linkou Q35 a dalšími. V blízkosti Flatbush Avenue se nachází mimo jiné železniční stanice Atlantic Terminal, aréna Barclays Center a pobočky Brooklynské veřejné knihovny.


Early life.

Powlett was born in 1685 at Chawton, the eldest son of Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, and his second wife Frances Ramsden, daughter of William Ramsden of Byram, Yorkshire. He was educated at Enfield School although his father had to remove him in 1699 for absenteeism and unruly behavior. He travelled abroad with Anthony Ashley from 1700 to 1704. In 1705 he was a volunteer in the Portuguese campaign.

Political career.

Powlett was home in time to stand as Whig at a by-election for Lymington on 7 December 1705. He was returned as MP for Lymington. In 1708, he was elected MP for Hampshire in a close contest. However the church interest supported the Tories following the Sacheverell trial and he was defeated there in 1710 and 1713. In 1714 he was appointed Gentleman of the bedchamber to the Prince of Wales.  At the 1715 general election, Powlett was returned as MP for Carmarthenshire. Also in 1715 he was appointed Governor of Milford Haven and Vice-Admiral of South Wales. He was also appointed Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan. He was created Lord Powlett of Basing on 12 April 1717 and had to give up his seat in the House of Commons. He became Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards in 1717.  In 1722 he succeeded to his father's estates and to the Dukedom of Bolton. He became one of the largest landowners in Hampshire and had control of some parliamentary seats. Therefore, he became one of the principal electoral managers for the Whig government. He was appointed High Steward of Winchester, Warden of the New Forest and Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire and Dorset in the same year. He became a Privy Councillor on 1 June 1725 and was Lord Justice for the year 1725 to 1726. In 1726 he was appointed Commissioner for surveying lands for naval docks and Governor of the Isle of Wight. In 1733 Powlett voted against the government and was dismissed from all his posts. In 1739, he became a founding governor of the Foundling Hospital in London, an orphanage for abandoned children. He became captain of the gentlemen pensioners in 1740. He was reconciled to Walpole and in 1742 was re-appointed to nearly all his previous posts. However he lost them all again in 1746.

Family.

On 21 July 1713, he married Lady Anne Vaughan, a daughter of the 3rd Earl of Carbery. The marriage was not a happy one, and there were no children. In 1728, he began a long-standing affair with the English actress, Lavinia Fenton. Lady Anne died in 1751 and the Duke married Lavinia Fenton on 20 October 1751 at Aix-en-Provence. She had already borne him three illegitimate sons: Charles, Percy, and Horatio Armand Powlett.  The third Duke of Bolton died in 1754, aged 68, at Royal Tunbridge Wells and was buried at Basing.

Charles Powlett (sometimes spelled Paulet), 3rd Duke of Bolton (3 September 168526 August 1754), styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1685 until 1699, and Marquess of Winchester from 1699 until 1722, was a British Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1705 to 1708 and in the British House of Commons between 1708 and 1717 when he was raised to the peerage as Lord Powlett and sat in the House of Lords..

Charles Paulet, 3. vévoda z Boltonu ("Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton, 8th Marquess of Winchester, 8th Earl of Wiltshire, 8th Baron Paulet of St. John, 1st Baron Paulet of Basing") (3. září 1685, Chawton, Anglie – 26. srpna 1754, Tunbridge Wells, Anglie) byl britský dvořan, generál a politik ze starobylé šlechty. V mládí byl poslancem Dolní sněmovny, v roce 1717 byl povolán do Horní sněmovny, titul vévody zdědil v roce 1722. Zastával řadu čestných funkcí a v armádě dosáhl hodnosti generálporučíka, byl rytířem Podvazkového řádu.


Background.

Torn has contributed to recordings by artists including David Bowie, k.d. lang, John Legend, Madonna, Tori Amos, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, Mick Karn, David Sylvian, Chocolate Genius, Michael Shrieve, Steve Roach, Patrick O'Hearn, Andy Rinehart, Matt Chamberlain, Meshell Ndegeocello and Don Cherry.  In addition to his composition work, Torn's recording have been featured in a number of films, including "Friday Night Lights", "Velvet Goldmine", "Adaptation", "The Big Lebowski", "The Departed", "Fur", "The Hoax", "Kalifornia", "Traffic", "Reversal of Fortune", "Tibet", and "Three Kings." He studied with Leonard Bernstein (within the "Music for Young Composers" series), as well as with guitarists John Abercrombie, Pat Martino, Paul Weiss and Arthur Basile. Torn works out of his personal studios, known as "Cell Labs"; occasionally, he uses the pseudonym "splattercell."  "The New York Times" described Torn's 2015 solo release, "Only Sky", as "[an abstract landscape that is] both immersive and deftly disorienting."

Biography.

Torn was born in Amityville, New York, he is married to Linda B. Brecht-Torn (b. 1952), is the son of Lawrence J. Torn (b. 1926) and Rhoda G. Torn (1927-2010), the father of electronic musician Elijah B. Torn (b. 1979) and Cody M. Torn (b. 1983). He is the brother of Marsha Torn and Linda Torn, and he is a cousin of Rip Torn (1931-2019), Angelica Torn (b. 1964)], and Ina Garten, AKA The Barefoot Contessa.  Torn began his career with the Ithaca-based jam band Zobo Funn Band in the 1970s, and rose to prominence as a member of The Everyman Band and Jan Garbarek's quartet in the mid-1980s. He has recorded solo and group recordings for the ECM, Windham Hill, CMP, and 75 Ark.  In the 1990s, Torn was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, in his case, a life-threatening form of brain tumor. The surgery that followed left him deaf in the right ear but he remained able to compose, record, and play. He even mixes many widely available recordings himself, although according to him this requires sitting sideways to the studio speakers and "visualising the stereo aspects of sound" in his head rather than experimenting with them by ear.  In 2006, Torn's film score for "Believe in Me" won the Best Score-award at the Jackson Hole Film Festival. In 2003, his score for the film "The Order" was nominated for a Grammy Award.  In 2007, Torn released "Prezens" with Tim Berne. "Jazzwise" called the album "a vibrating collage full of shimmering sonic shapes, a dark, urban electronic soundscape – a potent mix of jazz, free-form rock and technology that is both demanding and rewarding."  In 2013, Torn performed as a guitarist on David Bowie's penultimate album, "The Next Day"—his third collaboration with the artist. The same year, Torn delivered a solo guitar performance and talk at TEDx Caltech 2013: The Brain. The presentation examined his brain tumor diagnosis and recovery.

Instruments and effects.

As a session artist, composer, and producer, David Torn has experimented with many effects boxes, amplifiers, and instruments, and he has spoken with amplifier designers and pedal builders about their craft. In an interview with "Premier Guitar" magazine following the release of his solo album "Only Sky", he shared an extensive list of the instruments and effects he uses. He plays a Ronin Mirari guitar with Foilbucker pickups and also lists a large number of amplifiers such as a Fryette Aether amplifier, and many guitar effects pedals including the TC Electronic Classic TC XII Phaser, Catalinbread Antichthon, DigiTech Whammy DT, and the Neunaber Stereo Wet Reverb.

David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for the use of looping.

David Torn (* 26. května 1953 Amityville) je americký kytarista, hudební producent a skladatel. Své první album vydal v roce 1984 pod názvem "Best Laid Plans". Vydala jej společnost ECM Records, se kterou spolupracoval i na dalších deskách. V roce 2019 vydal ve spolupráci se saxofonistou Timem Bernem a perkusionistou Chesem Smithem album "Sun of Goldfinger". Během své kariéry spolupracoval s mnoha hudebníky napříč žánry; patří mezi ně například David Bowie, Manu Katché a Madonna. Byl členem skupiny Bruford Levin Upper Extremities. Rovněž se věnuje skládání filmové hudby, složil ji například pro snímky "Světla páteční noci" (2004), "Saint John of Las Vegas" (2009) a "(Ne)zadaní" (2013). Jeho syn Elijah B. Torn se rovněž věnuje hudbě.


Background.

While her parents lived in Laayoune, a small city in Western Sahara with significant Sahrawi population (and former Spanish Cape Juby) where she passed her childhood, Aminatou was born in 1966 in Laayoune, Western Sahara, her grandmother's town, due to a bedouin tradition. She is not member of the Polisario Front, although she considers the movement as the only representative of the Sahrawi people. She is divorced with two children, Hayat and Mohammed.

1987–1991 forced disappearance.

In 1987, Haidar participated in a nonviolent demonstration against Moroccan administration of Western Sahara. Along with many other attendees, she was subjected to forced disappearance by Moroccan authorities and held without trial until 1991, when she was released. According to Kerry Kennedy of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Haidar was "gagged, starved, sleep deprived, subjected to electric shock, severely beaten – and worse" during her imprisonment.  Moroccan authorities gave no explanation for her detention. Amnesty International (AI) stated that she appeared to have been held for her peaceful advocacy for Western Sahara self-determination.

2005–2006 imprisonment.

On 17 June 2005, Haidar was attacked by police on her way to a demonstration in El Aaiún for the Western Sahara Independence Intifada. After admission to Belmehdi Hasan hospital and receiving twelve stitches for a head injury, she was arrested on charges of "participation in violent protest activities and incitement" and "belonging to an unauthorized association". She was then held in El Aaiún's Black Prison. She reportedly went on hunger strike from 8 August to 29 September to demand an investigation into torture allegations by fellow Saharawi detainees Houssein Lidri and Brahim Noumria as well as improved conditions of detention.  On 14 December, she was sentenced to seven months in prison by the El Aaiún Court of Appeal. AI, which had sent an observer to cover the trial, declared that "the trial... may have been unfair. The organization is consequently strengthened in its belief that the seven human rights defenders may be prisoners of conscience". The European Parliament also called for her immediate release along with that of Ali Salem Tamek and 37 other "political prisoners" in a 27 October 2005 resolution.  On 17 January 2006, Aminatou Haidar was released at the end of her sentence. She stated that "the joy is incomplete without the release of all Saharawi political prisoners, and without the liberation of all the territories of the homeland still under the occupation of the oppressor".

2009 Lanzarote Airport hunger strike.

On 13 November 2009, Haidar was detained by Moroccan authorities at the airport in El-Aaiún when she attempted to return from a trip to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain, to collect a prize. Under citizenship, she had refused to state her nationality as "Moroccan". The authorities denied her re-entry, confiscated her passport, and sent her back to the Canary Islands without it. Two Spanish journalists who had accompanied her were also detained for several hours. A Moroccan official called her refusal to call herself Moroccan as "an act of treason" and stated that Haidar would not be allowed to return to El-Aaiún until she apologized. The Spanish newspaper "El País" later published documents demonstrating that the Moroccan government made three different flight reservations for Haidar prior to her return, indicating that they had planned to expel her in advance.  On arriving at Lanzarote Airport, Haidar began a hunger strike. She accused Spanish officials of holding her against her will by not allowing her to return to Western Sahara without a passport. On 17 November, the airport management firm Aena filed charges against her for disturbing the public order. She was required to attend court in Arrecife and fined 180 euros.

International support.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on 9 December for Morocco to allow Haidar to return. Human Rights Watch stated that Morocco "must reverse its expulsion of Sahrawi rights activist Aminatou Haidar and allow her to enter her country of nationality". while Amnesty International condemned her expulsion as part of a pattern of "growing intolerance" by the Moroccan government.  A number of activists and celebrities also expressed support for Haidar during her strike. Portuguese Nobel Prize-winning writer José Saramago, who owned a home in Lanzarote, sent her a letter in November stating that "If I were in Lanzarote, I would be with you". On 1 December, he met her at the airport, stating, "It's time for the international community to pressure Morocco to comply with the accords about the Sahara".  Argentinian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel asked for a "humanitarian and political exit" for Haidar, and called on the Spanish and Moroccan governments to undertake dialogue to see "in what ways could the European Union, Council of Europe or even the United Nations intervene to avoid a tragic outcome and try to save her life, but not at any cost." British filmmakers Ken Loach and Paul Laverty compared Haidar to U.S. civil rights activist Rosa Parks, stating, "What tragedy would be for the non-violent resistance, and for the possibility of a pacific solution, that we let her die." Statements of support were also issued by Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano, Spanish actor Javier Bardem, US Senator Jim Inhofe, Guatemalan Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú, British musician Brian Eno, and Spanish novelist Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa.  On 29 November, a group of Spanish singers and musicians gave a free concert in support of Haidar in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, on the outskirts of Madrid. Performers included Bebe, Kiko Veneno, Macaco, Amaral, Pedro Guerra, Mariem Hassan, Conchita, Miguel Ríos, and Ismael Serrano. On 10 December, dozens of artists and activists sent an open letter to Juan Carlos I of Spain, asking him to intercede for Haidar with Morocco. Signatories included three Nobel laureates – Günter Grass, Dario Fo, and Saramago – as well as Pedro Almodóvar, Mario Vargas Llosa, Penélope Cruz, Antonio Gala, Almudena Grandes, Carlos Fuentes, and Ignacio Ramonet among others from India, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Colombia, Brazil and Angola.

Diplomatic resolution.

Spanish foreign minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos offered to arrange a Spanish passport for Haidar, but she refused his offer, demanding the return of her original passport. A Moroccan delegation led by the President of the Moroccan Senate, Mohamed Cheikh Biadillah, visited Spain in early December 2009. Biadillah stated that the Sahrawi people are fully integrated into Moroccan society and occupy some of the highest offices in Moroccan institutions, and that no country would accept the return of a person who had "thrown away their passport" and "has renounced their nationality".  By 7 December, three weeks into her hunger strike, Haidar had become too weak to stand and slipped in and out of consciousness. A Lanzarote Hospital doctor reported that she might have only hours to live. Spain attempted again to apply for her re-entry to the country, but backed down when Morocco threatened to end cooperation on illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and other issues. On 11 December, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also contacted the Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri to request Haidar's re-entry.  On 17 December, after being unable to swallow liquid for two days, Haidar was admitted to the hospital. She continued to refuse to break her fast. Late that night, Moroccan authorities relented, and Haidar was allowed on a plane back to El-Aaiún. The Spanish foreign ministry attributed the resolution to "a co-ordinated effort between Spain, France and the US" to persuade Moroccan government that its refusal to re-admit Haidar was counterproductive. Appearing before a crowd in the El-Aaiún airport, Haidar stated, "This is a triumph, a victory for human rights, for international justice and for the cause of Western Sahara... And it's all thanks to your pressure." Moroccan officials stated that the government was "committed to respecting human rights in Western Sahara and elsewhere in the country" but refused to comment on Haidar's case.  Upon her return, Haidar was placed under house arrest by Moroccan police, and journalists were blocked from speaking with her.

Post hunger-strike work.

On 19 January 2010, Haidar returned to Spain to have medical exams in La Paz hospital in Madrid. Haidar has a Spanish residence card since her 2006 release. Haidar was in poor health, as she suffered anaemia and stomach ulcer, consequence of her imprisonment and the 2009 hunger strike. Amnesty International reported that Haidar and her family were under constant surveillance by Moroccan security forces and were being harassed and intimidated by them.  On 7 March, Haidar spoke at a conference at the University of Granada during a European Union-Morocco summit in the same city. Haidar stated that the summit "denied the suffering of the Sahrawis" and that the EU was appeasing the "totalitarian regime" of Morocco, sacrificing human rights in favor of economic interests. On 24 March, Haidar started during a visit to Washington, D.C. that "before reaching a final settlement, a political solution, we must put pressure on Morocco to respect human rights". In meeting with US Department of State officials and US representatives, she urged them to pressure Morocco for Sahrawi rights.  On 15 October, Haidar appeared in a Casablanca court with dozens of Sahrawi activist leaders and twenty foreign observers, during the trial of seven Sahrawi activists (known as "The Casablanca 7"). The "Casablanca 7" had been detained months before after travelling to the Sahrawi refugee camps, and were accused by the Moroccan government of threatening the safety of the state. One of them was Ali Salem Tamek, vice president of Haidar's human rights association CODESA. She said that Moroccan government accusations had no foundation and denounced them as violations of the freedom of expression and of travel of the detained. She also criticized the Spanish government, which she accused of being guilty in the Sahrawi people's situation: "The Spanish government violate international law by denying the Saharawi people their legitimate right to self-determination".  On 29 October 2011, Haidar's son was threatened with sexual violation and a beating that would cause him permanent disability by a couple of Moroccan policemen in El Aaiun, according to CODESA. On 8 July 2012, Sahrawi human rights sources stated that Haidar's children had been physically injured by some Moroccan passengers when they were travelling by bus from Agadir to El Aaiun. Human rights groups as the Sahrawi ASVDH and the North-American Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights condemned the aggression, calling for an investigation.  On 1 November 2012, the same day she met UN Special Commissioner for the Western Sahara Christopher Ross at El Aaiun MINURSO HQ, Haidar stated that she had been later attacked by Moroccan police during a non-violent protest. Human rights organizations such as the RFK Center, Front Line Defenders and the Spanish political party Union, Progress and Democracy condemned the aggression.

Awards and recognition.

Haidar has won several international awards in recognition of her human rights work. In December 2005, she won the V Juan María Bandrés Award of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR). Due to her imprisonment, she could not receive the award until May 2006. In 2007, she was awarded the Solidar Silver Rose Award, a European network of NGOs. The annual award acknowledges "the outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations who are active in the fight for social justice." In 2008, Haidar won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award of the US-based Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. In addition to the prize (which includes a financial component), the RFK Memorial Center offers to partner with recipients in their work. US Senator Edward Kennedy stated that "all who care about democracy, human rights, and the rule of law for the people of the Western Sahara are inspired by her extraordinary courage, dedication and skilled work on their behalf." Haidar was also awarded the 2009 Civil Courage Prize of the Train Foundation. Prize founder John Train stated, "A healthy society relies on civil courage, and we hope that by recognizing it in people like Aminatou Haidar, we can encourage others to follow in her footsteps and defend peacefully their civil rights."  In 2010, 40 members of the European Parliament nominated Haidar for the organization's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. EP member Willy Meyer Pleite denounced a campaign of letters by Morocco protesting the possible awarding of the prize to Haidar. The prize was eventually awarded to Cuban hunger striker Guillermo Fariñas.  Haidar has also been named an honorary citizen or otherwise decorated by numerous Spanish and Italian institutions. In October 2006, she was named "Honorary Citizen" by the town council of Naples for her activity on defending human rights. In May 2008, she was awarded a Special Prize by the city council of Castelldefels, Spain. In January 2010, the Italian municipality of Sesto Fiorentino appointed Haidar as "Honorary Citizen" of the village, for her "non-violent struggle for liberty and human rights for her people". Days later, another Italian municipality, Campi Bisenzio, decided by a majority to grant her the "Honorary Citizenship". In February, it was the Tuscan town of Signa who decided to confer Haidar the honorary citizenship. In March, the town of Leganés, Spain, awarded her its Dolores Ibárruri Prize. On 13 April, the comune of Pontedera gave her honorary citizenship. On 30 July, another ten towns from the Italian province of Lucca gave honorary citizenship to Haidar. One of them, Stazzema, also gave her the "Gold Medal of Resistance". A further 20 Italian towns later declared Aminatou Haidar an "Honorary Citizen". On 27 July 2011, Haidar was made an honorary citizen of the Italian commune of Montespertoli as a "concrete gesture of condemnation of the violence being perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities". The city council of San Fernando de Henares, Spain, awarded her its Jesús Andrés López Gallardo prize. On 10 November 2011, she was awarded the René Cassin Human Rights Prize, given by the Justice department of the Basque Country government; the prize came with an award of 16,550 euros. On 4 March 2013, the Italian city of Florence awarded Haidar the honorary citizenship of the town. Also in March, Haidar won the 13th Bremen Solidarity Award, a prize given to personalities who are distinguished by their compromise with liberty, democracy and human rights, and against colonialism and racism in the world. The prize, given by the regional government of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen with a financial award of 10,000 euros, was given to Haidar for her trajectory in the peaceful struggle for a solution for the Sahrawi conflict, and her defence of the human rights of the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories.  On May 2013, Haidar travelled to Addis Ababa, as she was invited as a guest of honour to the African Union Golden Jubilee.  Aminatou Haidar has won the Right Livelihood Award in 2019 "for her steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara."

Aminatou Ali Ahmed Haidar (; born 24 July 1966), sometimes known as "Aminetou", "Aminatu" or "Aminetu", is a Sahrawi human rights activist and an advocate of the independence of Western Sahara. She is often called the "Sahrawi Gandhi" or "Sahrawi Pasionaria" for her nonviolent protests. She is the president of the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders (CODESA). She was imprisoned from 1987 to 1991 and from 2005 to 2006 on charges related to her independence advocacy. In 2009, she attracted international attention when she staged a hunger strike in Lanzarote Airport after being denied re-entry into Moroccan Western Sahara. Haidar has won several international human rights awards for her work, including the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, 2009 Civil Courage Prize and 2019 Right Livelihood Award.

Amínátú Hajdar ( arabsky ; * 24. července 1966) je lidskoprávní aktivistka a stoupenkyně nezávislosti Západní Sahary. V letech 1987 až 1991 byla vězněna a v letech 2005 až 2006 byla souzena v souvislosti s obhajováním nezávislosti Západní Sahary. V roce 2009 držela na Lanzarote Airport protestní hladovku, protože jí nebyl umožněn vstup do marocké části Západní Sahary. Za svou práci získala několik lidskoprávních ocenění.


Overview.

Many retailers will accept returns provided that the customer has a receipt as a proof of purchase, and that certain other conditions, which depend on the retailer's policies, are met. These may include the merchandise being in a certain condition (usually resellable if not defective), no more than a certain amount of time having passed since the purchase, and sometimes that identification be provided (though usually only if a receipt is not provided). In some cases, only exchanges or store credit are offered, again usually only without a receipt, or after an initial refund period has passed. Some retailers charge a restocking fee for non-defective returned merchandise, but typically only if the packaging has been opened.  While retailers are not usually required to accept returns, laws in many places require retailers to post their return policy in a place where it would be visible to the customer prior to purchase.  In certain countries, such as Australia, consumer rights dictate that under certain situations consumers have a right to demand a refund. These situations include sales that relied on false or misleading claims, defective goods, and undisclosed conditions of sale.  There are various reasons why customers may wish to return merchandise. These include a change of one's mind (buyer's remorse), quality of the merchandise, personal dissatisfaction, or a mistaken purchase of the wrong product. For clothing or other sized items, it may be a lack of a correct fit. Sometimes, there may be a product recall in which the manufacturer has requested (or been ordered) that the merchandise be brought back to the store. Also, gift receipts are offered sometimes when an item is purchased for another person, and the recipient can exchange this item for another item of comparable value, or for store credit, often on a gift card.

Economic impact.

In the US, an estimated 8–10% of in-store sales is returned whereas online sales may result in 25–40% returns. In Asia and Europe, less than 5 percent of purchases are returned. US shoppers returned $396 billion worth of purchases in 2018 – brick-and-mortar and online, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). To fight high return rates in e-commerce, a realistic product visualization is needed. Next to imagery and video content, 3D technology like augmented reality and virtual reality, but also simply 3D in the browser can enhance the shopping experience and lower return rates.

IssuesBad quality.

Fraudulent returns.

In the United States, various abuses using the return process allegedly cost retailers more than $9 billion annually.  One common practice is the use of the system in order to "borrow" the merchandise at no charge. The customer who engages in this practice purchases the item for temporary use, then returns it when finished. Examples include an article of clothing worn for a single occasion, or a book that is returned after it has been read. This practice is called "wardrobing." Stores such as Macy's and Ross put large "do not remove" tags on women's dresses to try to defeat this, not accepting returns or exchanges for any items that do not have the tag. Many stores also refuse to refund certain items like reading materials, inflatable airbeds (Target and Walmart), and even portable heaters (Dollar General).  Another problem is when customers legitimately purchase an item, then re-enter the store with the receipt, take an identical item off the shelf, and approach the customer service desk requesting a refund. In the process, they essentially receive the item for free, and may be charged with shoplifting or another similar crime if caught.  Others have been reported to print fake receipts which they use to return stolen merchandise for a cash refund. However, this is nearly impossible now that most stores use individually numbered receipts. Scanning the receipt's barcode at the cash register links legitimate returns to a database that validates the original purchase. (Despite this, some stores that have had such systems for years still refuse to accept a photocopy of a legitimate receipt where the original may have been misplaced, or obscured due to the store's use of cheap thermal paper or very light ink.)

Denying returns.

Some retailers have turned to a practice in which customers who return or exchange items excessively (beyond the guidelines set by a retailer) may be prevented from making a return or exchange with that particular company.  An agency called The Retail Equation (formerly The Return Exchange) collects data from participating retailers via a swipe of a driver's license. The information found on the license is collected into a database, and other stores operated by that particular retail company can use this information to deny a return. This system can be used to prevent various problems, such as return fraud. These controversial practices of collecting information have been addressed by privacy rights advocates and spurred a movement for boycotting chains that collect consumers' private information and allow third party sources to use it. The request of presenting a form of identification for returning products and collecting the information has stirred controversy, especially if the customer that purchased the product was a minor (under the age of 18). Immigrant rights groups have voiced serious concern over the practice since most illegal immigrants don't have a state ID or a drivers license and this practice could potentially be used to discriminate against them.

Legislation.

Legislation exists in various parts of the world giving consumers the right to return goods in as-supplied condition for a full refund, within a set period of time, known as a cooling-off period (q.v.). Sometimes this legislation only applies to distance sales such as e-commerce.

In retail, a product return is the process of a customer taking previously purchased merchandise back to the retailer, and in turn receiving a refund in the original form of payment, exchange for another item (identical or different), or a store credit.

Vrácení zboží znamená odstoupení od kupní smlouvy mezi obchodem a zákazníkem. Vracenému zboží se říká vratka (anglicky return.) Zákazník se může rozhodnout vrátit zboží bez udání důvodu do 14 dnů od přijetí zboží. Lhůta se počítá od doby převzetí zboží. Toto ale platí jen pro zboží pořízené na dálku (tedy obvykle přes e-shop.) Pro vracení bez udání důvodu dále existují výjimečné případy, ve kterých na odstoupení nemá zákazník právo, například při nákupu rychle se kazících produktů.