History.

In the United States, dissimilar to the European nationalised health insurance plans, the market created a private employment based system. Following the Stabilisation

Statistics.

Hospitalizations.

According to a statistical brief by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), there were 35.7 million hospitalizations in 2016, a significant decrease from the 38.6 million in 2011. For every 1,000 in the population, there was an average of 104.2 stays and each stay averaged $11,700, an increase from the $10,400 cost per stay in 2012. 7.6% of

Health insurance and accessibility.

Unlike most developed nations, the US health system does not provide health care to the country's entire population. Instead, most citizens are covered by a combination of private insurance and various federal and state programs. As of 2017, health insurance was most commonly acquired through a group plan tied to an employer, covering 150 million people. Other major sources include Medicaid, covering 70 million, Medicare, 50 million, and health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) covering around 17 million. In 2017, a study found that 73% of plans on ACA marketplaces had narrow networks, limiting access and choice in providers.  Measures of accessibility and affordability tracked by national health

Health in the United States in global context.

The United States is within the Region of the Americas or AMRO (a World Health Organization classification). Within AMRO, the United States had the third lowest under-five child mortality rate (U5MR) in 2015. In 2015, the under-five child mortality rate was 6.5 deaths per 1000 live births, less than half the regional average of 14.7. The United States had the second lowest maternal mortality in AMRO, 14 per 100,000 live births, well below the regional average of 52. Life expectancy at

Causes of mortality in the United States.

The top three causes of death among both sexes and all ages in the United States have consistently remained cardiovascular diseases (ranked 1st), neoplasms (2nd) and neurological disorders (3rd), since the 1990s. In 2015, the total number of deaths by heart disease was 633,842, by cancer it was 595,930, and from chronic lower respiratory disease it was 155,041. In 2015, 267.18 deaths per 100,000 people were caused by cardiovascular diseases, 204.63 by neoplasms and 100.66 by neurological disorders.

Providers.

Health care providers in the United States encompass individual health care personnel, health care facilities and medical products.

Facilities.

In the United States, ownership of the healthcare system is mainly in private hands, though federal, state, county, and city governments also own certain facilities.  As of 2018, there were 5,534 registered hospitals in the United States. There were 4,840 community hospitals, which are defined as nonfederal, short-term general, or specialty hospitals. The non-profit hospitals share of total hospital capacity has remained relatively stable (about 70%) for decades. There are also privately owned for-profit hospitals as well as government hospitals in some locations, mainly owned by county and city governments.

Physicians (M.D. and D.O.).

Physicians in the U.S. include those trained by the U.S. medical education system, and those that are international medical graduates who have progressed through the necessary steps to acquire a medical license to practice in a state. This includes going through the three steps of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The first step of the USMLE tests whether medical students both understand and are capable of applying the basic scientific foundations to medicine after the second year of medical school. The topics include: anatomy,

Medical products, research and development.

As in most other countries, the manufacture and production of pharmaceuticals and medical devices is carried out by private companies. The research and development of medical devices and pharmaceuticals is supported by both public and private sources of funding. In 2003, research and development expenditures were approximately $95 billion with $40 billion coming from public sources and $55 billion coming from private sources. These investments into medical research have made the United States the leader in medical innovation, measured either

Healthcare provider employment in the United States.

A major impending demographic shift in the United States will require the healthcare system to provide more care, as the older population is predicted to increase medical expenses by 5% or more in North America due to the "baby boomers"

Alternative medicine.

Other methods of medical treatment are being practiced more frequently than before. This field is labeled Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and are defined as therapies generally not taught in medical school nor available in hospitals. They include herbs, massages, energy healing, homeopathy, and, more recently popularized, cryotherapy, cupping, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS. Common reasons for seeking these alternative approaches included improving their well-being, engaging in a transformational experience, gaining more control over their own

Spending.

The U.S. spends more as a percentage of GDP than similar countries, and this can be explained either through higher prices for services themselves, higher costs to administer the system, or more utilization of these services, or to a combination of these elements. Health care costs rising far faster than inflation have been a major driver for health care reform in the United States. As of 2016, the US spent $3.3 trillion (17.9% of GDP), or $10,438 per person; major categories included 32% on hospital care, 20% on physician and clinical services, and 10% on prescription drugs. In comparison, the UK spent $3,749 per person.  In 2018, an analysis concluded that prices and administrative costs were largely the cause of the high costs, including prices for labor, pharmaceuticals, and diagnostics. The combination of high prices and high volume can cause particular expense; in the U.S., high-margin high-volume procedures include angioplasties, c-sections, knee replacements, and CT and MRI scans; CT and MRI scans also showed higher utilization in the United States.  Aggregate U.S. hospital costs were $387.3 billion in 2011 – a 63% increase since 1997 (inflation adjusted). Costs per stay increased 47% since 1997, averaging $10,000 in 2011. As of 2008, public spending accounts for between 45% and 56% of U.S. health care spending. Surgical, injury, and maternal and neonatal health hospital visit costs increased by more than 2% each year from 2003–2011. Further, while average hospital discharges remained stable, hospital costs rose from $9,100 in 2003 to $10,600 in 2011, and were projected to be $11,000 by 2013.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), total health care spending in the U.S. was 18% of its GDP in 2011, the highest in the world. The Health and Human Services Department expects that the health

Regulation and oversight.

Involved organizations and institutions.

Healthcare is subject to extensive regulation at both the federal and the state level, much of which "arose haphazardly". Under this system, the federal government cedes primary responsibility to the states under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. Essential regulation includes the licensure of health care providers at the state level and the testing and approval of pharmaceuticals and medical devices by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and laboratory testing. These regulations are designed to protect consumers from ineffective or fraudulent healthcare. Additionally, states regulate the health insurance market and they often have laws which require that health insurance companies cover certain procedures, although state mandates generally

"Certificates of need" for hospitals.

In 1978, the federal government required that all states implement Certificate of Need (CON) programs for cardiac care, meaning that hospitals had to apply and receive certificates prior to implementing the program; the intent was to reduce cost by reducing duplicate investments in facilities. It has been observed

Licensing of providers.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has lobbied the government to highly limit physician education since 1910, currently at 100,000 doctors per year, which has led to a shortage of doctors.  An even bigger problem may be that the doctors are paid for procedures instead of results.  The AMA has also aggressively lobbied for many restrictions that require doctors to carry out operations that might be carried out by cheaper workforce. For example, in 1995, 36 states banned or restricted midwifery even though it delivers equally safe care to that by doctors. The regulation lobbied by the AMA has decreased the amount and quality of health care, according to the consensus of economist: the restrictions do not add to quality, they decrease the supply of care. Moreover, psychologists, nurses and pharmacists are not allowed to prescribe medicines. Previously nurses were not even allowed to vaccinate the patients without direct supervision by doctors.  36 states require that healthcare workers undergo criminal background checks.

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA).

EMTALA, enacted by the federal government in 1986, requires that hospital emergency departments treat emergency conditions of all patients regardless of their ability to pay and is considered a critical element in the "safety net" for the uninsured, but established no direct payment mechanism for such care. Indirect payments and reimbursements through federal and state government programs have never fully compensated public and private hospitals for the full cost of care mandated by EMTALA. More than half of all emergency care in the U.S. now goes uncompensated. According to some analyses, EMTALA is an unfunded mandate that has contributed to

Quality assurance.

Health care quality assurance consists of the "activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to

Overall system effectiveness.

Measures of effectiveness.

The US health care delivery system unevenly provides medical care of varying quality to its population. In a highly effective health care system, individuals would receive reliable care that meets their needs and is based on the best scientific knowledge available. In order to monitor and evaluate system effectiveness, researchers and policy makers track system measures and trends over time. The US Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) populates a publicly available dashboard called, the Health System Measurement Project (healthmeasures.aspe.hhs.gov), to ensure a robust monitoring system. The dashboard captures the access, quality and cost of care; overall population health; and health system dynamics (e.g., workforce, innovation, health information technology). Included measures align with other system performance measuring activities including the HHS Strategic Plan, the Government Performance and Results Act, Healthy People 2020, and the National Strategies for Quality and Prevention.

Waiting times.

Waiting times in American health care are usually short, but are not usually 0 for non-urgent care at least. Also, a minority of American patients wait longer than is perceived. In a 2010 Commonwealth Fund survey, most Americans self-reported waiting less than four weeks for their most recent specialist appointment and less than one month for elective surgery. However, about 30% of patients reported waiting longer than one month for elective surgery, and about 20% longer than four weeks for their most recent specialist appointment. These percentages were smaller than in France, the U.K., New Zealand and Canada, but not better than Germany and Switzerland (although waits shorter than four weeks/one month may not be equally long across these three countries). The number of respondents may not be enough to be fully representative. In a study in 1994 comparing Ontario to three regions of the U.S., self-reported mean wait times to see an orthopedic surgeon were two weeks

Population health: quality, prevention, vulnerable populations.

The health of the population is also viewed as a measure of the

Innovation: workforce, healthcare IT, R&D.

Finally, the United States tracks investment in the healthcare system in terms of a skilled healthcare workforce, meaningful use of healthcare IT, and R&D output. This aspect of the healthcare system performance dashboard is important to consider when evaluating cost of care in America. That is because in much of the policy debate around the high cost of US healthcare, proponents of highly specialized and cutting edge technologies point to innovation as a marker of an effective health care system.

Compared to other countries.

A 2014 study by the private American foundation The Commonwealth Fund found that although the U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world, it ranks last on most dimensions of performance when compared with Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The study found that the United States failed to achieve better outcomes than other countries, and is last or near last in terms of access, efficiency and equity. Study date came from international surveys of patients and primary care physicians, as well as information on health care outcomes from The Commonwealth Fund, the World Health Organization, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.  As of 2017, the U.S. stands 43rd in the world with a life expectancy of 80.00 years. The CIA World Factbook ranked the United States 170th worst (out of 225) – meaning 55th best – in the world for infant mortality rate (5.80/1,000 live births). Americans also undergo cancer screenings at significantly higher rates than people in other developed countries, and access

System efficiency and equity.

Variations in the efficiency of health care delivery can cause variations in outcomes. The Dartmouth Atlas Project, for instance, reported that, for over 20 years, marked variations in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States were accompanied by marked variations in outcomes. The willingness of physicians to work in an area varies with the income of the area and the amenities it offers, a situation aggravated by a general shortage of doctors in the United States, particularly those who offer primary care. The Affordable Care Act, if implemented, will produce an additional demand for services which the existing stable of primary care doctors will be unable to fill, particularly in economically depressed areas. Training additional physicians would require some years.  Lean manufacturing techniques such as value stream mapping can help identify and subsequently mitigate waste associated with costs of healthcare. Other product engineering tools such as FMEA and Fish Bone Diagrams have been used to improve efficiencies in healthcare delivery.

Efficiency.

Preventable deaths.

In 2010, coronary artery disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and traffic accidents caused the most years of life lost in the US. Low back pain, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, and anxiety caused the most years lost to disability. The most deleterious risk factors were poor diet, tobacco smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, physical inactivity, and alcohol use. Alzheimer's disease, drug abuse, kidney disease and cancer, and falls caused the most additional years of life lost over their age-adjusted 1990 per-capita rates.  Between 1990 and 2010, among the 34 countries in the OECD, the US dropped from 18th to 27th in age-standardized death rate. The US dropped from 23rd

Value for money.

A study of international health care spending levels published in the health policy journal "Health Affairs" in the year 2000 found that the United States spends substantially more on health care than any other country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and that the use of

Delays in seeking care and increased use of emergency care.

Uninsured Americans are less likely to have regular health care and use preventive services. They are more likely to delay seeking care, resulting in more medical crises, which are more expensive than ongoing treatment for such conditions as diabetes and high blood pressure. A 2007 study published in "JAMA" concluded that uninsured people were less likely than the insured to receive any medical care after an accidental injury or

Variations in provider practices.

The treatment given to a patient can vary significantly depending on which health care providers they use. Research suggests that some cost-effective treatments are not used as often as they should be, while overutilization occurs with other health care services. Unnecessary treatments increase costs and can cause patients unnecessary anxiety. The use of prescription drugs varies significantly by geographic region. The overuse of medical benefits is known as moral hazard – individuals who are insured are then more inclined to consume health care. The way the health care system tries to eliminate this problem is through cost sharing tactics like co-pays and deductibles. If patients face more of the economic burden they will then only consume

Care coordination.

Primary care doctors are often the point of entry for most patients needing care, but in the fragmented health care system of the U.S., many patients and their providers experience problems with care coordination. For example, a Harris Interactive survey of California physicians found that:  According to an article in "The New York Times", the relationship between doctors and patients is deteriorating. A study from Johns Hopkins University found that roughly one in four patients

Administrative costs.

As of 2017, there were 907 health insurance companies in the United States, although the top 10 account for about 53% of revenue and the top 100 account for 95% of revenue. The number of insurers contributes to administrative overhead in excess of that in nationalized, single-payer systems, such as that in Canada, where administrative overhead was estimated to be about half of the US.  Insurance industry group America's Health Insurance Plans estimates that administrative costs have averaged approximately 12% of premiums over the last 40 years, with costs shifting away from adjudicating claims and towards medical management, nurse help lines, and negotiating discounted fees with health care providers.  A 2003 study published by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) also found that health insurer administrative costs were approximately 11% to 12% of premiums, with Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans reporting slightly lower administrative

Long-term Living Facilities.

As of 2014, according to a report published the higher the skill of the RN the lower the cost of a financial burden on the facilities. With a growing elderly population, the number of patients in these long term facilities needing more care creates a jump in financial costs. Based on research done in 2010, annual out of pocket costs jumped 7.5% while the cost for Medicare grew 6.7% annually due to the increases. While Medicare pays for some of the care that the elderly populations receive, 40% of the patients staying in these facilities pay out of pocket.

Third-party payment problem and consumer-driven insurance.

Most Americans pay for medical services largely through insurance, and this can distort the incentives of consumers since the consumer pays only a portion of the ultimate cost directly. The lack of price information on medical services can also distort incentives. The insurance which pays on behalf of insureds negotiate with medical providers, sometimes using government-established prices such as Medicaid billing rates

Equity.

Mental health.

Mental illness affects one out of six adults in the United States. That is about 44.7 million people, as of 2016. In 2006, mental disorders were ranked one of the top five most costly medical conditions, which expenditures of $57.5 billion. A lack of mental health coverage for Americans bears significant ramifications to the U.S. economy and social system. A report by the U.S. Surgeon General found that mental illnesses are the second leading cause of disability in the nation and affect 20% of all Americans. It is estimated that less than half of all people with mental illnesses receive

Oral health.

In the history of healthcare in the US, dental care was largely not recognized as part of healthcare, and thus the field and its practices developed independently. In modern policy and practice, oral health is thus considered distinct from primary health, and dental insurance

Medical underwriting and the uninsurable.

Prior to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, medical

Demographic differences.

Health disparities are well documented in the U.S. in ethnic minorities such as African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics. When compared to whites, these minority groups have higher incidence of chronic diseases, higher mortality, and poorer health outcomes. Among the disease-specific examples of racial and ethnic disparities in the United States is the cancer incidence rate among African Americans, which is 25% higher than among whites. In addition, adult African Americans and Hispanics have approximately twice the risk as whites of developing diabetes and have higher overall obesity rates. Minorities also have higher rates of cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS than whites. In the U.S., Asian Americans live the longest (87.1 years), followed by Latinos (83.3 years), whites (78.9 years), Native Americans (76.9 years), and African Americans (75.4 years). A 2001 study found large racial differences exist in healthy life expectancy at lower levels of education.  Public spending is highly correlated with age; average per capita public spending for seniors was more than five times that for children ($6,921 versus $1,225). Average public spending for non-Hispanic blacks ($2,973) was slightly higher than that for whites ($2,675), while spending for Hispanics ($1,967) was significantly lower than the

Prescription drug issues.

Drug efficiency and safety.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the primary institution tasked with the safety and effectiveness of human and veterinary drugs. It also is responsible for making sure drug information is accurately and informatively presented to the public. The FDA reviews and approves products and establishes drug labeling, drug standards, and medical device manufacturing standards. It sets performance standards for radiation and ultrasonic equipment.  One of the more contentious issues related to drug safety is immunity from prosecution. In 2004, the FDA reversed a federal policy, arguing that FDA premarket approval overrides most claims for damages under state law for medical devices. In 2008 this was confirmed by

Prescription drug prices.

During the 1990s, the price of prescription drugs became a major issue in American politics as the prices of many new drugs increased exponentially, and many citizens discovered that neither the government nor their insurer would cover the cost of such drugs. Per capita, the U.S. spends more on pharmaceuticals than any other country, although expenditures on pharmaceuticals accounts for a smaller share (13%) of total health care costs compared to an OECD average of 18% (2003 figures). Some 25% of out-of-pocket spending by individuals is for prescription drugs.  The U.S. government has taken the position (through the Office of the United States Trade Representative) that U.S. drug prices are rising because U.S. consumers are effectively subsidizing costs which drug

Impact of drug companies.

The U.S., along with New Zealand, make up the only countries in the world that allows direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs. In 2015, the American Medical Association called for the banning of direct-to-consumer advertising because it is linked with increased drug prices. Still, other evidence cites that there are some benefits to direct-to-consumer advertising, such as encouraging patients to see the doctor, diagnosis of rare diseases, and the removal of stigma associated with the disease.  When health care legislation was being written in 2009, the drug companies were asked to support the legislation in return for not allowing importation of drugs from foreign countries.

Healthcare reform debate.

In 2008, prior to the major healthcare reform in 2010, Americans were divided in their views of the U.S. health system; 45% said that the U.S. system was best and 39% said that other countries' systems are better.  Much of the historical debate around healthcare reform centered around single-payer health care, and particularly pointing to the hidden costs of treating the uninsured while free-market advocates point to freedom of choice in purchasing health insurance and unintended consequences of government intervention, citing the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973. Ultimately, a single-payer health care, sometimes called "socialized medicine", was not adopted in the final Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010).

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) is a health care reform bill that was signed into law in the United States by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law includes a large number of health-related provisions, most of which took effect in 2014, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133% of FPL, subsidizing insurance premiums for individuals and families making up to 400% of FPL and capping expenses from 2% to 9.8% of annual income. For the first time, all health policies sold in the United States must cap an individual's (or family's) medical expenses out of pocket annually. Other provisions include providing incentives for businesses to provide

Health insurance coverage for immigrants.

Of the 26.2 million foreign immigrants living in the US in 1998, 62.9% were non-U.S. citizens. In 1997, 34.3% of non-U.S. citizens living in America did not have health insurance coverage opposed to the 14.2% of native-born Americans who do not have health insurance coverage. Among those immigrants who became citizens, 18.5% were uninsured, as opposed to noncitizens, who are 43.6% uninsured. In each age and income group, immigrants are less likely to have health insurance. With the recent healthcare changes, many legal immigrants with various immigration statuses now are able qualify for affordable health insurance.  Undocumented immigrants within the United States do not have access to government funded health insurance. Although The Affordable Care Act allows immigrants to receive insurance at a discounted rate, the same does not go for those without US citizenship. While policies like the Patient Protection Act and Affordable Care Act have aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to also improve refugee health in the United States, different states have implemented their health insurance programs differently leading to healthcare access disparities between states. Undocumented immigrants in the US can seek medical help from community centers, or what is termed Safety Net Providers, and participate in fee for service medical assistance, but can only buy health insurance from privatized health insurers.

Health care in the United States is provided by many distinct organizations. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by private sector businesses. 58% of community hospitals in the United States are non-profit, 21% are government-owned, and 21% are for-profit. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States spent $9,403 on health care per capita, and 17.1% on health care as percentage of its GDP in 2014. Healthcare coverage is provided through a combination of private health insurance and public health coverage (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid). The United States does not have a universal healthcare program, unlike most other developed countries.

La protection sociale aux États-Unis, qui englobe plusieurs programmes dont la sécurité sociale, couvre 85 % de la population américaine. Même si les droits sociaux ne sont pas inscrits dans la Constitution des États-Unis, le gouvernement de cette nation applique, depuis le "New Deal" et la création de l'État-providence ("Welfare State") plusieurs programmes afin d’aider les personnes en difficulté. En 2000, 180 millions d’Américains (pour une population totale d'environ 300 millions) bénéficiaient de la Sécurité sociale.


Execution and physics.

From a supine position.

The performer draws both legs (which may be either in extension or flexion) anterior to the chest, rotates back onto the shoulders, and optionally places hands on the floor proximal to the ears. The performer then moves from hip and knee flexion to hip and knee extension while elevating the body away from the floor. The performer creates force against the ground by pushing off with the hands and simultaneously moving the elbows from flexion to extension.  The leg motion during the thrust involves increasing the joint angle of the hip from flexion to extension. When the thrust is completed, the rotation of the legs with respect to the trunk is terminated and, as a result, the angular momentum of the legs is transferred to the entire body. The linear momentum of the thrust carries the body into the air feet first while the angular momentum causes the airborne body to rotate. The spine moves into greater lordosis so that with sufficient thrust, back curvature, and body rotation, the performer will land on the feet.

From prone position.

With body face-down, the performer creates forces against the floor with fists or palms while kicking back the legs so as to develop momentum that carries the body into the air. The performer lands with the feet in contact with the floor, and knees in flexion.

Variations.

Hop back variations.

Hop back variations all involve the practitioner starting in a standing position, possibly jumping in the air and rotating posterior in order to land on their shoulders/back. After maintaining the supine position the practitioner executes the standard kip up variation in order to return to their feet.

A kip-up (also called a rising handspring, kick-up, Chinese get up, kick-to-stand, nip-up, flip-up, or carp skip-up) is an acrobatic move in which a person transitions from a supine, and less commonly, a prone position, to a standing position. It is used in activities such as breakdancing, gymnastics, martial arts, professional wrestling, and freerunning, and in action film fight sequences.

Un saut carpé est un saut qui s'effectue en s'appuyant du sol avec les mains pour se relever plus vite. C'est un saut de gymnastique au sol.


Corporate history.

Betsson AB can trace its roots back to 1963, and the foundation of AB Restaurang Rouletter by Bill Lindwall and Rolf Lundström, later renamed Cherryföretagen AB (Cherry), which provided slot machines to restaurants in Sweden. Cherry acquired a minority share of Net Entertainment in 1998, which was a company co-founded with Investment AB Kinnevik, tasked with developing online gaming solutions. The rest of the shares in Net Entertainment held by Kinnevik was acquired by Cherry in 2000, making Kinnevik the largest shareholder of Cherry in the process. In 2003, after the return of Pontus Lindwall (son of Bill Lindwall), as the CEO of Cherry, the company buys into Betsson (founded by Henrik Bergquist, Anders Holmgren and Fredrik Sidfalk), which had a gaming licence in England at that time, and later acquires a license in Malta. In 2006, Cherryföretagen changes its name to Betsson and the traditional gaming operation in the business sector of Cherry merges into a new group, Cherryföretagen, which later shortens the name back to Cherry and launches its own online sector based in Malta. Ulrik Bengtsson stepped up as CEO of Betsson in March 2016, and took over after Pontus Lindwall, who has stayed on as chairman of the board. Ulrik Bengtsson stepped down as CEO on 09.04.2017 and was succeeded by Pontus Lindwall. As a consequence, Patric Svensk was appointed Chairman of the Board after Pontus.

Products.

Betsson AB's subsidiaries owns and operates a number of websites via its subsidiaries in Malta.  In November 2017, Betsson signed a deal with Scout gaming to integrate its daily fantasy sports platform across all its brands, including BetSafe, its UK facing online bookmaker. The integration is expected to be completed by 2018.

Business acquisitions.

In 2011 the company acquired all of the shares in the Betsafe Group for SEK 292 M. The aim of the acquisition was to increase Betsson's market presence and enable continued growth. The acquisition grew Betsson's number of customers to approximately 419,000 — surpassing Unibet in the number of active players. That same year Betsson signed an agreement with a Chinese state-owned company regarding the development of joint-owned gaming operations.  In March 2017, Betsson completed its £26 million acquisition of NetPlay TV's assets, adding Jackpot247, SuperCasino and Vernons to its European gaming multi-brand portfolio.  In February 2020, Betsson acquired Gaming Innovation Group B2C assets.

Awards.

Betsson received the Best Customer Service Award at the prestigious 10th Annual eGaming Review (EGR) in London. Betsson is ahead of 800 participants. For the fourth consecutive year, the Bettson Group has been the customer service winner of the year.

Data Breach.

In January 2020 Jackpot247 sent emails to all of their customers advising them that they had suffered a data breach with the following message:  "We regret to inform you that Jackpot247 has suffered a security incident and some of your personal data has been revealed to an unauthorized person. We took various mitigating measures and the unauthorised person is no longer able to access your data. Rest assured that our investigations show that your credit card, payment information, password and copies of any documents sent to Jackpot247 have not been accessed and remain secure. After conducting detailed investigations into the incident, we can confirm that the unauthorised person has been able to access your username and name, email address, telephone number, residential address, date of registration and some internal activity classifications that are not of relevance to the unauthorized person.  It is our duty to report this data breach to you and inform you what data has been compromised."  Users were advised to reset passwords and be wary of phishing emails being received.

Betsson AB is a Swedish company that offers a number of online gambling products, such as casino, poker, bingo, sports betting and scratch cards through more than 20 online gaming brands including Betsson, Betsafe and NordicBet. Betsson AB is listed on the NASDAQ Stockholm Large Cap List.

Betsson Malta Ltd. est une compagnie de jeu en ligne, dont le siège est à Malte, et qui appartient à la compagnie publique OMX listée Betsson AB. Elle propose un poker en ligne, un casino en ligne, des cartes de grattage et des paris sportifs.


History.

Crusader period.

During the twelfth century the Hospitallers established an administrative and collection centre in the village, comprising a tower and a vaulted structure.

Ottoman period.

In 1596, Qula was part of the Ottoman Empire, "nahiya" (subdistrict) of al-Ramla under the Liwa of Gaza, with a population 69 Muslim households; an estimated population of 380. The villagers paid taxes on goats and beehives, and a press that was used for processing either olives or grapes, in addition of a fixed sum: a total of 6,650 akçe.  In 1838 "Kuleh" was among the villages Edward Robinson noted from the top of the White Mosque, Ramla.  In 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin noted: "This village, located on a rocky hill, obviously replaced a small town or ancient village. There is a large building now divided into several private dwellings, built either by the Muslims or by the Christians at the time of the Crusades, with cut stones removed from old buildings.  Besides, there is another construction, less extensive than the preceding one, but the lower courses of which are formed with much larger blocks, either flattened or cut into bosses, still serving at present as a tower, or defense tower.  All the upper part is of a much more recent date. A small mosque is similarly built with materials of which at least half seem ancient. At the door in particular of this sanctuary the feet are decorated with moldings that seem to be pointing to a time before the Muslim invasion. Finally, near the village, a "birket", (a pond), 18 paces by 12 wide, is probably not the work of the Arabs. It is partly dug in the rock and partly constructed of large polygonal blocks coated with thick cement."  An Ottoman village list from about the same year, 1870, showed "Kula" with a population of 159, in 38 houses, though the population count included men, only.  In 1882, the PEF's "Survey of Western Palestine" (SWP) the village of Qula was described as being situated on a slope at the edge of a plain; its historical relics dating back to medieval times. The SWP also noted ancient remains.  The village mosque stood approximately 10m east of the Crusader tower. It comprised a large vaulted iwan and a smaller room with an inscription above the entrance.

British Mandate.

During the British mandate period, the village expanded along the Ramle-Tulkarm highway. In the village center was the mosque, several small shops, and a school which had been founded in 1919. By the mid-1940s the school had 134 students.  In the 1922 census of Palestine, "Quleh" had a population of 480 Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 697, still all Muslims, in a total of 172 houses.  In the 1945 statistics the population was 1,010, all Muslims, while the total land area was 4,347 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, a total of 2,842 dunums of land was used for cereals, 105 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, while 26 dunams were classified as built-up areas.

1948 Arab-Israeli War and aftermath.

Fighting in the region took place between the IDF and Arab Legion's forces during Operation Dani during the "" after the end of the in the 1948 War. The IDF's Alexandroni Brigade had been sent to secure the area south of the Iraqi Army's zone of control, and fought over the village with the Arab League's First Brigade. The IDF captured the village for the last time on July 18, just before the start of the. An IDF report stated that after capture of the village, the mutilated bodies of 19 members of the Alexandroni Brigade were discovered. Most of the villagers fled during the war, leaving only a few, primarily elderly behind. In the late 1990s, researcher Abdel Jawad reported testimony from former villagers who stated that six women and one man who were left behind were shot or burned to death in their homes.  The ruins of the town can be found in the Kula Forest in Israel. In 1992, The Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the site: "A forest covers much of the village site. The rubble of crumbled houses and terraces lies among the trees, and cactuses and fig, mulberry, and eucalyptus trees grow there as well. The only remaining landmark is the school, on the west side of the site. The hilly parts of the surrounding land are used for grazing animals; the rest of the land is cultivated.

Qula () was a Palestinian village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was located 15 km northeast of Ramla and was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Qoula (قولة) était un village palestinien conquis par Israël durant la Guerre israélo-arabe de 1948-1949. La population s'élevait à en 1945.


Layout.

The Morocco Pavilion, designed to look like a Moroccan city with a realistic Minaret, features the only pavilion in which the country's government aided in the design. Guests to the pavilion gain insight on the lifestyle and culture of the Moroccan people through the Gallery of Arts and History. The Fes House shows guests the typical. Inside the pavilion, North African plants including citrus trees, date palms, and olive trees, and fountains can be seen. The courtyard plays hosts to entertainment, including a belly dancing show in the evening. Restaurant Marrakesh, along with the Tangierine Cafe, serve Moroccan fare, including roast lamb in Tajine, Couscous, and Harira soup. Six shops adorn the pavilion, selling patrons everything from rugs to leather goods, and traditional Moroccan clothing.  Some of the major defining structures of the pavilion include Chellah, a replication of the necropolis in Rabat, and the Koutoubia, a replica of the minaret of the same name in Marrakesh. A replica of Bab Boujeloud, the gateway to the Fez medina leads you to a Bazaar area.  King Hassan II actually sent Moroccan artisans to design and create the many mosaics. Due to Islamic religious beliefs on the content of art, the mosaics contain no representations of people. The government also sponsors the pavilion, while a corporation holds sponsoring rights on every other pavilion.  "The Twilight Zone" Tower of Terror in Disney's Hollywood Studios can be seen at an angle from the Moroccan pavilion, and the top of the Tower is designed so it blends in with the Moroccan architecture.

The Morocco Pavilion is a Moroccan-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, United States. It was the first expansion pavilion to be added to World Showcase, opening on September 7, 1984.

Le pavillon du Maroc fait partie du "World Showcase" dans le parc à thème Epcot de Walt Disney World Resort situé à Orlando dans l'État de Floride aux États-Unis.


Gameplay.

"Cortex Strikes Back" is a platform game in which the player character is the titular Crash Bandicoot. The goal of the game is to gather 25 crystals for Crash's nemesis Doctor Neo Cortex. The crystals are scattered between 25 different levels, accessible via "Warp Rooms", which are hub areas of the game. A level is cleared by collecting its respective crystal and reaching the end of its path, which returns Crash to the Warp Room. Each Warp Room contains five levels. When all five levels are cleared, the player must defeat a boss character before gaining access to the next Warp Room. The player is given a certain amount of lives, which are lost when Crash is attacked by an enemy, or falls into water or a pit. If the player runs out of lives, the game is over. However, it can be continued by selecting "Yes" at the "Continue?" screen.  Crash has the ability to jump into the air and land on an enemy character, spin in a tornado-like fashion to knock enemies off-screen, slide across the ground, and perform a body slam to break certain objects. Crash can jump higher than he normally can if he jumps immediately following a slide. All of these techniques can be used as offensive measures against most enemies, who serve to deter Crash's progress. Enemies with deadly topsides cannot be jumped on, while enemies that attack from the front or have side spikes must be jumped on or undergo a body slam. Enemies with sharp necklines (such as frill-necked lizards or long-legged robots with heated circumferences) can only be defeated if Crash slides into them.  Boxes play a prominent role in "Cortex Strikes Back" and can be broken with all of Crash's techniques. Most boxes in the game contain "Wumpa Fruit", which give the player an extra life if 100 of them are collected. Some boxes contain a Witch Doctor's Mask, which shields Crash from one enemy's attack while it is in his possession. If three masks are collected in a row, Crash is given temporary invulnerability from all minor dangers. If jumped upon, boxes with arrows pointing up propel Crash further into the air than he can ordinarily reach, and such boxes can be broken only with Crash's spin attack. Boxes with an exclamation mark (!) on them cause previously intangible objects in the area to solidify. TNT Boxes explode after a three-second fuse when jumped on, while Nitro Boxes explode upon any physical contact. All of the Nitro Boxes in a level can be detonated at once if a green-colored box with an exclamation mark (!) on it is touched. Checkpoint boxes allow Crash to return to the point where the first checkpoint box has been opened upon losing a life. If more than one checkpoint box has been opened in a stage, Crash returns to the last checkpoint box that has been opened. The player will earn a gem if they manage to destroy all the boxes, including Nitro Boxes and boxes on alternate routes, in a level. Certain gems can be acquired by other means, like reaching the end of a level within a certain time parameter, or completing a level without breaking any boxes.  "Bonus Paths", signified by platforms with a question mark on them, lead Crash to a secret region of the level. In these areas, numerous Wumpa Fruit and extra lives can be collected if the player successfully navigates to the end of the path. If Crash falls off-screen or is otherwise killed off, the player loses whatever was collected in the Bonus Path and is returned to the level from which the Bonus Path was accessed, keeping all lives the player had previously collected.

Plot.

Crash Bandicoot sends Doctor Neo Cortex falling from his airship into a cavern filled with glowing crystals. Convinced that they hold tremendous power, he takes one and gets back onto his laboratory. One year later, Cortex and his new assistant Doctor N. Gin rebuild an upgraded, crystal-powered Cortex Vortex in outer space; N. Gin says that they need 25 more crystals to reach the Vortex's maximum capacity and they do not have any of their operatives left on Earth. Cortex then devises a plot to manipulate Crash into retrieving the crystals for him.  Meanwhile, Crash's younger sister, Coco, has him retrieve a new battery for her laptop, but Crash is captured. Finding himself in an ancient Warp Room that has access to various places all over the world, Crash meets Cortex through his holographic projection. Cortex tells Crash that he discovered that the upcoming alignment of the planets will create a solar flux capable of catastrophic proportions, and urges Crash to retrieve pink power crystals through each of the Room's doors to help Cortex harness the crystal's energy to dissipate the massive power unleashed. Unbeknownst to Cortex, his former assistant Dr. Nitrus Brio also appears in hologram form and tells Crash that, scattered across the world, there are several colored gems that serve as an alternative form of energy that Brio is planning to use it against Cortex. On his way, while collecting crystals, Crash battles several of Cortex's former allies, first by the demented Ripper Roo, the scimitar-wielding Komodo Brothers and the ravenous Tiny Tiger.  Meanwhile, Coco uses her technology expertise to hack into Cortex's hologram communication to advise Crash to be careful into trusting Cortex.

Development.

Production of "Cortex Strikes Back" began in October 1996. Development took place over the course of 13 months on a budget of $2,000,000. The concept art for the game's environments was mainly created by Naughty Dog employees Bob Rafei, Eric Iwasaki, Erick Pangilinan, Charlotte Francis and Jason Rubin. The jungle levels were originally to have featured ground fog, but this was abandoned when magazines and the public began to criticize other developers for using fog to hide polygon count. Sunlight and depth accentuation was experimented with for these levels. Naughty Dog created the sewer levels as a way to work some "dirty" locations in the game. Color contrast was added to the levels to show depth and break up the monotony of sewer pipes. The character of Coco Bandicoot was created by Naughty Dog as a counterbalance to Tawna (Crash's girlfriend in the first game) that would appease Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, who were uncomfortable with a "super sexy" character being alongside Crash. Character designer Charles Zembillas drew the first sketches of Coco on March 18, 1997.  For the game, "Crash Bandicoot" co-creator Andy Gavin programmed a new engine named "Game-Oriented Object LISP 2" (GOOL 2); being three times faster than the previous game's engine, it could handle ten times the animation frames and twice the polygon count. A flat plane z-buffer was created for the game; because the water surfaces and mud in the jungle had to be a flat plane and be exactly flat on the Y-axis, there could be no waves and the subdividing plane could not be at an odd angle. The effect only worked on objects in the foreground and was only used on Crash, some enemies and a few boxes at the same time.  The soundtrack of "Cortex Strikes Back" was written by Josh Mancell from Mutato Muzika, while the sound effects were created by Universal Sound Studios (consisting of Mike Gollom, Ron Horwitz and Kevin Spears). The characters were designed by Charles Zembillas of American Exitus, Incorporated. Clancy Brown provided the voice of Doctor Neo Cortex, Vicki Winters voiced Coco Bandicoot, and Brendan O'Brien voiced Crash Bandicoot, Doctor N. Gin, and Doctor Nitrus Brio. The game was unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, Georgia in June 1997 to a positive response from the game industry. The game went into the alpha stage in August 1997. Around that time, Dan Arey, the lead designer of "", joined Naughty Dog and streamlined the level design. A death animation in which Crash is squashed into a stunned head and feet was altered for the Japanese version of the game due to its resemblance to the severed head and shoes left by a serial killer loose in Japan at the time.

Reception.

"Cortex Strikes Back" was released to critical acclaim. Major Mike of "GamePro" said that while the fundamental gameplay mechanics were the same as the first title, "its graphical enhancements and added moves catapult it to the top of the PlayStation action/platform heap." He gave it a 4.5 out of 5 in both control and fun factor, and a perfect 5.0 in both graphics and sound. John Broady of GameSpot considered the game to be superior to its predecessor, commenting positively on the Warp Room concept, improved game-saving system and variety of the levels. Of the four reviewers in "Electronic Gaming Monthly"s review team, Shawn Smith and Kraig Kujawa hailed it as an outstanding sequel, citing its advanced graphics and heavy challenge, while Dan Hsu and Kelly Rickards said it is an excellent game but overly similar to the original. The staff of IGN praised the "spot on" control and noted the decreased linearity of the game and increased intuition of the bonus levels compared to the first game. Mark Cooke of Game Revolution described the game as "undeniably fun". "Next Generation" stated that ""Crash 2" is a tempting gameplay treat, one that frustrates at times, but it always rewards a job well done – and that is an addictive combination for any serious platform gamer. Recommended."  The game's graphics were positively received. Major Mike considered the graphics to be "a quantum leap" over its predecessor, and cited Crash's detailed animations and level effects such as reflective ice surfaces as highlights. GameSpot's Broady described them as "in a league of their own among PlayStation games", while the IGN staff praised the high-resolution graphics as "beautiful". Shawn Smith of "Electronic Gaming Monthly" praised the colorfulness, lack of break-up, animation, reflections, and lighting effects, as well as the texture morphing when Crash burrows. Game Revolution's Mark Cooke noted the absence of cutscenes brought about by the entirety of the game being "rendered on the fly beautifully" and that the game could "really set some new standards in Playstation graphic quality." He went on to describe the animation as "flawless" and of "cartoon quality" and added that the game's "creatures, environments, and story building scenes are absolutely perfect." The game's audio was also well-received; Broady simply stated that the music "couldn't be better", while Cooke said that Clancy Brown's "hilarious satirical" performance as Doctor Neo Cortex added to the game's cartoonish quality. Major Mike also singled out Brown's performance for commendation, and remarked that the music, which he felt was "perfect for every stage", "sounds like a cross between the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack and the B-52s".  Minor criticisms varied amongst critics. Broady noted that the semi-3D setup is "sometimes hard to navigate" and elaborated that "you'll find yourself missing jumps because you're unable to judge distances properly." Additionally, he criticized the trial-and-error aspect of the gameplay as "just plain cheap" and stated that "in some areas you must sacrifice many lives until you memorize a level's layout." Smith and Rickards both said that while the control works well with the analog pad, it is somewhat loose with the digital gamepad, which was still the standard for the PlayStation. Contrarily, Major Mike contended that the digital pad "works just as well, if not better." The IGN staff said that the level design "isn't as varied as it could be" and added that the "jungle, snow and water" environments are recycled from the previous game and reused multiple times in "Cortex Strikes Back". They also described the boss levels as "insultingly easy". Major Mike similarly commented "Although [the bosses] look awesome, they have easy-to-recognize patterns and present no challenge." Cooke observed that, like its predecessor, the game did not add anything to the genre and summarized that "the first "Crash" was dauntingly similar to the 16-bit platform games of yester-yore, only with better graphics, and "Crash 2" doesn't deviate much from this formula". He also described the "bizarre" lenticular 3D cover art of the game as "unnecessary and evil" and "a device of unprecedented agony", claiming to have contracted a massive headache after "looking at it in [his] car for about 15 seconds".  "Crash Bandicoot 2" was a commercial hit. By late February 1998, its sales in Japan and Europe had reached 800,000 and 340,000 units, respectively. The United States accounted for one million copies by that time. By February 1999, 4.08 million copies of "Crash Bandicoot" had been shipped to retailers worldwide; the NPD Group reported sell-through of 1.49 million copies in North America alone. By December 2007, "Cortex Strikes Back" had sold 3.78 million units in the United States and 1.3 million in Japan. This makes it one of the best-selling PlayStation video games of all time. The game's success resulted in its re-release for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up on August 30, 1998 and for the Platinum Range in 1999. The game replaced "Crash Bandicoot" as the highest-selling non-Japanese title in Japan, selling over 800,000 copies by April 1998. "Cortex Strikes Back" was initially released on the European PlayStation Network on July 26, 2007 but was withdrawn on August 7, 2007, along with "" and "MediEvil", as a precautionary measure when the latter two games experienced technical problems. The game was released on the North American PlayStation Network on January 10, 2008 and re-released on the European PlayStation Network on February 2, 2011.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is a platform video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the second game in the "Crash Bandicoot" series, and the sequel to the original game.

L'histoire du jeu est la suite directe de "Crash Bandicoot", l'opus éponyme de la série. Se déroulant sur un archipel d'îles fictives près de l'Australie, "" suit les aventures de l'anthropomorphe Crash Bandicoot, enlevé par le Docteur Neo Cortex, qui a apparemment changé de vie et veut désormais sauver le monde. Crash est ensuite envoyé dans plusieurs lieux de l'Île de N. Sanity afin de récupérer des cristaux qui permettront à Cortex de contenir la puissance de l'alignement des planètes et ainsi de protéger la Terre de la destruction. Crash est rejoint par sa sœur, Coco Bandicoot et occasionnellement par le Docteur Nitrus Brio, qui essaie de convaincre Crash de récupérer les gemmes au lieu des cristaux. Le jeu "" est la suite de cet opus.


Biography.

Fabio Rizzo Bartolo was born in Nicosia, Sicily from a mother who worked as a custodian and a father who worked as a truck driver. He has a younger brother. His family then moved to Milan in a house in Bramante; when he was ten, he was expelled from his home with his family, who moved to the suburbs of Barona, where he grew up and still lives.  After graduating as an electronical technician, Rizzo recorded his first verses under the pseudonym Yuza delle Nuvole, appearing in Prodigio's 1999 demo "The Royal Rumble", alongside Il Guercio, Fame, Aken and Corvo D'Argento. He adopted the stage name Marracash after his childhood nickname, (, jokingly because of his Sicilian origins), as a pun on the name of Marrakesh.  At the end of 2019 the rapper starts a relationship with the singer Elodie.

Career.

Its debut dates back to 2004 in the PMC VS Club Dogo mixtape - the official Mixtape, product born from the collaboration between the Club Dogo and the Massive Crew Portion, contacts in Milan and Bologna. In the same year the collective Dogo Gang came to life, within which Marracash's militancy is gradually consolidating, marking a new stage with the participation within "Regular", album of Club Dogo, and of "Hashishinz Sound Vol. 1", by Gué Pequeno and Deleterio.  In 2005, under the Contagion Area label, Marracash published "Popolare", a single product by Don Joe made available for free download for network users. The song anticipated the release of the mixtape "Roccia Music I", mixtape in which the Dogo Gang (Club Dogo, Vincenzo da Via Anfossi, Deleterio and Ted Bundy) collaborated and guests such as Inoki, Co'Sang, Rischio, Shablo, Misa and Royal Mehdi.  On June 13, 2008 the first solo album entitled "Marracash" is released, released by Universal Music, which reaches the ninth position of the Italian Albums Chart receiving the gold certification. Guests of the album are Gué Pequeno and J-Ax, Vincenzo da Via Anfossi and Jake La Furia. Two singles were extracted from the album: "Badabum Cha Cha", which becomes the singer's first top ten, and "Estate in città".  In 2009 he participated together with 55 other Italian singers in the realization of "Domani 21/04.2009", a musical track published in a charitable way to remember the victims affected by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. Towards the end of the year the song Cani pazzi, which anticipated Marracash's second album "Fino a qui tutto bene", out on July 13, 2010. The collaborations present are with Giusy Ferreri in "Rivincita" and Fabri Fibra in "Stupidi", with less success than the previous project.  On September 7, 2011 he releases the song "King of rap", which anticipates the eponymous album released in October. The album debuts at the third position of the FIMI chart receiving the platinum certification. Later in 2012 he released the collaboration "Giusto un giro" with Emis Killa and announced the inauguration of his own record label, La Roccia Music. On December 22, Marracash conducts the first episode of "MTV Spit," a television program focused on the rap battle between artists of the underground scene.  After the release of the collective album "Genesis" with the artists of the Rock Music of 2013, on January 20, 2015 he published his fourth studio album "Status" which reached the number 2 position of the Italian Albums Chart and 32 of the Swiss Charts. From the album he releases the homonymous single "Status", which peaked at number 2 of Italian Singles Chart, "Senza un posto nel mondo" with Tiziano Ferro, "In radio" and "Niente canzoni d'amore" with Federica Abbate.  In 2016 the rapper announced the release of a studio album with Gué Pequeno. Published on June 24 of the same year, the album is entitled "Santeria" and is composed of fifteen tracks, which became his first number one album. The forerunner single "Nulla accade", released on June 7, is certified double platinum and reaches position number 16 of the Italian Singles Chart.  After the release of the album collecting hits for the 10th anniversary of "Marracash"'s release, on June 12, 2019 he published the collaboration with singer Elodie, "Margarita", which peaked at number nine of Singles Chart and selling over 100,000 copies in Italy. On October 31, 2019 the sixth album of the rapper "Persona" is released. The album peaked at number one of FIMI Chart and receiving the double platinum certification. It was supported by several hit singles, including "Marylean", with Salmo and Nitro, "Crudelia - I nervi" and his number one song" Supreme - L'ego". On 6 March 2020 he released a new track "Neon - Le Ali" featuring italian songwriter Elisa, peaking at number five of Italian Singles Chart.

Music influences and style.

In a TV interview with AllMusic on July 7, 2008, Marracash claimed to have regularly listened to Metallica and 883 as a child. The rapper takes inspiration from American artists such as Jay-Z, Drake, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Wu-Tang Clan. From italy he cities Frankie Hi-NRG MC.  The rapper describes his writing and writing process for the 2019 album "Persona" in an interview on Rolling Stone Italy: ""It develops over time, in the sense that I mature stuff, it's something I do on an introspective level, I do it without writing. I just take notes and then at a certain point I throw them out, and when I started writing the pieces flowed out like blood from a wound."" He then describes his feelings and the way he analyzes the situations he reports in the texts: ""I exercise a constant self-consciousness that leads me to experience emotions very intensely. [...] But each time I tend to pull the rope a bit to its extreme and it is perhaps also a way to feel alive, a search for adrenaline, because in the end I detach myself enough to find them stronger than before.""

Criticism and controversy.

In 2006, when Marracash criticized Nesli's way of rapping through the song "Popular", a kind of rivalry between the two began. The following year, in fact, Nesli responded to Marracash with the song "Life is just one", accusing him of making neighborhood rhymes and being a chatterbox. Marracash's response came in 2008 with the song "Dritto al punto", in which he reversed the quotations made by the opposing rapper, who replied with "Riot", closing the debate.  On January 14, 2017, six months after the publication of Santeria, Marracash and Gué Pequenoo gave an interview to Corriere della Sera, in which they commented on the musical style adopted by their colleagues Fedez and J-Ax, at the time close to the publication of "Comunisti col Rolex", criticizing the artists and accusing them of masking their intent to make numbers and money with false intentions. Fedez responded to the accusations by explaining that the two rappers criticized the duo on purpose to have visibility, as well as calling Marracash a coward to not meet him during Moschino's fashion show; Marracash, referring to Fedez as ""dwarf with Napoleon complex"", denied what Fedez said about the fashion show, claiming that the colleague had not even sought eye contact with him on that occasion, and ironic about the choice to attend the parades with bodyguards.

Fabio Bartolo Rizzo, better known by his stage name Marracash (), is an Italian rapper, record producer and TV personality. Starting his career in the rap group Dogo Gang, he debuted as a solo artist rising in fame in the 2010s releasing six studio albums that reached the top ten of the Italian Albums Chart, including two top positions with "Santeria" (2018) and "Persona" (2019). The rapper has also released numerous successful singles and collaborations scoring seventeen times the top ten of the Italian Singles Chart. Thanks to his work he has sold 2.3 million copies in Italy, becoming one of the top selling Italian rappers in the 2010s.

Marracash, de son vrai nom Fabio Bartolo Rizzo, né le à Nicosia, dans la province d'Enna en Sicile, est un rappeur italien. Il était membre du groupe Dogo Gang, et réside à Milan. Il est considéré par la presse spécialisée et le public comme l'un des plus importants rappeurs italiens. Il remporte plusieurs prix et récompenses notamment de la Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) pour avoir vendu exemplaires1.


Backgroung and writing.

After the mixed success of her single "XXL" and the relatively poor chart performances of the "Anamorphosée" album, Farmer decided to release a second single, "L'Instant X", for the Christmas period. The song's title comes from an expression in the first verse. The chorus is a callback to Tino Rossi's Christmas song "Petit Papa Noël", as in the lyrics Farmer scans, in jerky syllabes, "Papa Noël, quand tu descendras du ciel...", which are also the lyrics of the chorus in Rossi's song.  For the first time throughout Farmer's career, all the remixes available on the various formats were not produced exclusively by Laurent Boutonnat and his team: only two of them were made by Laurent Boutonnat and Bertrand Châtenet, while the other two, in a style closer to eurodance, were produced by Ramon Zenker. The 'Have an Instant X remix' was considered by French author Julien Rigal "probably one of the best remixes" outside Boutonnat's ones. The second track on the CD single is a jazz-oriented remixed version of "Alice", another song from the "Anamorphosée" album. Unlike many of Farmer's singles, there is no instrumental version on the various formats. The image used on the cover was likely influenced by Ross Hunter's 1966 film "Madame X".  On 21 January 2004, the song was remixed by One-T for the compilation "RemixeS". Devoted to discothèques, this version was released as 7" maxi, becoming the third single from the "RemixeS" album, after "Sans contrefaçon" and "Je t'aime mélancolie". It was the most broadcast single from the album.

Lyrics and music.

As noted by author Erwan Chuberre, "L'Instant X" is different from Farmer's other songs because the singer uses a deeper voice than usual, and lyrics deal with things of everyday life, not romantic literary references. Journalist Caroline Bee stated that it is "a rock song that recalls "Je t'aime mélancolie" in its construction and its cynicism". Journalist Benoît Cachin said that the lyrics evoke with humour and irony the year 2000, on the significance of which many people got lost in conjectures, but which Farmer herself sees as bringing much joy. He noted that in the lyrics, Farmer refers to group U2's rock song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" in the phrase ""Bloody lundi"". The refrain is addressed to Father Christmas, comparing him to the Messiah, quotes André Malraux (who wrote ""le XXIè siècle sera spirituel ou ne sera pas""), mentions the women's magazine "Elle", the River Styx in the Greek mythology, and the antidepressant Prozac (in verlan). According to Rigal, the lyrics can have multiple meanings: they seem to address "the lack of latent spirituality through a concentration of bad elements", but they may also be "a pamphlet on women menstruation". According to psychologist Hugues Royer, the song "talks about the state in which a person bogs down in the anticipation of the magic formula that will allow him to leave his torpor." He added that the song also contains some humor with such unexpected images as ""J'ai un teint de poubelle"" or ""Mon chat qui s'défenestre"".

Music video.

As "XXL", the video was directed by Marcus Nispel who also wrote the screenplay. This Requiem Publishing production was film in Los Angeles and New York for three days — one for Farmer, the two others for the extras — and cost about 80,000 euros. In addition to the version broadcast on television, there was another video of "L'instant X", a first editing which only contains shots featuring Farmer, including some shots which were not included in the final video. The producer Anouk Nora explained: "We shot [the video] in February by -10 degrees [celsius] in New York. Mylène was completely frozen and took a bath in foam as if she was under the Tropics". Some photos taken by Claude Gassian during the shooting of the video were used, slightly touched up, for the cover of the 2001 album "I Poo Poo on Your Juju" by north-american rock band The Third Eye Foundation. The small towel worn by Farmer was made by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. Farmer explained that she liked the idea of the foam pouring as it reminded her parties in Ibiza.  In this video, Farmer, wearing heavy make-up, is lying on a cloud, and frolics in the foam. Under the cloud, the city of New York, the Statue of Liberty, the Twin Towers and all the buildings are in turn covered with foam, symbolizing the apocalypse. The singer, who is outside of the disaster, seems to delight in this situation. However, the video ends by showing survivors who go off into the sunset.  This video premiered on television on 17 December 1995 in the French show "Déjà le retour"; but in an early version in which only the singer appears. It was not much appreciated by her fans, and Rigal considered the video "disappointing". The foam in which Farmer rolls has been viewed as a symbol of orgasm, as it does in French literature, and more frequently as a major cleanup before a new start. About the video, Farmer said: "I wanted to retrace one day we can have, where everything goes wrong. It is a concentration of events as soon as we get up... and everything goes wrong again! And we expect that time and it often happens that in a day or, or in a month, at a time when all things come to concentrate a bit like a puzzle, and this is when all this time redounds upwards rather than downwards".

Live performances.

In late 1995, Farmer featured in two television shows to promote the song without singing; she was only interviewed on "Studio Gabriel" (14 December, France 2) in which she announced her next tour, and on "Déjà le retour" (17 December, France 2). She lip-synched "L'Instant X" on two other programs: "Le Bêtisier du samedi soir", (13 January 1996, France 2), and "Top aux Carpentier" (9 March 1996, TF1). At this last occasion, Farmer shared a kiss on the mouth with her two female dancers during the musical bridge (similar to the kiss Madonna shared with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, which sparked a much bigger controversy in the USA seven years later).  "L'Instant X" was first performed on stage on the 1996 tour. The hall was fully in the dark when the song began, and only Farmer, who wore a flesh-colored pants, was then in the light. She performed a very suggestive choreography with her female dancers, and moved throughout all the stage during the song. The song was also performed during the 2009 Mylène Farmer en tournée tour, only in stadium venues, during the Black and White act. Farmer wore a white tutu and pinstripe trousers, the stage was fully dark with two lights on her, and the screens started showing "X's" and a countdown till she started singing. Susie Davis, who previously worked with Patti Smith and Sinéad O'Connor, participated in the background vocals of this live version.

Chart performances.

In France, "L'Instant X" debuted at number 9 on 16 December 1995, and dropped the next three weeks. It reached again the top ten and peaked at number six on 20 January, and remained for eight weeks in the top ten and 20 weeks in the top 50. The single was the best-selling single from the "Anamorphosée" album, with the longest chart trajectory. The song ranked 67th on the 1996 year-end chart. According to Royer, the song "allowed the singer to reconnect with success and to set the groundwork for a comeback on stage". In April 2018, the song was re-edited under new formats then re-entered the chart at number eight.  "L'Instant X" remained for 21 weeks on the Belgian Ultratop 50 Singles Chart and reached a peak of number 12 on 17 February and 30 March. The single was Farmer's second longest charting single in Belgium, behind "Slipping Away (Crier la vie)". It was the 49th best-selling single of 1996 in the country.  In 2004, the remixed version by One-T was aired in Russia.

Cover versions.

The song was covered by Michał Kwiatkowski and Sofia Essaïdi, on 30 October 2003, in French show "Star Academy France", but this version was not released as a single.

B-side: "Alice".

The B-side of the CD single is a remixed version of another track of the album, "Alice" (this version appears as third track on the promotional CD maxi of "Comme j'ai mal" released in Germany, and under the name of 'new mix' as bonus on the Japan release of the album).  The song seems inspired by Ovid's "Metamorphoses". "Alice" is the personification of a spider to which Farmer speaks directly in the chorus. According to journalist Benoît Cachin, this arachnid is in the song "the friend of a depressive artist", and Farmer explained in an interview that it represents "the self-destruction that prevents the artist to create". The song includes neologisms and the meaning is often difficult to understand. In the verses, Farmer is whispering.  The song has never been performed on television, but it was sung during the 1996 series of concerts at Bercy. Farmer was then seated on a giant metal spider that came down from heaven and slowly landed on the stage.

Formats and track listings.

These are the formats and track listings of single releases of "L'Instant X":

Credits and personnel.

These are the credits and the personnel as they appear on the back of the single:

"L'Instant X" (English: "The X Moment") is a 1995 song recorded by the French artist Mylène Farmer. It was the second single from her fourth album "Anamorphosée" and was released on 12 December 1995. Directed by Marcus Nispel in New York, the music video humorously depicts the apocalypse and shows Farmer bathing in foam. The song became the biggest hit from the album, reaching number six in France. In January 2004, the song was the subject of a remix produced by One-T and was released as promotional single.

L'Instant X est un single de Mylène Farmer, sorti le. C’est également le deuxième extrait de son quatrième album studio "Anamorphosée".


History.

The area of Blue Earth County was once occupied by the Dakota Indians. French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur was an early explorer in this area, arriving where the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers meet. He made an unsuccessful attempt to mine copper from the blue earth. The area remained under French control until 1803 when it passed to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase.  When Minnesota became a territory in 1849, the territorial government became interested in settling the river valley. In 1850 the first steamboat trip, starting in St. Paul, traveled on the Minnesota River and came to the Blue Earth River. The first white settlers, P. K. Johnson and Henry Jackson, debarked and settled in present-day Mankato. The ratification of the Mendota and Traverse des Sioux treaties in 1851 effectively forced the Dakota to move to nearby reservations.  The county of Blue Earth was created after a division of the Minnesota Territory on March 5, 1853, from portions of Dakota County and free territory. It was named for the Blue Earth River. The first government officials were appointed by Alexander Ramsey, the territorial governor. That October the first election was held, with 22 ballots being taken.  Unfulfilled treaty promises and starvation on the reservation led to the Dakota War of 1862, which resulted in Dakota defeat and the largest mass execution in US history in Mankato. In 1868 the railroads' arrival helped with the growth and development of many areas, including Blue Earth. The railroads allowed immigrants and Yankee settlers into the area.

Geography.

The Minnesota River flows southeasterly along the western part of the county's north boundary line. It is joined by the Blue Earth River which flows northerly through the western central part of the county. The Watonwan River flows northwesterly through the NE part of the county, discharging into the Blue Earth. The Little Cobb River flows northwesterly through the SE part of the county, meeting with the Cobb River which flows northerly through the lower part of the county into the Blue Earth River. The Le Sueur River also flows west-northwesterly through the SE part of the county, discharging into the Blue Earth River.  The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, with the area (except around built-up zones, and in areas carved by runoff) devoted to agriculture. It slopes generally to the north. Its southwest corner is 1,086' (331m) above sea level.  The county has an area of, of which is land and (2.3%) is water. The Blue Earth River and Le Sueur River flow through a part of the county. The land surface is relatively flat with over 30 lakes in the county. There are many "closed forest savannas" that some call the big woods in the county's northeast. The rivers that flow out of the northeast are surrounded by these big woods. Most of the county is grassland prairie but scattered parts are wet prairie. Some spots that surround the rivers are oak openings and barren brushland.

Climate and weather.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Mankato have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of was recorded in August 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.

2000 census.

As of the 2000 United States Census, the county had 55,941 people, 21,062 households, and 12,616 families. The population density was 74.8/sq mi (28.9/km2). There were 21,971 housing units at an average density of 29.4/sqmi (11.3/km2). The county's racial makeup was 94.96% White, 1.19% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 1.79% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.69% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. 1.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 47.6% were of German, 13.6% Norwegian and 6.5% Irish ancestry.  There were 21,062 households, of which 29.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.60% were married couples living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.10% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.99.  21.40% of the county's population was under the age of 18, 22.10% were from age 18 to 24, 25.60% were from age 25 to 44, 18.80% were from age 45 to 64, and 12.10% were age 65 or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.40 males.  The county's median household income was $38,940, and the median family income was $50,257. Males had a median income of $32,087 versus $22,527 for females. The county's per capita income was $18,712. About 6.10% of families and 12.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.50% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics.

Blue Earth County has voted for the winning candidate for president in 12 of the last 14 elections (as of 2016), the exceptions being in 1988 and 2004. Since 1988 it has tilted toward the Democratic Party, but in 2000 and 2016 it voted for the Republican candidates.

Blue Earth County is a county in the State of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 64,013. Its county seat is Mankato. The county is named for the Blue Earth River and for the deposits of blue-green clay once evident along the banks of the Blue Earth River.

Le comté de Blue Earth est situé dans l’État du Minnesota, aux États-Unis. Il comptait habitants en 2010. Son siège est Mankato.


History.

The Répertoire de vedettes-matière was created in 1946, when Université Laval librarians took the initiative to reuse the catalogue records from the Library of Congress's National Union Catalog to describe the documents in their collection. Before the copy cataloguing movement, the practice of reusing these records provided considerable savings despite the time needed to translate them. A list of subject headings was gradually compiled in French to provide descriptions of and access to local documentary resources.  After the first official edition of the Répertoire was published in 1962, RVM attracted the attention of major documentary institutions in Québec and across Canada that recognized it as an essential tool for systemizing and standardizing methods for representing the content of their collections. The National Library of Canada adopted RVM in the French version of Canadiana, the National Bibliography of Canada, and gave it national standard status in 1974. A formal collaboration agreement between the two institutions was signed, and the first team of librarians dedicated solely to the intellectual management of RVM was established at Université Laval.  It was also in 1974 that the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris started using RVM, which was emerging on the scene both in French-speaking countries and around the world. In 1980 the Université Laval Library signed a collaboration agreement with France's National Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), allowing it to use RVM as the basic corpus for creating its subject headings authority index, known as Répertoire d'autorité matière encyclopédique et alphabétique unifié (RAMEAU), the only French-language equivalent of RVM still in use today.  RVM's content and structure reflect its close relationship to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), but RVM has nonetheless maintained its independence. In addition to developing original headings, RVM has expanded by adding subject headings whose English equivalents come from other source files more specialized than the LCSH. This expansion began in 1978 with the Canadian Subject Headings, followed in 1994 by the Medical Subject Headings from the United States National Library of Medicine and the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) from the J. Paul Getty Trust.  The 9th and final paper edition of RVM was published in 1983 and was the first user manual. In 2008 Université Laval and ASTED (Association pour l'avancement des sciences et des techniques de la documentation) jointly published a practical guide on the Répertoire de vedettes-matière.  In 2010 the first RVM website was launched. In 2017 it launched its new Web platform, which provides access to more powerful search and display features, new indexing support tools, and translations and adaptations of three new thesauruses developed by the Library of Congress : the Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT), the Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music (LCMPT), and the Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms (LCDGT).

The thesauruses.

RVM (Topics).

RVM (Topics) is an encyclopedic thesaurus whose terms are classified according to a specific syntax. It is a translation and adaptation of the following thesauruses :  It also contains original authorities exclusive to RVM, as well as equivalence with RAMEAU of Bibliothèque nationale de France.  RVM (Topics) includes:  Here are a few examples of subject headings used in the Université Laval Library catalogue. These headings appear as is in the topic field in the bibliographic records :

RVMGF.

RVMGF is a translation and adaptation of Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms (LCGFT). It includes genre/form terms that make it possible to identify resources by their genre or form, thereby providing more options for indexing and identifying various kinds of documents.  Some examples :

RVMMEM.

RVMMEM is a translation and adaptation of the Library of Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music (LCMPT). It includes medium of performance terms for music designed to represent the instruments, performers, and ensembles involved in a musical score or sound recording. These terms make it possible to describe and identify musical pieces based on specific criteria with regard to the number of performance media involved in the performance of the piece being searched.  Some examples :

RVMGD.

RVMGD is a translation and adaptation of the Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms (LCDGT). It includes demographic group terms that make it possible to define the characteristics of the intended audiences of resources, and also the creators of, and contributors to, those resources.  Some examples :

The Répertoire de vedettes-matière de l'Université Laval (RVM) is a controlled vocabulary made up of four mostly bilingual thesauruses. It is designed for document indexers, organizations that want to describe the content of their documents or of their products and services, as well as anyone who wants to clarify vocabulary in English and French as part of their work or research.

Le Répertoire de vedettes-matière de l'Université Laval (RVM) est un vocabulaire contrôlé constitué de quatre thésaurus documentaire, majoritairement bilingues. Il est conçu pour les indexeurs des milieux documentaires, les organisations qui souhaitent décrire le contenu de leurs documents ou de leurs produits et services, mais également pour toute personne qui souhaite préciser le vocabulaire en français et en anglais dans le cadre de ses travaux ou de ses recherches. Son objectif premier est d'«Indexer le savoir afin que les divers publics que servent les bibliothèques trouvent avec la plus grande précision l'information qu'ils recherchent.»


Career.

The Arrows had two 14-week television shows in the UK called "Arrows" in 1976 and 1977, which were broadcast on Granada Television and produced by Muriel Young. They are the only band to have two weekly TV series and no records released during the run of either series; a result of a conflict between the band's manager Ian Wright of the M.A.M. Agency, and the group's mentor/producer Mickie Most. Each series consisted of 14 shows, 30 minutes in length. There were 28 shows broadcast in total. Their final single, "Once Upon a Time", was released one month before the first show of their first series in 1976. Joan Jett became aware of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" while on tour with her band the Runaways in England in 1976 and saw the group perform the song on their weekly show.  The band's only US TV appearance was on "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" in February 1975. They played their UK hits, "Touch Too Much" and "Toughen Up".  The first manager of The Arrows was Peter Meaden, who had also managed The Who in the early 1960s. He came up with the band's name, which originates from The Who's logo, with the arrow pointing up.  One of Liverpool's most renowned Beatles biographers and editor of 1960s British invasion bible "Mersey Beat", Bill Harry wrote his first published book about the Arrows, "Arrows : The Official Story", published on Everest books in 1976.  Terry Taylor who joined the band in the fall of 1976 for the band's second weekly TV series, is currently with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings band.  The band's second single "Toughen Up" made number 51 in the UK chart in 1974. That year Arrows won the Golden Lion award (Belgium) in the "best new band" category and performed at the ceremonies on Belgian television.  The Arrows highest reaching chart hit was "Touch Too Much" in 1974 which went to number 2 in the South African charts and was in the top 20 there for 15 weeks.  Arrows listed as a top glam rock act in an active internet poll.  Arrows are the only band in the history to have hit records before their weekly TV series, and no records released during the run of their two television series. The band's last single was released a month before their first TV show was broadcast.  The Arrows song "Moving Next Door to You" (composed by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker) was used on the BBC1 TV show "Homes Under The Hammer" series 18, episode 70. The song was the B-side of "My Last Night with You", produced by Mickie Most in 1975. After that, the BBC TV show used the Arrows song "We Can Make It Together" in series 19, episode 53, the b-side of the band's single "Touch Too Much".  The Arrows album "First Hit" was reissued in Japan on March 11, 2015, with bonus tracks on Warner Brothers Japan.  The Arrows founding band members Paul Varley (1952 – 2008), Jake Hooker (1953 – 2014) and Alan Merrill (1951 – 2020) are all deceased.

Discography.

List of songs.

The following is a sortable table of all songs by Arrows:

The Arrows were a band based in London, England. The group, which formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1977, included American singer/bassist Alan Merrill, American guitarist Jake Hooker and English drummer Paul Varley (original drummer Clive Williams was replaced by Paul Varley). They had UK chart hit singles in 1974 and 1975 with "Touch Too Much", "My Last Night With You" and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", all produced by Mickie Most on RAK Records.

The Arrows est un groupe de rock britannico-américain, originaire de Londres, au Royaume-Uni. Il est formé en 1974 et dissous en 1977. Il est connu pour le single "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" en 1975, plus tard repris et converti en hit planétaire par Joan Jett. Le groupe initial est composé de quatre membres (deux chanteurs américains et deux chanteurs anglais).


First creation.

The first version was created on August 23, 1941 from the Transcaucasus Military District, which was originally formed in 1922. The boundary of the Front extended along the border with Turkey and along the Black Sea coast from Batumi to Tuapse.<br> It was commanded by Lieutenant-General Dmitry Kozlov from August 1941 to December 1941.  On June 22, 1941, when the German invasion started, the Transcaucasus Military District included the 3rd, 24th, and 40th Rifle Corps, the 28th Mechanised Corps, two cavalry divisions (the 17th Mountain and the 24th) and three separate rifle divisions (the 63rd, 76th, and 77th). Also part of the District were three fortified regions and District troops, which included artillery and NKVD frontier units.  The initial Front organization incorporated the four Soviet armies stationed in the district in June 1941:  On August 25, 1941 troops from the Front entered Iran according to the Soviet-Iran Treaty of Friendship of February 21, 1921, which eliminated the direct threat to the Baku oil fields.

Order of Battle, Invasion of Iran, 1941.

Here is the Soviet OOB for the 25th of August 1941:  44th Army (Major General Alexander Khadeyev)  47th Army (Major General Vasily Novikov)  53rd Army (Major General Sergei Trofimenko) (invaded Iran from Turkmenistan, Turkestan Military District on the 27th of August)  In November 1941, the 51st Army joined the front after being evacuated from the Crimea.<br> The Transcaucasus Front was renamed the Caucasus Front on December 30, 1941.

Second creation.

The second version of this front was again created from the Transcaucasus Military District on May 15, 1942 and continued in existence until its reorganization as the Tbilisi Military District on August 25, 1945 after the end of the war.  It was commanded by General Ivan V. Tyulenev (05.1942 - 08.1945), and included the 4th and 58th Armies at various periods.

Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.

Le front Transcaucasien (en, "Zakavkazski front") est un front de l'Armée rouge durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il comprenait les, et et participa notamment à l'invasion anglo-soviétique de l'Iran.


Types of hand puppets.

Simple hand puppets.

The simplest hand puppets are those with few or no moving parts. They can be stiff, made from e.g. a hard plastic, but are more often flexible, made from fabric, possibly with some stuffing and attached decorations for eyes, nose, and so on. The mouth may be a mere decoration that does not open and close, or the thumb may enter a separate pocket from the rest of the fabric and so simulate a mandible, allowing the puppet to talk.  Simple hand puppets are usually not much larger than the hand itself. A sock puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock. A glove puppet is slightly more complex, with an internal division for fingers allowing independent manipulation of a character's arms. The unconsumed hand of the puppeteer is usually concealed from the audience to maintain the illusion of the puppet.  Simple hand puppets, especially popular licensed characters, are sometimes distributed as children toys or party favors. Children usually like to experiment in play with a puppet creating voices and movements and in many cases staging a strictly private performance.

Rod puppets.

A rod puppet is made out of wood wire and string and is manipulated with wooden or wire rods. Rod puppets can sometimes have a complete working hinged mouth but many do not. A rod puppet can have a fixed facial expression. Arms are usually a requirement as rods are attached to them. A fish rod puppet could have a rod attached to the tail to manipulate this section of the puppet. Sometimes special variants exist with additional manipulable parts: (e.g., eyelids that open and close). Many rod puppets depict only the upper half of the character, from the waist up, with the stage covering the missing remainder, but variations sometimes have legs. The legs usually just dangle, but in special cases the legs may be controlled either from behind the stage using rods from below. These are mostly used at carnivals or fairs. A very common example of rod puppets are those of The Muppets and "Sesame Street".

Human-arm puppet.

Also called a "two-man puppet" or a "live-hand puppet", the human-arm puppet is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers. One puppeteer places their dominant hand inside the puppet's head and operates the puppet's head and mouth, while putting their non-dominant arm into a glove and special sleeve attached to the puppet. The second puppeteer puts their arm into a glove and special sleeve attached to the puppet in order to operate the other arm. This way, the puppet can perform hand gestures. This is a form of glove or hand puppetry and rod puppetry. Some puppets from The Muppets and Sesame Street fit this category.

Technique.

Basic positioning.

As with any stage performer, the puppet should generally face the audience; but may turn to one side or the other. There are times when a puppet does turn its back to an audience just like an actor. Puppets generally should look out towards an audience and not up at the ceiling unless they wish an audience to follow their line of vision. Generally a hand or glove puppet should talk a lot.

Body movement.

One of the most important techniques in puppetry is continuous motion. A puppet that remains still has a dull, lifeless appearance and is said to be "dead". Motion should shift from one portion of the puppet to another, so that one moment the puppet is moving its head and the next moment shifting its torso or repositioning an arm. The puppet may shift from side to side, look around, lean or straighten, fidget (with part of the stage, its own clothing or hair, or any available object), cross or uncross its arms, sigh, tilt its head, or make any number of other small motions, in order to continue to appear lifelike.  Depending on the type of puppet, more or less complex motion may be possible. Unrealistic motion patterns can sometimes be useful for special effect purposes. As put into words by Oscar Wilde, puppets "are admirably docile" and "recognize the presiding intellect of the dramatist".  A puppet should not move when another puppet is speaking. To do so confuses an audience as to which particular puppet is speaking at any given time. Maintaining clear focus for an audience in a puppet performance is extremely important.

A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hand or hands that occupies the interior of the puppet. Glove puppets are a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's hands inside the puppet glove holding a rod which controls the head, and the puppet's body then hangs over most or all of the forearm of the puppeteer, and possibly extends further. Other parts of the puppet may be controlled by different means, e.g., by rods operated by the puppeteer's free hand, or strings or levers pulled the head or body. A smaller variety, simple hand puppets often have no significant manipulable parts at all. Finger puppets are not hand puppets as they are used only on a finger.

Une marionnette à gaine est un type de marionnette qui gaine, habille un ou plusieurs membres, le plus souvent la main du manipulateur.