Calculating the CPI for a single item.

formula_1  or  formula_2  Alternatively, the CPI can be performed as formula_3. The "updated cost" (i.e. the price of an item at a given year, e.g.: the price of bread in 2018) is divided by that of the initial year (the price of bread in 1970), then multiplied by one hundred.

Calculating the CPI for multiple items.

Many but not all price indices are weighted averages using weights that sum to 1 or 100.  Example: The prices of 85,000 items from 22,000 stores, and 35,000 rental units are added together and averaged. They are weighted this way: Housing: 41.4%, Food and Beverage: 17.4%, Transport: 17.0%, Medical Care: 6.9%, Other: 6.9%, Apparel: 6.0%, Entertainment: 4.4%. Taxes (43%) are not included in CPI computation.  formula_4  where the formula_5 terms do not necessarily sum to 1 or 100.

Weighting.

Weights and sub-indices.

By convention weights are fractions or ratios summing to one, as percentages summing to 100 or as per mille numbers summing to 1000.  On the European Union's Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), for example, each country computes some 80 prescribed sub-indices, their weighted average constituting the national HICP. The weights for these sub-indices will consist of the sum of the weights of a number of component lower level indices. The classification is according to use, developed in a national accounting context. This is not necessarily the kind of classification that is most appropriate for a consumer price index. Grouping together of substitutes or of products whose prices tend to move in parallel might be more suitable.  For some of these lower level indices detailed reweighing to make them be available, allowing computations where the individual price observations can all be weighted. This may be the case, for example, where all selling is in the hands of a single national organisation which makes its data available to the index compilers. For most lower level indices, however, the weight will consist of the sum of the weights of a number of elementary aggregate indices, each weight corresponding to its fraction of the total annual expenditure covered by the index. An 'elementary aggregate' is a lowest-level component of expenditure, one which has a weight but within which, weights of its sub-components are usually lacking. Thus, for example: Weighted averages of elementary aggregate indices (e.g. for men's shirts, raincoats, women's dresses, etc.) make up low level indices (e.g. Outer garments).  Weight averages of these in turn provide sub-indices at a higher, more aggregated level,(e.g. clothing) and weighted averages of the latter provide yet more aggregated sub-indices (e.g. Clothing and Footwear).  Some of the elementary aggregate indices and some of the sub-indices can be defined simply in terms of the types of goods and/or services they cover. In the case of such products like newspapers in some countries and postal services, which have nationally uniform prices. But where price movements do differ or might differ between regions or between outlet types, separate regional and/or outlet-type elementary aggregates are ideally required for each detailed category of goods and services, each with its own weight. An example might be an elementary aggregate for sliced bread sold in supermarkets in the Northern region.  Most elementary aggregate indices are necessarily 'unweighted' averages for the sample of products within the sampled outlets. However, in cases where it is possible to select the sample of outlets from which prices are collected so as to reflect the shares of sales to consumers of the different outlet types covered, self-weighted elementary aggregate indices may be computed. Similarly, if the market shares of the different types of product represented by product types are known, even only approximately, the number of observed products to be priced for each of them can be made proportional to those shares.

Estimating weights.

The outlet and regional dimensions noted above mean that the estimation of weights involves a lot more than just the breakdown of expenditure by types of goods and services, and the number of separately weighted indices composing the overall index depends upon two factors:  How the weights are calculated, and in how much detail, depends upon the availability of information and upon the scope of the index. In the UK the retail price index (RPI) does not relate to the whole of consumption, for the reference population is all private households with the exception of a) pensioner households that derive at least three-quarters of their total income from state pensions and benefits and b) "high income households" whose total household income lies within the top four per cent of all households. The result is that it is difficult to use data sources relating to total consumption by all population groups.  For products whose price movements can differ between regions and between different types of outlet:  The situation in most countries comes somewhere between these two extremes. The point is to make the best use of whatever data are available.

The nature of the data used for weighing.

No firm rules can be suggested on this issue for the simple reason that the available statistical sources differ between countries. However, all countries conduct periodical household-expenditure surveys and all produce breakdowns of consumption expenditure in their national accounts. The expenditure classifications used there may however be different. In particular:  Even with the necessary adjustments, the national-account estimates and household-expenditure surveys usually diverge.  The "statistical sources" required for regional and outlet-type breakdowns are usually weak. Only a large-sample Household Expenditure survey can provide a regional breakdown. Regional population data are sometimes used for this purpose, but need adjustment to allow for regional differences in living standards and consumption patterns. Statistics of retail sales and market research reports can provide information for estimating outlet-type breakdowns, but the classifications they use rarely correspond to COICOP categories.  The increasingly widespread use of bar codes, scanners in shops has meant that detailed cash register printed receipts are provided by shops for an increasing share of retail purchases. This development makes possible improved Household Expenditure surveys, as Statistics Iceland has demonstrated. Survey respondents keeping a diary of their purchases need to record only the total of purchases when itemized receipts were given to them and keep these receipts in a special pocket in the diary. These receipts provide not only a detailed breakdown of purchases but also the name of the outlet. Thus response burden is markedly reduced, accuracy is increased, product description is more specific and point of purchase data are obtained, facilitating the estimation of outlet-type weights.  There are only two general principles for the estimation of weights: use all the available information and accept that rough estimates are better than no estimates.

Reweighing.

Ideally, in computing an index, the weights would represent current annual expenditure patterns. In practice they necessarily reflect past using the most recent data available or, if they are not of high quality, some average of the data for more than one previous year. Some countries have used a three-year average in recognition of the fact that household survey estimates are of poor quality. In some cases some of the data sources used may not be available annually, in which case some of the weights for lower level aggregates within higher level aggregates are based on older data than the higher level weights.  Infrequent reweighing saves costs for the national statistical office but delays the introduction into the index of new types of expenditure. For example, subscriptions for Internet service entered index compilation with a considerable time lag in some countries, and account could be taken of digital camera prices between re-weightings only by including some digital cameras in the same elementary aggregate as film cameras.

Owner-occupiers and the price index.

The way in which owner-occupied dwellings should be dealt with in a consumer price index has been, and remains, a subject of heated controversy in many countries. Various "s" have been considered, each with their advantages and disadvantages.

The economists' approach.

Leaving aside the quality of public services, the environment, crime and so forth, and regarding the standard of living as a function of the level and composition of individuals' consumption, this standard depends upon the amount and range of goods and services they consume. These include the service provided by rented accommodation, which can readily be priced, and the similar services yielded by a flat or house owned by the consumer who occupies it. Its cost to a consumer is, according to the economic way of thinking, an "opportunity cost", namely what he or she sacrifices by living in it. This cost, according to many economists, is what should form a component of a consumer price index.  Opportunity cost can be looked at in two ways, since there are two alternatives to continuing to live in an owner-occupied dwelling. One – supposing that it is one year's cost that is to be considered – is to sell it, earn interest on the owner's capital thus released, and buy it back a year later, making an allowance for its physical depreciation. This can be called the "alternative cost" approach. The other, the "rental equivalent" approach, is to let it to someone else for the year, in which case the cost is the rent that could be obtained for it.  There are, of course, practical problems in implementing either of these economists' approaches. Thus, with the alternative cost approach, if house prices are rising fast the cost can be negative and then become sharply positive once house prices start to fall, so such an index would be very volatile. On the other hand, with the rental equivalent approach, there may be difficulty in estimating the movement of rental values of types of property which are not actually rented. If one or other of these measures of the consumption of the services of owner-occupied dwellings is included in consumption, then it must be included in income too, for income equals consumption plus saving. This means that if the movement of incomes is to be compared with the movement of the consumer price index, incomes must be expressed as money income plus this imaginary consumption value. That is logical, but it may not be what users of the index want.  Although the argument has been expressed in connection with owner-occupied dwellings, the logic applies equally to all durable consumer goods and services. Furniture, carpets and domestic appliances are not used up soon after purchase in the way that food is. Like dwellings, they yield a consumption service that can continue for years. Furthermore, since strict logic is to be adhered to, there are durable services as well that ought to be treated in the same way; the service consumers derive from appendectomies or crowned teeth continue for a long time. Since estimating values for these components of consumption has not been tackled, the economic theorists are torn between their desire for intellectual consistency and their recognition that inclusion of the opportunity cost of the use of durables is impracticable.

Spending.

Another approach is to concentrate on spending. Everyone agrees that repairs and maintenance expenditure of owner-occupied dwellings should be covered in a consumer price index, but the spending approach would include mortgage interest too. This turns out to be quite complicated, conceptually as well as in practice.  To explain what is involved, consider a consumer price index computed with reference to 2009 for just one sole consumer who bought her house in 2006, financing half of this sum by raising a mortgage. The problem is to compare how much interest such a consumer would now be paying with the interest that was paid in 2009. Since the aim is to compare like with like, that requires an estimate of how much interest would be paid now in the year 2010 on a similar house bought and 50% mortgage-financed three years ago, in 2007. It does not require an estimate of how much that identical person is paying now on the actual house she bought in 2006, even though that is what personally concerns her now.  A consumer price index compares how much it would cost now to do exactly what consumers did in the reference-period with what it cost then. Application of the principle thus requires that the index for our one house owner should reflect the movement of the prices of houses like hers from 2006 to 2007 and the change in interest rates. If she took out a fixed-interest rate mortgage it is the change in interest rates from 2006 to 2007 that counts; if she took out a variable interest mortgage it is the change from 2009 to 2010 that counts. Thus her current index with 1999 as reference-period will stand at more than 100 if house prices or, in the case of a fixed-interest mortgage, interest rates rose between 2006 and 2007.  The application of this principle in the owner-occupied dwellings component of a consumer price index is known as the "debt profile" method. It means that the current movement of the index will reflect past changes in dwelling prices and interest rates. Some people regard this as odd. Quite a few countries use the debt profile method, but in doing so most of them behave inconsistently. Consistency would require that the index should also cover the interest on consumer credit instead of the whole price paid for the products bought on credit if it covers mortgage interest payments. Products bought on credit would then be treated in the same way as owner-occupied dwellings.  Variants of the debt profile method are employed or have been proposed. One example is to include down payments as well as interest. Another is to correct nominal mortgage rates for changes in dwelling prices or for changes in the rest of the consumer price index to obtain a "real" rate of interest. Also, other methods may be used alongside the debt profile method. Thus several countries include a purely notional cost of depreciation as an additional index component, applying an arbitrarily estimated, or rather guessed, depreciation rate to the value of the stock of owner-occupied dwellings. Finally, one country includes both mortgage interest and purchase prices in its index.

Transaction prices.

The third approach simply treats the acquisition of owner-occupied dwellings in the same way as acquisitions of other durable products are treated. This means:  Furthermore, expenditure on enlarging or reconstructing an owner-occupied dwelling would be covered, in addition to regular maintenance and repair. Two arguments of an almost theological character are advanced in connection with this transactions approach.  One argument is that purchases of new dwellings are treated as Investment in the System of National Accounts, so should not enter a consumption price index. It is said that this is more than just a matter of terminological uniformity. For example, it may be thought to help understanding and facilitate economic analysis if what is included under the heading of Consumption is the same in the consumer price index and in the national income and expenditure accounts. Since these accounts include the equivalent rental value of owner-occupied dwellings, the equivalent rental approach would have to be applied in the consumer price index too. But the national accounts do not apply it to other durables, so the argument demands consistency in one respect but accepts its rejection in another.  The other argument is that the prices of new dwellings should exclude that part reflecting the value of the land, since this is an irreproducible and permanent asset that cannot be said to be consumed. This would presumably mean deducting site value from the price of a dwelling, site value presumably being defined as the price the site would fetch at auction if the dwelling were not on it. How this is to be understood in the case of multiple dwellings remains unclear.

Confusion.

The merits of the different approaches are multidimensional, including feasibility, views on the way the index should and would move in particular circumstances, and theoretical properties of the index.  Statisticians in a country lacking a good dwelling price index (which is required for all except the rental equivalent method) will go along with a proposal to use such an index only if they can obtain the necessary additional resources that will enable them to compile one. Even obtaining mortgage interest rate data can be a major task in a country with a multitude of mortgage lenders and many types of mortgage. Dislike of the effect upon the behavior of the consumer price index arising from the adoption of some methods can be a powerful, if sometimes unprincipled, argument.  Dwelling prices are volatile and so, therefore, would be an index incorporating the current value of a dwelling price sub-index which, in some countries, would have a large weight under the third approach. Furthermore, the weight for owner-occupied dwellings could be altered considerably when reweighting was undertaken. (It could even become negative under the alternative cost approach if weights were estimated for a year during which house prices had been rising steeply).  Then, there is the point that a rise in interest rates designed to halt inflation could paradoxically make inflation appear higher if current interest rates showed up in the index. Economists' principles are not acceptable to all; nor is insistence upon consistency between the treatment of owner-occupied dwellings and other durables.

Consumer price indices in the United States.

In the United States, several different consumer price indices are routinely computed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These include the CPI-U (for all urban consumers), CPI-W (for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers), CPI-E (for the elderly), and C-CPI-U (chained CPI for all urban consumers). These are all built in two stages. First, the BLS collects data to estimate 8,018 separate item–area indices reflecting the prices of 211 categories of consumption items in 38 geographical areas. In the second stage, weighted averages are computed of these 8,018 item–area indices. The different indices differ only in the weights applied to the different 8,018 item–area indices. The weights for CPI-U and CPI-W are held constant for 24 months, changing in January of even-numbered years. The weights for C-CPI-U are updated each month to reflecting changes in consumption patterns in the last month. Thus, if people on average eat more chicken and less beef or more apples and fewer oranges than the previous month, that change would be reflected in next month's C-CPI-U. However, it would not be reflected in CPI-U and CPI-W until January of the next even-numbered year.  This allows the BLS to compute consumer price indices for each of the designated 38 geographical areas and for aggregates like the Midwest.  In January of each year, Social Security recipients receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) "to ensure that the purchasing power of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits is not eroded by inflation. It is based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)". The use of CPI-W conflicts with this purpose, because the elderly consume substantially more health care goods and services than younger people. In recent years, inflation in health care has substantially exceeded inflation in the rest of the economy. Since the weight on health care in CPI-W is much less than the consumption patterns of the elderly, this COLA does not adequately compensate them for the real increases in the costs of the items they buy.  The BLS does track a consumer price index for the elderly (CPI-E). It is not used, in part because the social security trust fund is forecasted to run out of money in roughly 40 years, and using the CPI-E instead of CPI-W would shorten that by roughly 5 years.

History.

In the United States, CPI has increased rapidly over the last 100 years, especially in recent decades. The following data that is presented in this section is using the base year 1982 with having a base of 100. This can be interpreted as a CPI of 150 means that there was 50% increase in inflation since 1982. CPI's for various years are listed below with 1982 as the base year:

Chained CPI.

Former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson suggested a transition to using a "chained CPI" in 2010, when they headed the White House's deficit-reduction commission. They stated that it was a more accurate measure of inflation than the current system and switching from the current system could save the government more than $290 billion over the decade following their report. "The chained CPI is usually 0.25 to 0.30 percentage points lower each year, on average, than the standard CPI measurements".  However, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Associations said that the chained CPI does not account for seniors citizens' health care costs. Robert Reich, former United States Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, noted that typical seniors spend between 20 and 40 percent of their income on health care, far more than most Americans. "Besides, Social Security isn't in serious trouble. The Social Security trust fund is flush for at least two decades. If we want to ensure it's there beyond that, there's an easy fix – just lift the ceiling on income subject to Social Security taxes, which is now $113,700."  Replacing the current cost-of-living adjustment calculation with the chained CPI was considered, but not adopted, as part of a deficit-reduction proposal to avert the sequestration cuts, or fiscal cliff, in January 2013, but President Obama included it in his April 2013 budget proposal.

Personal consumption expenditures price index.

Because of some shortcomings of the CPI, notably that it uses static expenditure weighting and it does not account for the substitution effect, the PCEPI is an alternative price index used by the Federal Reserve, among others, to measure inflation. From January 1959 through July 2018, inflation measured by the PCEPI has averaged 3.3%, while it has averaged 3.8% using CPI.

A Consumer Price Index measures changes in the price level of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

Index spotřebitelských cen (: "Consumer price index", odtud "CPI") vyjadřuje cenovou hladinu jako průměrnou úroveň cen souboru (spotřebního koše) výrobků a služeb, spotřebovávaných průměrnou domácností. Srovnává tedy náklady na nákup určitého neměnného souboru statků. Soubor statků je tvořen několika sty položek (cca 700 položek), které vystupují jako reprezentanti. Každý reprezentant má v uvedeném koši svou váhu. Váha je určena podílem výdajů na daný statek na celkových výdajích domácnosti. Tyto váhy jsou po určitou dobu fixní (cca 5 let), protože jejich statistické zjišťování je velice náročné.


History.

In 1917, the Austrians built a public square, where the Skanderbeg Square is located nowadays. After Tirana became the capital in 1920, and the population increased, several city plans were planned. During the time of the Albanian monarchy from 1928 to 1939, the square was composed of a number of buildings that would eventually be detonated during the communist period. The square was composed of a roundabout with a fountain in the center. The Old Bazaar used to be established on the grounds of modern-day Palace of Culture, the Orthodox Cathedral (present-day Tirana International Hotel), while the former City Hall building, on the grounds of where the National Historical Museum is located nowadays. A statue of Joseph Stalin was erected, where today the Skanderbeg Monument is located. Besides the construction of the above new elements during communism, the statue of Albania's leader Enver Hoxha was erected at the space between the National Historical Museum and the National Bank. Following the fall of communism in 1991, the statue would be removed amid student-led demonstrations. Since June 2017, the square has been renovated and is now part of the biggest pedestrian zone in the Balkans. The renovation has been distinguished with the European Prize for Urban Public Space in 2018. The project has also been praised at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and has received second prize for Contemporary Architecture 2019 by the European Union.

Projects.

2010.

Former Tirana mayor Edi Rama embarked on a plan to modernize and Europeanize the square. In March 2010, works began to transform the square into a pedestrians and public transport only area. A new fountain would use rain water as its water supply, while a two-meter high pyramid would be built and leveled with a 2.5% slope throughout the square. During the construction period, detour roads have been put in place to gradually establish the new and permanent road in the ring road around the square. The entire project is funded by a grant from the State of Kuwait.

2011.

In September 2011, the earlier plan was scrapped and a new one introduced by the new mayor, Lulzim Basha. The use of the square by all motor vehicles was restored through the construction of a narrower road segment around the center of the square including bicycle lanes. The existing green field south of Skanderbeg's statue was extended northward for a few hundred meters, while trees were planted in most places.

2016.

The next mayor, Erion Veliaj, announced that instead the 2010 plan would be reintroduced with minor changes such as greater green space areas around the square, underground parking, and the introduction of stone material taken from all corners of Albania, and Albanian inhabited lands. Albania's rich flora would be represented in the gardens around the square, while the former garden behind Skanderbeg's monument would be restored to the pre-2010 state and named Europe Park.  Construction works started in 2016 with the finishing of the small ring road around the square. Once the project is completed, the square will serve as a venue where the surrounding institutions would showcase themselves in an open environment concept. The square will also serve as a local farmers market with vendors from rural Tirana showcasing their organic products. The square was opened to the public in June 2017.

The Skanderbeg Square () is the main plaza in the centre of Tirana, Albania. The square is named after the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu. The total area is about 40.000 square metres. The Skanderbeg Monument dominates the square.

Skanderbegovo náměstí () je ústřední náměstí v Tiraně. Nachází se v centru města a směřují sem všechny důležité radiální tepny metropole. Dříve se na místě tohoto náměstí nacházel orientální tiranský bazar. Rozlohu má 40 000 m2 a je největším náměstím v Albánii.


Characteristics.

High fantasy is set in an alternative, fictional ("secondary") world, rather than the "real" or "primary" world. This secondary world is usually internally consistent, but its rules differ from those of the primary world. By contrast, low fantasy is characterized by being set in the primary or real world, or a rational and familiar fictional world with the inclusion of magical elements.  The romances of William Morris, such as "The Well at the World's End", set in an imaginary medieval world, are sometimes regarded as the first examples of high fantasy. The works of J. R. R. Tolkien—especially "The Lord of the Rings"—are regarded as archetypal works of high fantasy. Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" is another example of a high fantasy series.  Many high fantasy stories are told from the viewpoint of one main hero. Often, much of the plot revolves around their heritage or mysterious nature. In many novels the hero is an orphan or unusual sibling, often with an extraordinary talent for magic or combat. They begin the story young, if not as an actual child. In other works the hero is a completely developed individual with a unique character and spirit.  The hero often begins as a childlike figure, but matures rapidly, experiencing a considerable gain in fighting/problem-solving abilities along the way. The plot of the story often depicts the hero's fight against the evil forces as a "bildungsroman".  The progress of the story leads to the character's learning the nature of the unknown forces against them, that they constitute a force with great power and malevolence.

Themes.

Good versus evil is a common theme in high fantasy, and the character of evil is often an important theme in a work of high fantasy, as in "The Lord of the Rings". Indeed, the importance of the concepts of good and evil can be regarded as the distinguishing mark between high fantasy and sword and sorcery. In many works of high fantasy, this conflict marks a deep concern with moral issues; in other works, the conflict is a power struggle, with, for instance, wizards behaving irresponsibly whether they are "good" or "evil".  There is often some evil that must be defeated, sometimes, a mysterious Dark Lord, often obsessed with taking over the world and killing the main hero. The evil character is sometimes an evil wizard or sorcerer, or sometimes a kind of god or demon. The antagonist usually commands a large army or a group of highly feared servants, and the protagonists appear outmatched.

Game settings.

Role-playing games such as "Dungeons & Dragons" with campaign settings like "Greyhawk" by Gary Gygax, "Dragonlance" by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis and "Forgotten Realms" by Ed Greenwood are a common basis for many fantasy books and many other authors continue to contribute to the settings.

High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy, defined either by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. The term "high fantasy" was coined by Lloyd Alexander in a 1971 essay, "High Fantasy and Heroic Romance" (originally given at the New England Round Table of Children's Librarians in October 1969).

Hrdinská fantasy (anglicky High fantasy) je podžánr fantasy. V hrdinské fantasy se jedná o příběhy o hrdinovi nebo hrdince, kteří prožívají nejrůznější dobrodružství ve smyšleném světě a často se střetávají s nadpřirozenými silami. Slovo „hrdinská“ ovšem musíme chápat v širším slova smyslu. Fantasy není hrdinská proto, že pojednává o hrdinech. Heroický je její duch, povaha postav a jejich chování zaměřené často na boj. Někdy můžeme narazit na pojmy „vysoká“ nebo „epická“ fantasy. Jsou to synonyma pro tuto odnož žánru, která si libuje v mnohosvazkových dílech. Základním kamenem hrdinské fantasy je imaginární svět, jen na něm stojí jednota románu a souvislost děje. Proto taková kniha často začíná mapou, či souborem map. Obvyklé jsou i slovníčky, rodokmeny, seznamy postav atd.


History.

Svit is one of the youngest Slovak towns. It was established in 1934 by business industrialist Jan Antonín Baťa of Zlín, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) through his organization Baťa a.s., Zlin in accordance with his policy of setting up villages around the country for his workers. As a boy, Jan Baťa saw the poverty and sickness of his fellow countrymen. He wanted to change this by creating cities full of the most modern factories and filled with the best (and happiest) workers in Europe. The Baťa System under Jan's administration brought prosperity first to Moravia, and later Slovakia and Bohemia. It was Jan's policy for full employment that drove him to create each Baťa town for a different purpose: Shoes, Rubber and Tires, Textiles, Airplanes, Chemicals, Plastics, Media, Stockings, Leather, Machinery.  When the World War II came, Jan Baťa's policy was to secretly fund the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, to supply the Czech Army with shoes and clothing and to secretly fund the Slovak National Uprising that started at Baťovany (now Partizánske) on August 29, 1944. Jan Baťa represented Czech/Slovak freedom and prosperity.  Svit is short for "Slovenské vizkózové továrne" (in English "Slovak Viscose Works"). (Also, the word "svit" means "shine" in Slovak language.) Svit is the smallest town in Slovakia (4.5 km2) with the population of 7,790.

Demographics.

According to the 2001 census, the town had 7,445 inhabitants. 96.44% of inhabitants were Slovaks, 1.11% Romani and 0.79% Czechs. The religious make-up was 62.53% Roman Catholics, 20.67% people with no religious affiliation, 8.62% Lutherans and 4.00% Greek Catholics.

Sports.

The town is home to the professional basketball team BK Iskra Svit, which plays in the Slovak Extraliga.

Twin towns — sister cities.

Svit is twinned with:

Svit is a small town in Poprad District in the Prešov Region in northern Slovakia. It lies west of the city of Poprad, at the foothills of the High Tatras.

Město Svit je jedno z nejmladších měst na Slovensku. Leží 5 km západně od Popradu na řece Poprad. Svojí rozlohou jde o nejmenší slovenské město.


Nomenclature.

"α Cancri" (Latinised to "Alpha Cancri") is the star's Bayer designation.  The traditional name "Acubens" (Açubens) is derived from the Arabic, "the claws" A second name, Sertan, derives from the Arabic "al-saraṭān" 'the crab'. The International Astronomical Union Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) choose 'Acubens' as the proper name for this star.

Properties.

Alpha Cancri is a fourth-magnitude star with an apparent magnitude of 4.20, making it barely visible to the naked eye under good lighting conditions. Nevertheless, it is 23 times more luminous than the Sun. Its stellar classification is A5m. The distance of Alpha Cancri calculated from the Gaia Data Release 2 parallax is roughly 50 parsecs from Earth, or approximately 164 light years away.  Since it is near the ecliptic, it can be occulted by the Moon and very rarely by planets.

Star system.

The primary component, α Cancri A, is a white A-type main sequence dwarf with an apparent magnitude of +4.26. Its companion, α Cancri B, is an eleventh magnitude star. In the year 1836, its position angle was observed at 325 degrees with a separation from the main star α Cancri A of 11.3arcseconds.  From studying its light curve during occultation, it is thought that α Cancri A may itself be a close binary, consisting of two stars with similar brightness and a separation of 0.1arcseconds.

In modern culture.

USS Acubens (AKS-5) was a United States navy ship.

Alpha Cancri (α Cancri, abbreviated Alpha Cnc, α Cnc), also named Acubens, is a star system in the constellation of Cancer.

Acubens (arabsky "al-zubáná" – klepeto), "Sertan" (arabsky "saraţán" – rak, krab) je astrometrická dvojhvězda v souhvězdí Raka (α Cnc / α Cancri / Alfa Cancri). Její složky mají zdánlivou jasnost 4,26 a 11. Na obloze jsou od sebe vzdálené 11,5". Jasnější složka je nejjasnější hvězdou v souhvězdí Raka a patří do spektrálního typu A5m. Slabší složka je pravděpodobně proměnnou hvězdou, jejíž zdánlivá jasnost se mění s amplitudou 0,03-0,06. Vzdálenost Acubens od Země je přibližně 174 ly.


Biography.

Personal life.

William Isaac Thomas was born on a farm in the Elk Garden section of Russell County, Virginia, on 13 August 1863. His mother was Sarah Price Thomas and his father was Thaddeus Peter Thomas, a Methodist minister of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. Thomas' father, wanting to broaden the educational opportunities for his children, moved the family to Knoxville, home of the University of Tennessee, when Thomas was a boy.  In 1888, Thomas married his first of two wives, Harriet Park, and in 1935, after the two divorced, Thomas married Dorothy Swaine Thomas, 36 years his junior.  After leaving Harvard as a lecturer, Thomas gradually withdrew into retirement. Thomas spent his time in New York City, New Haven. He died at the age of 84 years old in Berkeley, California, on 5 December 1947. His body rests at Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Education.

Beginning in 1880, Thomas studied literature and classics at the University of Tennessee, where he obtained a B.A. degree in 1884 and became Adjunct Professor in English and Modern Languages. While at Knoxville, Thomas also taught courses in Greek, Latin, French, German, and Natural history. At the same time, he developed an interest in ethnology and social science after reading Herbert Spencer's "Principles of Sociology".  From 1888–1889, he attended the German universities of Berlin and Göttingen to pursue studies of classic and modern languages. During his time in Germany, he also furthered his interest in ethnology and sociology under the influence of German scholars such as Wilhelm Wundt.  Upon his return to the United States in 1889, Thomas taught at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio from 1889 to 1895 as a professor of English and then sociology.  In 1894, Thomas was invited to teach a class in sociology at the University of Chicago, whose preeminent sociology department is seen as the founding location of the discipline in the United States. The next year, he relocated to the University of Chicago permanently in order to pursue graduate studies in sociology and anthropology in the university's new department of sociology, where he finished his Ph.D. thesis, "On a Difference in the Metabolism of the Sexes", in 1896. After the completion of this work, he returned to Europe to conduct field studies in various ethnic and cultural problems in preparation for the writing of a comparative work on European nationalities that he never completed.

Professional life.

University of Chicago.

For nearly the next 25 years, Thomas taught sociology and anthropology at the University of Chicago, becoming instructor in 1895, assistant professor in 1896, associate professor in 1900, and professor in 1910. From 1895 until 1917, he also co-edited the "American Journal of Sociology".  Thomas' first major publication would be in 1907 with the book "Sex and Society". Despite a biological bias that would nowadays be considered sexist by many (e.g. "Anthropologists...regard women as intermediate between the child and the man"), the book was progressive for its time. In "Sex and Society", Thomas speculates that women's intellect might actually be superior to that of men's "due to their superior cunning" and "superior endurance."  For the next decade (1908–1918) Thomas conducted research and began collaborating with Florian Znaniecki in 1913 to write "The Polish Peasant" "in Europe and America." This work utilized an empirical methodological framework which was groundbreaking at the time and introduced the ideas of Social Organization/Disorganization.  In 1918, Thomas was arrested and mired in scandal due to his relationship with the wife of a U.S. army officer. Though charges under the "Mann Act" were eventually dropped, Thomas' moral and academic reputation was permanently damaged and he was dismissed by the University of Chicago before his trial reached a verdict.

Post-Scandal.

After the scandal, Thomas relocated to New York City and would never again obtain a tenured position. From 1923 to 1928, he lectured at the New School for Social Research, a progressive but marginally influential academic institution at that time, where he was able to make connections with a younger generation of sociologists who would eventually help Thomas restore his reputation. Thorstein Veblen, who had co-founded the school in 1919, had fallen from academic grace for similar reasons, and the school was therefore sympathetic to Thomas' plight. Thomas continued his research thanks to the support of philanthropists and institutions.  1923 saw Thomas release his first work under his own name since his scandal. "The Unadjusted Girl" examines female delinquency, mainly in terms of transactional and casual sex, through the lens of socialization and how young women are imbued by society to conceive of sex and how this affects their behaviors and outcomes. Thomas conceives of this socialization as a "definition of one's situation" and is his earliest known application of the Thomas theorem.  In 1927, Thomas was elected president of the American Sociological Society (now known as the American Sociological Association). He belonged to a group often referred to as the earlier psychological school of sociologists along with Franklin Henry Giddings, E.A. Ross, Charles Cooley, and Ellsworth Faris. Thomas never published any material on the subject, but did use it as lecture material.  In 1928, Thomas co-authored "The Child in America" alongside research assistant Dorothy Swaine Thomas. This work explores how communal expectations of adjustment or maladjustment of children informs behavior problems in children and how the definition of these children's situations affects how they conceive their own maturation and behavior. This work marks the first use of the Thomas theorem verbatim.  In 1936, Pitirim A. Sorokin, chairman of the sociology department at Harvard University, invited Thomas to become a visiting lecturer. Thomas accepted the invitation and remained in Harvard until 1937.

Theory and research.

Though Thomas began his career focused on ethnography and macro-sociological studies, as his career progressed he became increasingly involved in the work of micro-sociology. When discussing his interests, Thomas writes:The sociopsychological aspects of culture history, or otherwise stated, social psychology as examined in relation to races, nationalities, classes, interest groups, etc., in different cultural situations and historical epochs; and second, personality development in normal, criminal and psychopathic individuals in relation to cultural situations and particular trains of experience as seen through their life-histories, which may be in the form of autobiographies, case studies, continuous and organized inter-views, etc. (I do not say `psychoanalysis' because of the meaning which this term has acquired).Furthermore, explaining about sociologists who have influenced him, Thomas writes:I do not feel that I have been greatly influenced by any of my teachers of sociology. My interests, as I have indicated, were in the marginal fields and not in sociology as it was organized and taught at that time, that is, the historical and methodological approach of Professor Small and the remedial and correctional interests of Professor Henderson.

Social research and migration studies.

In 1908, Thomas received a substantial grant from Helen Culver through the Helen Culver Fund for Race Psychology. The grant was to be used to finance research on the life and culture of immigrants for ten years. Until 1918, Thomas utilized the grant to undertake several journeys to Europe in order to study the background of East European immigrant groups. Initially planning to study several nationalities, he narrowed his topic down to immigrants from Poland, who formed the largest and most visible ethnic community in Chicago. For this purpose Thomas studied the Polish language, interviewed members of Chicago's Polish community, and made field trips to Poland.  Considered a pioneer of the biographical approach in social research and migration studies, Thomas employed methods of field observation that ethnographers had developed previously to study non-literate societies. Thomas has anecdotally claimed that an accident inspired him to use personal written material as primary ethnographic sources. Thomas recounted that while he was walking through a Chicago neighborhood he was almost hit with a garbage bag that had been thrown out of a window. The bag hit the ground and burst open on the sidewalk, revealing a letter that had been written by a Polish immigrant. This chance occurrence serendipitously led Thomas to develop the biographical approach to empirical sociological research that would prove part of his lasting reputation in the field.  He spent the next several years collecting oral and written reports from Chicago's Polish community as well as from Polish natives. Thomas utilized newspaper reports, archives of organizations, personal letters, diaries, and public documents which he acquired by placing advertisements in Chicago's Polish-language press, offering, for example, 10 or 20 cents for each mailed letter collected from Poland. This empirical approach of using first hand biographical material to measure larger social patterns was one of the early applications of empirical ethnography in the study of sociology, and can inform the methods of sociological studies which are conducted today.

"The Polish Peasant in Europe and America".

In 1913 on one of his journeys to Poland, Thomas met the Polish sociologist Florian Witold Znaniecki, who was editing the journal "Wychodźca polski" ("The Polish Emigrant") and directing an organization representing Polish emigrants in Warsaw. Znaniecki assisted Thomas in his studies of organizations, which proved to be a valuable resource. When World War I broke out the following year, Znaniecki himself left Poland, which had been partitioned between three of the warring parties and now became a theater of war. Znanieck decided to travel to Chicago, where he met up with Thomas, but whether or not Thomas had formally invited Znaniecki remains unclear.  In all events, Thomas immediately employed Znaniecki as his research assistant. Znaniecki eventually became Thomas's co-author on their monumental work "The Polish Peasant in Europe and America" (1918–1919), which Lewis Coser called "the earliest major landmark of American sociological research". In it, Thomas and Znaniecki used a biographical approach to understanding culture in general. Furthermore, Thomas and Znaniecki's work developed an approach to understanding ethnicity in particular, which in many respects was ahead of its time and is currently being rediscovered in the context of transnational studies in migration. Studies akin to this work led to conclusions which may be seen as common knowledge today such as urbanization leads to the dissolution of shared fate and leads to the creation of new identities. Analysis which may be less ubiquitous lies in Thomas and Znaniecki's investigation of social organization. Thomas and Znaniecki note that as immigrant groups (such as the Poles they studied) are isolated from the environment they were socialized in and there is no form of enforcement of social rules, these social rules start to dictate a population's moral behaviors less and less. Thomas notes that this process primarily affects social institutions before it secondarily affects the conceptions and behaviors of social actors.

Thomas theorem and the 'definition of the situation'.

In his highly acclaimed work, "The Unadjusted Girl" (1923), Thomas explores female delinquency and promiscuity by exploring how women are socialized in distinct backgrounds to conceive of sex, responsibility and ladyhood based on personal interpretations of their situations and how this affects their behaviors and outcomes. It is through these psychosociological interpretations that Thomas introduced and developed the influential concept of the "definition of the situation".  According to the "definition of the situation", prior to making a decision, people "generally examine and deliberate about occurrences before acting." Individuals do not react to reality or facts, but rather their perception or personal 'definition' of these situations and facts. Therefore, the "real" facts of social interactions are the subjective interpretations individuals give to an objective reality. "If people view somebody as great, then he is." Along with the ideas of George Herbert Mead, this concept later proved to be an important part of social constructionism, and of the rebellion of symbolic interactionism against structural functionalism.  Thomas' 1928 book, "The Child in America", co-authored with his research assistant Dorothy Swaine Thomas, includes a notion, drawing from his initial idea of the "definition of the situation", that would become a fundamental law of sociology, known as the "Thomas theorem": “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”  "The Child in America" specifically investigated the misbehavior of children can be attributed to communal expectations of behavior and how these children define their own situations is indicative of their own conceptions maturation and acceptable behavior. Though this formation of definitions seems inherently individualistic, Thomas acknowledges that these definitions which dictate our behaviors spawn from societal institutions such as the family. Thomas also dialogues with the idea of "spontaneous" definitions which can alter and modify one's understanding of one's own definitions and symbols. Thomas states this can occur putting different people in the same situation or even placing the same individual in the same situation multiple times or with varying contexts.  The idea that personal definitions can be "spontaneously" changed through a process of negotiation is fervently contested by many sociologists who believe that an obedience to a novel set of rules and expectations is what dictates a shift in one's definitions over time.

Scandal.

Despite the prominence gained through "The Polish Peasant", Thomas's reputation, both academic and non-academic, proved precarious. For a number of reasons, he was subject to critical attention from the conservative Chicago establishment.  In 1918, the FBI arrested Thomas under the "Mann Act", which prohibits "interstate transport of females for immoral purposes," while in the company of one Mrs. Granger, the wife of an army officer with the American forces in France. It has been suggested that Thomas's arrest was meant to discredit his wife, who at the time was a pacifist activist. Although Thomas was acquitted of the charges in court, his career was damaged irreversibly by the negative publicity. The university, under conservative Harry Pratt Judson, dismissed him without awaiting the outcome of his trial and with little protest from his colleagues.  The University of Chicago Press, which already had published the first two volumes of "The Polish Peasant", released its contract with him, so that the work's remaining three volumes had to be published in Boston by Richard G. Badger. The Carnegie Corporation of New York, which had previously commissioned Thomas to write a volume for its "Americanization" series, refused to publish it in Thomas' name. Thus, in 1921, "Old World Traits Transplanted" appeared by authors Robert E. Park and Herbert A. Miller, who had contributed only minor parts to the book. It was not until 1951 that the book's authorship was re-credited to Thomas by a committee of the Social Science Research Council and reissued with its author's actual name.

William Isaac Thomas (August 13, 1863 – December 5, 1947) was an American sociologist, understood today as a key figure behind the theory of "symbolic interactionism".

William Isaac Thomas (13. srpna 1863, Berkeley – 5. prosince 1947) byl americký sociolog a sociální psycholog, představitel humanistické sociologie a pozitivismu v sociologii. Jeden z představitelů Chicagské školy.


History.

Planning for the Yamal–Europe pipeline started in 1992. Intergovernmental agreements between Russia, Belarus and Poland were signed in 1993. In 1994, Wingas, the joint venture of Gazprom and Wintershall, a subsidiary of BASF, started building the Poland section of the pipeline. The first gas was delivered to Germany through the Belarus-Polish corridor in 1997. The Belarus and Polish sections were completed in September 1999 and the pipeline reached its rated annual capacity of about of natural gas in 2005, after completion of all compressor stations.

Route.

The pipeline starts at the Torzhok gas hub in Russia and is fed by the Northern Tyumen Regions (SRTO) – Torzhok gas pipeline. Its length includes around in Russia, in Belarus and in Poland. The German gas system is connected to the Yamal–Europe pipeline through the JAGAL pipeline.  Notwithstanding its name, the pipeline is initially supplied by gas fields in the Nadym Pur Taz District of the Tyumen Oblast and not from Yamal peninsula. It would be supplied from the Bovanenkovo field of Yamal peninsula after construction of the long Bovanenkovo-Ukhta pipeline, a part of the Yamal project.

Technical features.

The capacity of the pipeline is of natural gas per annum. The diameter of the pipeline is. The pressure in the pipeline is provided by 14 compressor stations.

Ownership.

The Russian section of the pipeline is owned and operated by Gazprom. The Belarusian section is owned by Gazprom and operated by Gazprom Transgaz Belarus. The Polish section is owned and operated by EuRoPol Gaz S.A., a joint venture of the Polish PGNiG, Russian Gazprom (both 48% of shares) and Polish Gas-Trading S.A. (4% of shares).

Second pipeline.

Since 2005, there have been plans to build the second leg of the pipeline. On 1 November 2007, the Russian minister of industry and energy Viktor Khristenko said that Russia has dropped the idea of building the second leg of a pipeline, preferring construction of the Nord Stream pipeline. In 2013 Russia showed interest in reviving the project, with an estimated $5 billion investment that could lead to the completion of the pipeline by 2019. This has not happened as of 2020.

The Yamal–Europe natural gas pipeline is a long pipeline connecting natural gas fields in Western Siberia and in the future on the Yamal peninsula, Russia, with Germany.

Plynovod Jamal – Evropa je plynovod, dlouhý 4 196 km, který spojuje poloostrov Jamal v Rusku (Ťumenská oblast), kde se těží zemní plyn, a Německo.


Etymology.

The Sanskrit word "arhat" (Pāḷi "arahant") is a present participle coming from the verbal root √arh "to deserve", cf. "arha" "meriting, deserving"; "arhaṇa" "having a claim, being entitled"; "arhita" (past participle) "honoured, worshipped". The word is used in the "Ṛgveda" with this sense of "deserving".

Meaning.

In early Buddhist schools.

In pre-Buddhist India, the term "arhat" (denoting a saintly person in general) was closely associated with miraculous power and asceticism. Buddhists made a sharp distinction between their "arhats" and Indian holy men, and miraculous powers were no longer central to "arhat" identity or mission.  A range of views on the relative perfection of "arhats" existed in the early Buddhist schools. Mahāsāṃghikas, such as the Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda and Caitika schools, advocated the transcendental nature of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and the fallibility of "arhats"; the Caitikas advocated the ideal of the bodhisattva ("bodhisattvayāna") over that of the arhat ("śrāvakayāna"), and viewed "arhats" as fallible and still subject to ignorance.  According to A. K. Warder, the Sarvāstivādins held the same position as the Mahāsāṃghika branch about "arhats", considering them imperfect and fallible. In the Sarvāstivādin "Nāgadatta Sūtra", the demon Māra takes the form of Nāgadatta's father and tries to convince Nāgadatta (who was a bhikṣuṇī) to work toward the lower stage of arhatship rather than strive to become a fully enlightened buddha (samyaksaṃbuddha):  In her reply, Nāgadatta rejects arhatship as a lower path: "A Buddha's wisdom is like empty space of the ten-quarters, which can enlighten innumerable people. But an Arhat's wisdom is inferior." The Kāśyapīya school also believed that "arhats" were fallible and imperfect, similar to the view of the Sarvāstivādins and the Mahāsāṃghika sects. The Kāśyapīyins believed that "arhats" have not fully eliminated desire, their "perfection" is incomplete, and it is possible for them to relapse.

In Theravāda Buddhism.

In Theravada Buddhism, an "arahant" is a person who has eliminated all the unwholesome roots which underlie the fetters – who upon their death will not be reborn in any world, since the bonds (fetters) that bind a person to the samsara have been finally dissolved. In the Pali Canon, the word "tathagata" is sometimes used as a synonym for arhat, though the former usually refers to the Buddha alone.  After attainment of nirvana, the five aggregates (physical forms, feelings/sensations, perception, mental formations and consciousness) will continue to function, sustained by physical bodily vitality. This attainment is termed "the nibbana element with a residue remaining". But once the arhat passes away and with the disintegration of the physical body, the five aggregates will cease to function, hence ending all traces of existence in the phenomenal world and thus total release from the misery of samsara. It would then be termed "the nibbana element without residue remaining". Parinirvana occurs at the death of an arhat.  In Theravada Buddhism, the Buddha himself is first identified as an arhat, as are his enlightened followers, because they are free from all defilements, existing without greed, hatred, delusion, ignorance and craving. Lacking "assets" which will lead to future birth, the arhat knows and sees the real here and now. This virtue shows stainless purity, true worth, and the accomplishment of the end, nibbana.  In the Pali canon, Ānanda states that he knows monastics to achieve nibbana in one of four ways:  For those that have destroyed greed and hatred (in the sensory context) with some residue of delusion, are called "anagami" (non-returner). Anagamis will not be reborn into the human world after death, but into the heaven of the Pure Abodes, where only anagamis live. There, they will attain full enlightenment.  The Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa placed the "arhat" at the completion of the path to liberation.

In Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhists see Gautama Buddha himself as the ideal towards which one should aim in one's spiritual aspirations. A hierarchy of general attainments is envisioned with the attainments of arhats and pratyekabuddhas being clearly separate and below that of samyaksambuddha or tathāgatas such as Gautama Buddha.  In contrast to the goal of becoming a fully enlightened buddha, the path of a śrāvaka in being motivated by seeking personal liberation from saṃsāra is often portrayed as selfish and undesirable. There are even some Mahāyāna texts that regard the aspiration to arhatship and personal liberation as an outside path. Instead of aspiring for arhatship, Mahayanins are urged to instead take up the path of the bodhisattva and to not fall back to the level of arhats and śrāvakas. Therefore, it is taught that an arhat must go on to become a bodhisattva eventually. If they fail to do so in the lifetime in which they reach the attainment, they will fall into a deep samādhi of emptiness, thence to be roused and taught the bodhisattva path, presumably when ready. According to the "Lotus Sutra", any true arhat will eventually accept the Mahāyāna path.  Mahāyāna teachings often consider the śrāvaka path to be motivated by fear of saṃsāra, which renders them incapable of aspiring to buddhahood, and that they therefore lack the courage and wisdom of a bodhisattva. Novice bodhisattvas are compared to śrāvakas and arhats at times. In the ', there is an account of sixty novice bodhisattvas who attain arhatship despite themselves and their efforts at the bodhisattva path because they lacked the abilities of prajnaparamita and skillful means to progress as bodhisattvas toward complete enlightenment (Skt. '). This is because they are still viewed as having innate attachment and fear of saṃsāra. The "" compares these people to a giant bird without wings that cannot help but plummet to the earth from the top of Sumeru.  Mahayan Buddhism has viewed the śrāvaka path culminating in arhatship as a lesser accomplishment than complete enlightenment, but still accords due respect to arhats for their respective achievements. Therefore, buddha-realms are depicted as populated by both śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. Far from being completely disregarded, the accomplishments of arhats are viewed as impressive, essentially because they have transcended the mundane world. Chinese Buddhism and other East Asian traditions have historically accepted this perspective, and specific groups of arhats are venerated as well, such as the Sixteen Arhats, the Eighteen Arhats, and the Five Hundred Arhats. The first famous portraits of these arhats were painted by the Chinese monk Guanxiu () in 891 CE. He donated these portraits to Shengyin Temple in Qiantang (modern Hangzhou), where they are preserved with great care and ceremonious respect.  In some respects, the path to arhatship and the path to complete enlightenment are seen as having common grounds. However, a distinctive difference is seen in the Mahāyāna doctrine pushing emotional and cognitive non-attachment to their logical consequences. Of this, Paul Williams writes that in Mahāyāna Buddhism, "Nirvāṇa must be sought without being sought (for oneself), and practice must be done without being practiced. The discursive mode of thinking cannot serve the basic purpose of attainment without attainment."

Attainments.

A range of views on the attainment of arhats existed in the early Buddhist schools. The Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, Ekavyāvahārika, Lokottaravāda, Bahuśrutīya, Prajñaptivāda and Caitika schools all regarded arhats as being imperfect in their attainments compared to buddhas.  The Dharmaguptaka sect believed that "the Buddha and those of the Two Vehicles, although they have one and the same liberation, have followed different noble paths."  The Mahīśāsaka and the Theravada regarded arhats and buddhas as being similar to one another. The 5th century Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa regarded arhats as having completed the path to enlightenment. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Pāli Canon portrays the Buddha declaring himself to be an arahant. According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, "nirvāṇa" is "the ultimate goal", and one who has attained nirvana has attained arhatship: Bhikkhu Bodhi writes, "The defining mark of an arahant is the attainment of nirvāṇa in this present life."  The Mahayana discerned a hierarchy of attainments, with "samyaksambuddha"s at the top, mahāsattvas below that, pratyekabuddhas below that and arhats further below. "But what was it that distinguished the "bodhisattva" from the "sravaka", and ultimately the "buddha" from the "arhat"? The difference lay, more than anywhere else, in the altruistic orientation of the "bodhisattva"."

Translations.

The term "arhat" is often rendered in English as "arahat". The term "arhat" was transliterated into some East Asian languages phonetically, for example, the Chinese "āluóhàn" (Ch. 阿羅漢), often shortened to simply "luóhàn" (Ch. 羅漢). This may appear in English as "luohan" or "lohan". In Japanese the pronunciation of the same Chinese characters is "rakan" (Ja. 羅漢) or "arakan" (Ja. 阿羅漢).  The Tibetan term for "arhat" was translated by meaning from Sanskrit. This translation, "dgra bcom pa", means "one who has destroyed the foes of afflictions". Thus the Tibetan translators also understood the meaning of "arhat" to be "ari-hanta".

In Buddhism, an arhat (Sanskrit) or arahant (Pali) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved "nirvana". Mahayana Buddhist traditions have used the term for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood.

Arahant (též "arhat", pāli "arahat", sanskrt. "arahat"; tib. "dgra.bcom.pa"; jap. "arakan", "rakan"; čín.. "āluóhàn", "luóhàn"; hindu Arihant अरिहन्त; korea. "nahan"; viet. "A la hán") je termín používaný v džinismu, theravádovém buddhismu pro praktikujícího, který překonal deset překážek a dosáhl nirvány. V mahajánovém a vadžrajánovém buddhismu ideál arahanta přestává být hlavním cílem, je proto považován za nižší stupeň realizace. Shodují se na tom, že realizace nirvány arahanta není totožná s realizací probuzení Buddhy.


Classical music.

In 1662, Johann Rudolf Ahle wrote a melody to the lyrics of Franz Joachim Burmeister's "Es ist genug" (It is enough), beginning it with four notes of the whole-tone scale on the four syllables. Johann Sebastian Bach chose the chorale to end his cantata "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort", BWV 60, set for four parts. The first four measures are shown below.  </score>  Mozart also used the scale in his "Musical Joke", for strings and horns.  In the 19th century, Russian composers went further with melodic and harmonic possibilities of the scale, often to depict the ominous; examples include the endings of the overtures to Glinka's opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" and Borodin's "Prince Igor", and the Commander's theme in Dargomyzhsky's "The Stone Guest". Further examples can be found in the works of Rimsky-Korsakov: the sea king's music in "Sadko" and also in "Scheherazade". Shown below is the opening theme to "Scheherazade", which is "simply a descending whole-tone scale with diatonic trimmings." Notes in the whole-tone scale are highlighted.  </score>  H. C. Colles names as the "childhood of the whole-tone scale" the music of Berlioz and Schubert in France and Austria and then Russians Glinka and Dargomyzhsky. Claude Debussy, who had been influenced by Russians, along with other impressionist composers made extensive use of whole tone scales. "Voiles", the second piece in Debussy's first book of "Préludes", is almost entirely within one whole-tone scale. The opening measures are shown below.  </score>  Janáček's use of the scale in the bracing opening to the second movement of his "Sinfonietta" is, to quote William W. Austin, "utterly different". Austin writes, "Janáček’s free chromaticism never loses touch with a diatonic scale for long. Though the whole-tone scale is prominent in much of his music after 1905 when he encountered Debussy, it serves simply to fit the motifs over augmented chords. The same motifs return from the whole-tone to the diatonic scale without emphasizing the contrast." The first measures of the second movement of "Sinfonietta" are shown below ().  The first of Alban Berg's Seven Early Songs opens with a whole-tone passage both in the orchestral accompaniment and in the vocal line that enters a bar later. Berg also quotes the Bach chorale setting referred to above in his Violin Concerto. The last four notes of the 12-tone row Berg used are B, C, E and F, which, together with the first note, G, comprise five of the six notes of the scale.)  Béla Bartók also uses whole-tone scales in his fifth string quartet. Ferruccio Busoni used the whole tone scale in the right hand part of the "Preludietto, Fughetta ed Esercizio" of his "An die Jugend", and Franz Liszt had used the technique as early as 1831, in the "Grande Fantaisie sur La clochette".

Jazz.

Some early instances of the use of the scale in jazz writing can be found in Bix Beiderbecke's "In a Mist" (1928) and Don Redman’s "Chant of the Weed" (1931). In 1958, Gil Evans recorded an arrangement that gives striking coloration to the "abrupt whole-tone lines" of Redman's original. Wayne Shorter's composition "JuJu" (1965), features heavy use of the whole tone scale, and John Coltrane's "One Down, One Up" (1965), is built on two augmented chords arranged in the same simple structure as his earlier tune "Impressions".  However, these are only the most overt examples of the use of this scale in jazz. A vast number of jazz tunes, including many standards, use augmented chords and their corresponding scales as well, usually to create tension in turnarounds or as a substitute for a dominant seventh chord. For instance a G augmented 5th dominant chord in which G altered scale tones would work before resolving to C, a tritone substitution chord such as D or D is often used in which D/G whole tone scale tones will work, the sharpened 11th degree being a G and the flattened 7th being a C, the enharmonic equivalent of B, the major third in the G dominant chord.  Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk are two pianists who used the whole-tone scale extensively and creatively. Monk's "Four in One" (1948) and "Trinkle-Tinkle" (1952) are fine examples of this.  A prominent example of the whole-tone scale that made its way into pop music are bars three and four of the opening of Stevie Wonder's 1972 song "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".

Non-Western music.

The rāga "Sahera" in Hindustani classical music uses the same intervals as the whole-tone scale. Ustad Mehdi Hassan has performed this rāga. "Gopriya" is the corresponding Carnatic rāgam.

In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or "hexatonic" scales:

Celotónová stupnice je pojem z oboru hudební nauky, který je používán pro označení hudební stupnice o šesti tónech, ve které je interval celého tónu mezi každými dvěma sousedními stupni.


Early life.

McCloud was born in 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest child of Willard Wise (a blind inventor and engineer) and Patricia Beatrice McLeod, and spent most of his childhood in Lexington, Massachusetts. He decided he wanted to be a comics artist in 1975, during his junior year in high school.  He attended Syracuse University's Illustration program and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1982.

Career.

Fiction.

During his high school years, he collaborated on comics with his schoolmate Kurt Busiek. While still teenagers, the two of them, together with fellow teenagers Christopher Bing (a 2001 Caldecott Medal winner) and Richard Howell, created the first licensed Marvel/DC crossover comic "Biff! Bang! Pops!", a one-shot sold in conjunction with a 1978 Boston Pops performance of comics-themed music.  While working as a production artist at DC Comics, McCloud created the light-hearted science fiction/superhero comic book series "Zot!" in 1984, in part as a reaction to the increasingly grim direction that superhero comics were taking in the 1980s.  His other print comics include "Destroy!!" (a deliberately over-the-top, oversized single-issue comic book, intended as a parody of formulaic superhero fights), the 1998 graphic novel "The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln" (done with a mixture of computer-generated and manually drawn digital images), 12 issues writing DC Comics' "Superman Adventures" in the late 1990s and the 2005 three-issue series "Superman: Strength", and the 2015 graphic novel "The Sculptor".

Creator's Bill of Rights.

McCloud was the principal author of the Creator's Bill of Rights, a 1988 document with the stated aim of protecting the rights of comic book creators and help aid against the exploitation of comic artists and writers by corporate work-for-hire practices. The group that adopted the Bill also included artists Kevin Eastman, Dave Sim, and Stephen R. Bissette. The Bill included twelve rights such as "The right to full ownership of what we fully create," and "The right to prompt payment of a fair and equitable share of profits derived from all of our creative work."

24-hour comic.

In 1990, McCloud coined the idea of a 24-hour comic: a complete 24-page comic created by a single cartoonist in 24 consecutive hours. It was a mutual challenge with cartoonist Steve Bissette, intended to compel creative output with a minimum of self-restraining contemplation. Thousands of cartoonists have since taken up the challenge, including Neil Gaiman; Kevin Eastman, co-creator of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"; Dave Sim, who published some of his work from this challenge in "Cerebus the Aardvark"; and Rick Veitch who used it as a springboard for his comic "Rarebit Fiends".

Non-fiction about comics.

In the early 1990s, McCloud began a series of three books about the medium and business of comics, all done in comics form. The first of these was "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art", published in 1993, which established him as a popular comics theorist, described as the "Aristotle of comics" and the "Marshall McLuhan of comics". The book was a wide-ranging exploration of the definition, history, vocabulary, and methods of the medium of comics, and is widely cited in academic discussions of the medium.  In 2000, McCloud published "Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form", in which he outlined twelve "revolutions" taking place, that he argued would be keys to the growth and success of comics as a popular and creative medium.  McCloud returned to focus on the medium itself in 2006 with "Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels", an instructional guide to the process of producing comics, which he followed with a promotional lecture tour with his family of all 50 U.S. states and parts of Europe.

Technology.

Beginning in the late 1990s, McCloud was an early advocate of micropayments. He was an adviser to BitPass, a company that provided an online micropayment system, which he helped launch with the publication of "The Right Number", an online graphic novella priced at US$0.25 for each chapter.  McCloud maintains an active online presence on his web site where he publishes many of his ongoing experiments with comics produced specifically for the web. Among the techniques he explores is the "infinite canvas" permitted by a web browser, allowing panels to be spatially arranged in ways not possible in the finite, two-dimensional, paged format of a physical book.  Google commissioned him in 2008 to create a comic serving as the press release introducing their web browser Chrome.

Personal life.

McCloud lives in California. He married Ivy Ratafia in 1988, with whom he has two daughters, Sky and Winter.

Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod on June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: "Understanding Comics" (1993), "Reinventing Comics" (2000), and "Making Comics" (2006), all of which also use the medium of comics.

Scott McCloud (vlastním jménem Scott McLeod, 10. června 1960 Boston, Massachusetts) je kreslíř a propagátor komiksu coby uměleckého žánru. Zpočátku se věnoval kreslení komiksů, ale později se stal známým především jako komiksový teoretik. Jeho nejvýznamnějším dílem je kniha "Understanding Comics" z roku 1993 (česky "Jak rozumět komiksu", BB/art, 2008), která komiksovou formou popisuje vymezení pojmu, dějiny, mezníky a nejdůležitější představitele komiksu.


History.

Formation and early years (1999–02).

The group's founding members, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo were all born and raised in South Jamaica, a section of the Queens borough of New York City, and began rapping together as teenagers. After 50 Cent was blackballed from the music industry in 2000 and lost his record deal, the group began recording music independently, and released several mixtapes between 2002 and 2003, the most prominent of these being "50 Cent Is the Future", "God's Plan", "No Mercy, No Fear" and "Automatic Gunfire".

Debut album and success (2002–03).

In 2002, 50 Cent was discovered by Eminem and signed a $1 million contract with Shady Records, under the aegis of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. After the success of his commercial debut album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", he was granted his own record label, which led to the creation of G-Unit Records. 50 Cent immediately signed both Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo to the label, and they began working on G-Unit's debut album, however, Tony Yayo was incarcerated at the time and was unable to record any new material for the album, which led to 50 Cent signing Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck to G-Unit Records and subsequently adding him to the group. After the signing of Young Buck, G-Unit made their first major label appearance as a group on the remix to 50 Cent's single "P.I.M.P.", which featured Snoop Dogg, Banks and Young Buck.  Later in November 2003, the group released their debut studio album, "Beg for Mercy". The album featured guest appearances from R&B singers Joe and Butch Cassidy, and production was handled by high-profile producers such as Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch, among several others. 50 Cent also served as the album's executive producer. Due to Tony Yayo's incarceration, he only made two appearances on the album, both of which used pre-recorded material. His face is seen on the brick wall of the album cover because he could not be photographed on account of his jail sentence. "Beg for Mercy" went on to sell over 3.9 million units in the U.S., 5.8 million copies worldwide, and has since been certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA.

Feud with The Game/solo albums (2004–07).

During the production of Beg for Mercy, Los Angeles rapper The Game was discovered and placed into G-Unit by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine of Interscope Records. Their plan was to market The Game as a devotee, or a loyal member of 50 Cent's "camp". The Game made his first appearances as a member of G-Unit on Lloyd Banks and Young Buck's debut albums, The Hunger for More and Straight Outta Cashville. Throughout 2004, The Game began working on his debut studio album, which was set to be executive produced by 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. In November 2004, the album's second single, How We Do featuring 50 Cent became a top 5 hit, as did the album's third single, Hate It or Love It, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, being held back from the top spot by 50 Cent's single, Candy Shop featuring Olivia. Beginning in 2004, tensions began to rise between 50 Cent and The Game, and shortly after the release of The Documentary, tensions escalated into a full-scale feud which led to 50 Cent announcing that The Game had been kicked out of G-Unit, with 50 Cent claiming he had not received full credit for writing 6 songs from The Documentary. The two held a press conference on March 9, 2005, calling a truce between the two of them and seeming to publicly squash the feud. However, shortly after, The Game and G-Unit continued to attack one another, releasing numerous diss tracks throughout 2005 and 2006. In 2007 while leaving a studio, Tony Yayo, one half of G-unit and his friend Lodi Mack, saw Jimmy Henchman's (The Game's manager) 14 year old son. The two proceeded to assault the 14 year old which would lead to Lodi Mack's arrest. He was sentenced to two years in Prison and in 2009 Jimmy Henchman hired a hitman to kill Lodi Mack. In 2017 Jimmy Henchman was found guilty of murder and is now spending 2 life sentences in Prison.

Second album and dissension (2008–13).

On April 7, 2008, in an interview with Shanna Leviste on New York's Hot 97 FM, 50 Cent stated that Young Buck was no longer a member of G-Unit, but was still signed to G-Unit Records. 50 Cent said problems involving excessive spending and Young Buck's public claim to not being paid royalty checks and "inconsistent behavior" from Young Buck, such as appearing on stage with his former Cash Money label-mate Lil Wayne, then seemingly dissing him on records with G-Unit were the main reasons for his removal.  On June 17, 2008, Young Buck responded to 50 Cent's allegations with the Taped Conversation then The Game later on jumped onto the track. In which they take shots at 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo  Their second album, "T"·"O"·"S (Terminate on Sight)", was released on July 1, 2008. As a result of Young Buck's removal from the group, Young Buck still appeared on songs previously recorded with the group, but was credited as a featured artist. As of August 8, 2008, the album had sold 507,000 copies in the United States. Along with Young Buck, reggae singer Mavado appears on the album, while production came from Swizz Beatz, Street Radio, Tha Bizness, Rick Rock and Polow da Don, among several others.

Reunion (2014–17).

On February 20, 2014, Tony Yayo claimed that G-Unit had officially broken up, saying he and 50 Cent were no longer friends, and also announced his retirement from music, saying it had caused him too much stress and that he had already accomplished everything he wished to do. Then, after what seemed like condescending comments made about Lloyd Banks and Yayo in multiple interviews, on April 25, 2014, 50 Cent said that due to the recent inside-fighting, G-Unit was currently "dismantled." Despite this, on June 1, 2014, G-Unit reunited at the 21st annual Summer Jam with 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck, and G-Unit's newest member, Louisiana rapper Kidd Kidd appearing on stage together. The following day, G-Unit released a song titled "Nah I'm Talkin' Bout", a remix of HS87's "Grindin My Whole Life", making their comeback official. Throughout June 2014, G-Unit released numerous remixes to popular songs by other artists, including Drake, Trey Songz, and Jeremih, as well as an original song, "They Talked About Jesus". On June 4, 50 Cent announced they were working on a studio album and revealed plans to release it by late November 2014, and on June 25, 2014, announced they would be releasing a mixtape prior to the album. On August 25, 2014, G-Unit surprised fans with an extended play (EP) titled "The Beauty of Independence", which was released at midnight, via digital retailers.  After the first EP, the group released music videos for "Watch Me" and "Changes". G-Unit planned to release the second EP in November, but after the release of "The Beauty of Independence", it was announced that the album would divided into two parts, "The Beauty of Independence" and "The Beast Is G-Unit". The group planned to release "The Beast" in late October, but the EP was pushed back to a later release in 2015. On November 10, 2014, a deluxe version of "The Beauty of Independence" was released, containing two new songs, "Ease Up" and "Big Body Benz". On January 20, 2015, the cover art for "The Beast Is G-Unit" was revealed via social media. The Beast Is G-Unit was released on March 3, 2015.  In August 2016, they released "The Lost Flash Drive", composed of numerous unreleased songs.

Departures and recent projects (2018–present).

On April 11, 2018, Kidd Kidd announced his departure from both the group and G-Unit Records to focus on his own label, RLLNR Entertainment.  On February 1, 2018, in his single "Crazy" featuring PnB Rock, 50 Cent claimed he and Lloyd Banks were no longer on speaking terms, and in June 2018, Banks and 50 Cent announced his departure from both the group and the label via Instagram.

Other ventures.

Clothing line.

The G-Unit Clothing Company was established in 2003, when 50 Cent teamed up with Marc Ecko (the founder of Eckō Unlimited), to create a line of clothing and accessories inspired by 50 Cent and fellow members of G-Unit.

G-Unity Foundation.

G-Unit has founded G-Unity Foundation Inc. (often called simply G-Unity), a public foundation that provides grants to nonprofit organizations that focus on improving the quality of life for low-income and under served communities.

Controversies.

Ja Rule.

Before signing with Interscope Records, 50 Cent had been in disputes with rapper Ja Rule and his label Murder Inc. Records. 50 Cent claimed that the feud began in 1999 after Ja Rule spotted him with a man who took his chain. However, Ja Rule claimed the conflict stemmed from a video shoot in Queens because 50 Cent did not like Ja Rule "getting so much love" from the neighborhood. A confrontation occurred in a New York studio where rapper Black Child, a Murder Inc. artist, stabbed 50 Cent, which resulted in him having four stitches.  Since the stabbing, Black Child has made a diss towards 50 Cent, called "You the Wanksta". In the song, Black Child talks about shooting 50 Cent, stabbing him, amongst other things.  Cadillac Tah can also be heard dissing 50 Cent, on "Snitch in Da Club".  The exchange of insult tracks released from both parties culminated into Ja Rule releasing "Blood in My Eye", which was an album that mostly insulted 50 Cent. Ja Rule eventually tried to squash the feud with 50 Cent by using minister Louis Farrakhan in a televised interview. However, the attempt at peace lost credibility as the interview was scheduled a day before "Blood in My Eye" was released. As a result, most fans, along with 50 Cent, dismissed the interview as a blatant publicity stunt. Because of the ongoing feud between the two, 50 Cent's labelmates Eminem, Dr. Dre, Obie Trice, D12 and Busta Rhymes have also become involved and have also released tracks which insult Ja Rule.  Ja Rule later released "R.U.L.E." with the successful single, "New York", featuring Jadakiss and Fat Joe in which Ja Rule took subliminal shots at 50 Cent. This single prompted 50 Cent to enter a feud with the two featured artists (see article on "Piggy Bank" for details).  Although it seemed that the feud was over, Ja Rule returned with a track entitled "21 Gunz". In response, Lloyd Banks and 50 Cent released the track "Return of Ja Fool" on Lloyd Banks' mixtape "Mo Money in the Bank Pt. 4, Gang Green Season Starts Now".  In an interview with MTV, Ja Rule has stated that his new album, "", will not be continuing any past feuds that he has engaged in. He said:

The Game.

In early 2005, a feud between The Game and G-Unit began. Even before The Game's first album, "The Documentary", was released and their feud became public, there was tension between The Game and 50 Cent. Soon after "The Documentary"s release, 50 Cent felt that the rapper was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feud with other rappers, and even wanting to work with artists with whom G-Unit were feuding, such as Nas and Jadakiss.  50 Cent also claimed that he was not getting his proper credit for the creation of the album. He also claimed that he wrote five of the songs, but The Game denied that. During that dispute, The Game confronted 50 Cent at the Hot 97 studio in New York City and members of The Game's entourage began shooting at 50 Cent and other members of the G-unit entourage, causing them to flee the building and causing Hot 97 radio security to shoot a member of The Game's entourage. After the situation between them escalated, 50 Cent and The Game held a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the two albums the pair had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation had apparently deflated, G-Unit continued to feud with The Game who responded during a performance at Summer Jam and launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".  After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with "300 Bars and Runnin'", an extended track aimed at G-Unit as well as members of Roc-A-Fella Records on the mixtape "You Know What It Is Vol. 3". 50 Cent responded through his "Piggy Bank" music video, which features The Game as a Mr. Potato Head doll and also parodies other rivals. Since then both groups continued to attack each other. The Game released two more mixtapes, "Ghost Unit" and a mixtape/DVD called "Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin".  50 Cent's rebuttal was "Not Rich, Still Lyin'" where he mocks The Game. In addition, G-Unit started to respond on numerous mixtapes and new G-Unit Records artist Spider Loc began insulting The Game in various songs. The Game responded with "240 Bars (Spider Joke)", a song mainly aimed at Spider Loc, but also addressing Tony Yayo and rap group M.O.P., and on the song 100 Bars (The Funeral).  The feud seemed to have gained steam after Tony Yayo allegedly slapped the fourteen-year-old son of Czar Entertainment CEO, Jimmy Henchman. The Game responded with "Body Bags" on his mixtape, "You Know What It Is Vol. 4". G-Unit have released a song named "We on Some Shit " which is aimed at Czar Entertainment as well as Cam'ron and Fat Joe. In June 2010 Game expressed that he would not object to a G-Unit reunion. After the G-Unit reunion idea circulated around the internet a Facebook group was launched to help encourage the G-Unit comeback. In late 2016 the two ended their long standing feud.

Fat Joe.

50 Cent pointed out that Fat Joe painted a target on himself for partnering up with Ja Rule on the song "New York". 50 Cent recorded the track "Piggy Bank", in which he attacked Fat Joe. Fat Joe responded with a track entitled "My Fofo" and although he said that he would not respond in songs after this, he made one more track, "Victim" which 50 Cent is purportedly the subject of as well as a guest appearance on Rick Ross' Mafia Music remix. 50 Cent and Tony Yayo took more shots at him on "I Run NY".  Even though things died down, at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Fat Joe mentioned that all of the police presence in the venue was "courtesy of G-Unit" which related to his lyrical accusations that 50 Cent was a "snitch". 50 Cent and Tony Yayo retaliated on set later in the show at the end of their performance by shouting obscenities towards Fat Joe and Terror Squad, which were censored by MTV. Tony Yayo claimed Fat Joe ran from them at the VMAs.  When asked about the 50 Cent and G-Unit situation in an interview Fat Joe said he will no longer be responding and that he has left it to his close friend Pistol Pete and his crew Kill All Rats (K.A.R) to handle. Pistol Pete appeared on The Game's "Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin" DVD and disrespected Tony Yayo, Chris Lighty (owner of Violator Records who had ties with 50 Cent), and James Cruz (50 Cent's manager) and claims he chased Tony Yayo near a jewelry store. Lloyd Banks, Spider Loc, and Young Buck have also been insulted by Fat Joe.  In 2007, the feud was continued in interviews and by affiliates from both parties. In 2008, the beef boiled over when 50 Cent released a mixtape entitled "Elephant In the Sand", which is a mock title of Fat Joe's album "The Elephant in the Room". The front and back covers contain photos of Fat Joe on a beach. in response Fat Joe and his group K.A.R. released a mixtape titled "Gay-Unit" hosted by Fat Joe himself.  The feud between 50 Cent and Fat Joe ended in 2012 when 50 Cent approached Fat Joe's trailer at the BET Awards where he was confronted by Fat Joe's entourage he told them he wanted to make peace out of respect for Chris Lighty however Fat Joe was unsure of his intentions until later that day when they shook hands while appearing on stage together amongst other past and present Violater artists at the BET Awards segment that paid tribute to the label's founder Chris Lighty who died that year.  In 2014 Fat Joe gave a track titled "Free" to DJ Kay Slay to use as he was working on his final album and told him he can do whatever he wants with it. In light of the 2012 BET Awards Kay Slay decided to get 50 Cent to do a verse for it and put his on his mixtape "The Rise Of A City". Although Fat Joe was unaware Kay Slay was putting 50 Cent on his track he approved stating unity is good for hip-hop. That same year, Tony Yayo shouted out Fat Joe, saying that there was "no beef".

Cam'ron.

A feud between 50 Cent and Cam'ron began when 50 Cent was on Hot 97 giving an interview and Cam'ron called in. Cam’ron asked 50 Cent whether he had the power to stop records from being released on Koch Records and 50 Cent said that he does in some respects. As the conversation escalated into an argument, 50 Cent called Koch Records the "industry graveyard". Cam'ron pointed out that Jim Jones' newest album sold just as much as Lloyd Banks' album did, despite the fact that Dipset is on an independent label while G-Unit is on a major label. 50 Cent took offense to this and said that Lloyd Banks has more money than Lil Wayne and Jim Jones, which makes record sales irrelevant. Cam'ron became upset and rebutted 50 Cent's statements. Most notably, he brought up the poor record sales of the Mobb Deep album, "Blood Money". Eventually the debate became so heated that the radio station was forced to end the call. On February 9, 2007, the video of 50 Cent's "Funeral Music" premiered on DJ Kay Slay's Myspace. The video attacked the leader of Dipset. This is not seen as an attack on other members of Dipset, as 50 Cent says "From now on, Jimmy's the boss of Dipset. And Juelz is the Capo. Cam is demoted to soldier. We like Jimmy better anyway". At the end of the video, there is a poster showing a fictional drawing of Cam'ron with a gun saying "50 Cent" on the burial, along with his date of death; being February 8 when the video was released. Cam'ron responded with a track called "Curtis", titled after 50 Cent's first name, Where he claims he enjoys 50 Cent's shoutouts to Dipset members Juelz Santana and Jim Jones, then goes on to discuss Santana's and Jim Jones' sales on their recent albums. 50 Cent and Young Buck made the song "Hold On" together with a video in which 50 Cent takes shots at Cam'ron. Cam'ron responded with "Curtis Pt.2", which he shot a video for. 50 Cent and Cam'ron ended their feud in 2016.

G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) is an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. After releasing a string of mixtapes in the early 2000s, including 50 Cent is the Future, God's Plan and No Mercy, No Fear, the group released their debut album "Beg for Mercy" in 2003, which went on to ship over 4,000,000 copies in the US and was certified Quadruple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album, which followed the critical and commercial success of 50 Cent's major-label debut "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", served as a platform for Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo to release their respective solo debut albums; "The Hunger for More" (2004), "Straight Outta Cashville" (2004) and "Thoughts of a Predicate Felon" (2005). In 2008, the group released their second album "T·O·S (Terminate on Sight)". During Tony Yayo's imprisonment in 2003, the group recruited Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck, who was featured throughout the "Beg for Mercy" album. The Game was also added to the group, a proposition made by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine in late 2003, to promote the Aftermath/Interscope newcomer. However, due to The Game's "disloyalty" in the eyes of 50 Cent, he was soon removed from the group in March 2005. In April 2008, 50 Cent revealed Young Buck was no longer a part of the group due to his "excessive spending" and "inconsistent behavior". In early 2014, after Yayo and 50 Cent separately stated G-Unit was no more, the original members of the group reconciled and reunited at Summer Jam 2014, along with Young Buck after his six-year departure from the group. G-Unit Records artist Kidd Kidd was also added to the group upon its reformation. The group released their first collaborative project in six years, an EP titled "The Beauty of Independence" in August of the same year.

G-Unit, celým názvem Guerilla Unit, je americká hip-hopová skupina, kterou v roce 2002 založil gangsta rapper 50 Cent. Dalšími zakládajícími členy jsou Lloyd Banks (Christopher Lloyd) a Tony Yayo (Marvin Bernard). Brzy do skupiny přibyl i rapper Young Buck. Mezi lety 2009 a 2014 se členové skupiny nestýkali. V roce 2014 nastal krátkodobý comeback, kdy do skupiny přibyl rapper Kidd Kidd, který v ní ale působil pouze do roku 2018. Téhož roku skupinu i label opustil také Lloyd Banks.