Use and revitalization efforts.

There are today only 60 speakers of Omaha, and 12 fluent speakers, all over 70; and a handful of semi-fluent speakers of Ponca.  The University of Nebraska offers classes in the Omaha language, and its Omaha Language Curriculum Development Project (OLCDP) provides Internet-based materials for learning the language. A February 2015 article gives the number of fluent speakers as 12, all over age 70, which includes two qualified teachers; the Tribal Council estimates about 150 people have some ability in the language. The language is taught at the Umónhon Nation Public School. An Omaha Basic iPhone app has been developed by the Omaha Nation Public Schools (UNPS) and the Omaha Language Cultural Center (ULCC). Members of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma have expressed an interest in partnerships to use the language as a basis of revitalizing the Osage language, which is similar.

Phonology.

Consonants.

One consonant, sometimes written "l" or "th," is a velarized lateral approximant with interdental release,, found for example in "ní btháska" "flat water" (Platte River), the source of the name Nebraska. It varies freely from to a light, and derives historically from Siouan *r.  Initial consonant clusters include approximates, as in and.  Consonants are written as in the IPA in school programs, apart from the alveopalatals "j, ch, chh, zh, sh, shʼ", the glottal stop "’", the voiced velar fricative "gh", and the dental approximant "th". Historically, this "th" has also been written "dh, ð, ¢", and the "sh" and "x" as "c" and "q"; the tenuis stops "p t ch k" have either been written upside-down or double ("pp, kk," etc.). These latter unusual conventions serve to distinguish these sounds from the "p t ch k" of other Siouan languages, which are not specified for voicing and so may sound like either Omaha–Ponca "p t ch k" or "b d j g". The letters "f, l, q, r, v" are not used in writing Omaha-Ponca.

Vowels.

The simple vowels are, plus a few words with in men's speech. The letter ‘o’ is phonemically /au/, and phonetically [əw].  There are two or three nasal vowels, depending on the variety. In the Omaha and Ponca Dhegiha dialects *õ and *ã have merged unconditionally as, which may range across and is written in Omaha and in Ponca. The close front nasal vowel remains distinct.  Nasalized vowels are fairly new to the Ponca language. Assimilation has taken place leftward, as opposed to right to left, from nasalized consonants over time. "Originally when the vowel was oral, it nasalized the consonant and a nasalized vowel never followed suit, instead, the nasalized vowel came to preceded it"; though this is not true for the Omaha, or its'mother' language."  Omaha/Ponca is a tonal language that utilizes downstep (accent) or a lowering process that applies to the second of two high-tone syllables. A downstepped high tone would be slightly lower than the preceding high tone.”: "watháthe" "food", "wáthathe" "table". Vowel length is distinctive in accented syllables, though it is often not written: "heart", "(inside) wall".  Omaha-Ponca is a daughter language to the Siouan mother language, but has developed some of its own rules for nasalization and aspiration. What were once allophones in Proto-Siouan have become phonemes in the Omaha–Ponca language.  Many contrasts in the Omaha/Ponca language are unfamiliar to speakers of English. Below are examples of minimal pairs for some sounds which in English would be considered allophones, but in Omaha/Ponca constitute different phonemes:  In many languages nasalization of vowels would be a part of assimilation to the next consonant, but Omaha/Ponca is different because it is always assimilating. For example: indáthinga, meaning mysterious, moves from a nasalized /i/ to an alveolar, stop. Same thing happens with the word inshte, meaning, for example, has the nasalized /i/ which does not assimilate to another nasal. It changes completely to an alveolar fricative.

Morphology.

Omaha Ponca language adds endings to its definite articles to indicate animacy, number, position and number. Ponca definite articles indicate animacy, position and number

Syntax.

Omaha-Ponca's syntactic type is subject-object-verb.

Omaha–Ponca is a Siouan language spoken by the Omaha ("Umonhon") people of Nebraska and the Ponca ("Panka") people of Oklahoma and Nebraska. The two dialects differ minimally but are considered distinct languages by their speakers.

L’omaha-ponca est une langue amérindienne de la famille des langues siouanes du sous-groupe des langues siouanes de la vallée du Mississippi, parlée dans le Nord de l'Oklahoma par les Poncas du Sud et dans l'Est du Nebraska, par les Omahas et le Poncas du Nord.


Biography.

Heard was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. As a young child he performed as a tap dancer in amateur contests and vaudeville shows. Heard began to switch his focus to drumming around age 11. He started out teaching himself to play, then took lessons as a student at Cass Technical High School. His parents supported his interest, and brought him to see major performers who toured to Detroit's famous music venues. He would later describe seeing Chick Webb play in 1937 as a formative experience.  Heard became a protege of the drummer Jo Jones, and through him would meet and sit in with Count Basie. With Jones's help, Heard got his first professional job with Teddy Wilson's band in 1939. They played the Golden Gate Ballroom in Harlem and the Roseland Ballroom, and recorded for Columbia Records. After the Wilson band's breakup, he went on to perform in bands led by Benny Carter, Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, and Dizzy Gillespie. He also performed at major jazz festivals, and played alongside Roy Eldridge and Charlier Parker.  Heard's style was a hybrid of swing and bop. He was known for his innovative techniques and the hard swing he would bring to both large and small bands. He recorded with Charles Mingus, Ray Brown, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Lena Horne, and Sarah Vaughan. He also led his own bands, including a quintet that played at Cafe Society and a trio with Erroll Garner and Oscar Pettiford. Heard performed as a featured member of Cab Calloway's band from 1942-1945. As a member of the Calloway band, he appeared in several Hollywood films, including "Stormy Weather."  Heard toured with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic in the 1950s. After a successful engagement in Japan in 1953, he stayed there for to perform and teach for several years. He was a mentor to young Japanese musicians like Yukimura Izumi, George Kawaguchi and Franky Sakai. He also met and married his wife Hiroko while living there.  After returning to New York in 1957, Heard played with the Coleman Hawkins-Roy Eldridge Quintet and with Teddy Wilson's trio. In 1966 he moved to Detroit where he was influential as a bandleader and a mentor to younger musicians. In 1983, he again recorded an album as leader, accompanied by saxophonist George Benson, pianist Claude Black, and Dave Young on bass. In 1981, Heard started a 13 piece big band which played around the state and at festivals, often featuring Dizzy Gillespie and other colleagues. This group recorded in 1986 and continued performing regularly until his death.  Heard died of a heart attack at the age of 71 in Royal Oak, Michigan. His legacy is honored with a yearly jazz drumming competition held as part of the Detroit Jazz Festival.

Discography.

As sideman.

With Gene Ammons With Shorty Baker and Doc Cheatham With Benny Carter With Arnett Cobb With Roy Eldridge With Bud Freeman With Dizzy Gillespie With Johnny Hodges With Claude Hopkins With Howard McGhee With Al Sears With John Wright With Lester Young

James Charles Heard (August 10, 1917 – September 27, 1988), known as J. C. Heard, was an American swing, bop, and blues drummer.

James Charles Heard, plus connu comme J. C. Heard (né à Dayton, Ohio, le et mort à Royal Oak, Michigan, le ) est un batteur américain de jazz (swing, bebop, blues).


Geography.

Rovenky is located in Luhansk oblast, which is located in the Eastern region of Ukraine and Rovenky is in the southern part of the oblast. It is 60 Kilometers from the region center, Luhansk. There are a number of villages near Rovenky, including the following: Djerzhinskyi, Tasenovskiy, Nagolno-Tarasovskyi, and Bolshekamenskiy. There are numerous coal mines located in the Rovenky, in addition to the steppes. There is also a sizable forest in the center of Rovenky, a few lakes, and a train station. Rovenky is very close to the Ukrainian-Russian border.

History.

Rovenky was founded in 1705, and was incorporated as a city in 1934. By the order of Peter I, 49 Cossack villages were burned and destroyed in September 1708, including Rovenky. The freed Cossacks fled from Peter I into an area now referred to as the "Wild Field." Some settled in a place near a river and it was named after the abandoned native village - Rovenek. In 1793, Count Vasily Orlor became the owner of the settlement who later became the Cossack chieftain. In 1829, the first literacy school was opened and the first primary school was opened in 1852. At this point, the residents of Rovenky mostly worked the land, raised cattle, and bred sheep.  A local newspaper is published in the city since October 1930.  During the World War II, Rovenky was occupied by Nazi Germany. A group of the underground anti-fascist Komsomol (Communist youth) organization Young Guard worked there.  During the 1960s and 1970s, there was much development in Rovenky. Many new buildings were built, including the apartment buildings now called "Shaktyorski," "Gagarin," and "Molodyozh"." In the 1990s, private businesses began to appear - trade, transportation, and customer services. The backbone of the community remained its coal enterprises, which account for 95% of all manufactured goods in the city.  Since early 2014, Rovenky has been controlled by the Luhansk People's Republic and not by Ukrainian authorities. On July 11, 2014, Pro-Russian forces attacked a concentration of Ukrainian troops with "Grad" rockets, inflicted heavy damage and casualties to two motorized army brigades at Zelenopyllia south of this place. At least 19 Ukrainian soldiers were reported killed, and around 100 other wounded. Fighting was still ongoing by evening. It was later claimed that the rocket system used in the attack was the newer 9A52-4 "Tornado".  On February 17, 2015 Bellingcat Investigation Team conducted an independent investigation and stated that Zelenopillya had been fired from the territory of the Russian Federation.

Demographics.

As of the Ukrainian Census of 2001:

Education.

There are 27 general secondary schools and gymnasiums in Rovenky and the surrounding villages. There are also three different colleges and two branches of local universities located in Rovenky - one from Luhansk and one from Donetsk. The Donetsk branch is located on the second floor of the technical-economic college. Rovenky also has two city libraries and each school has its own library. In addition, there are two musical schools, two art schools, and one sport school. Rovenky has a sport complex, "Yubilenie" and a house of culture. Both of these buildings have a big influence on the culture and sport education of the residents. Rovenky also has the stadium, "Avantgarde" where the football matches are held. In 2010, the city of Rovenky had their first ever Peace Corps volunteer, Dara Chesnutt, who would change the educational system of Luhansk Oblast for years to come.

Economy.

The coal industry makes up the foundation of the economy. The largest enterprise is "DTEK Rovenky Antratsit," which includes seven local mines. The most famous mines are "Frunze," "Dzerzhinkskaya," and "Vakhruseva." There are three factories which focus on processing the coal. DTEK helps Rovenky develop and the miners benefit well from their work.  Rovenky also has light and food industries. There is also a shoe factory and a brewery in town. The production of jewelry from the firm, "Agat" is widely known in many countries.

Culture.

There are two television companies, "Nika-TV" and "RTV" and there are three newspapers, "Rovenkovsky Vesty," "Forward Rovenky," and "The Dialogue."

Attractions.

There is a "Pamyati pogibshikh" museum in the city ("In Memory of Dead" in English), which is a branch of the Krasnodon-based memorial complex "Young Guard". It is located in the basement of the central hospital where the five members of the Young Guard spent their final days before they were killed. There is also the Common Grave of these five members of the "Young Guard" and a monument, erected in 1965 on the place where they were shot by the Nazis in 1943. In honor of the liberation of Rovenky, another monument was established in the forest at the place where there were mass executions.

Rovenky (, translit. "Roven’ky",, translit. "Rovenki") is a coal mining city in Luhansk Oblast (region) of south-eastern Ukraine. It is incorporated as a city of oblast significance. Population:.

Rovenky (en ) ou Rovenki (en ) est une ville minière de l'oblast de Louhansk, en Ukraine. Sa population s'élevait à habitants en 2013.


Diversity in measures on religiosity.

"Religiosity" is difficult to define, but different scholars have seen this concept as broadly about religious orientations and involvement. It includes experiential, ritualistic, ideological, intellectual, consequential, creedal, communal, doctrinal, moral, and cultural dimensions. Historically, the words "religious" and "spiritual" have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion. Furthermore, "spirituality" was not distinguished from "religiousness" until the 20th century after the rise of secularism.  Sociologists of religion have observed that the people's beliefs, sense of belonging, and behavior often are not congruent with an individual's actual religious beliefs since there is much diversity in how one can be religious or not. Multiple problems exist in measuring religiosity. For instance, variables such as church attendance produce different results when different methods are used such as traditional surveys vs time use surveys. There are extensive variations in the measures of subdimensions of both religiosity and spirituality and single-item measure like affiliation or participation have limitations with regard to both religiosity and spirituality.  In a study on how individual people actually define and understand "religiousness" and "spirituality" showed that people differ and have wide-ranging understandings of these terms from referring to rituals to altruistic behaviors or to religious experiences. Although religiousness and spirituality appeared to describe different concepts, they were not independent or mutually exclusive since self-rated religiousness and spirituality were correlated among the subjects including in variables such as frequency of prayer, church attendance, beliefs of the sacred. The authors observe that the inconsistency of the definitions of both "religiousness" and "spirituality" cause multiple issues such as it being difficult to know what the researchers and the participants mean or understand by these terms and as such it becomes difficult to draw general conclusions from various studies and surveys that use such terminology.  Though god-belief is often seen as an indicator of religion in the West, anthropologically, god belief is only one kind of component of religion but not a universal and not even the most common one for religions since most religions around the world do not have god concepts at all. Accordingly, "atheism is quite a common position, even within religion" and that "surprisingly, atheism is not the opposite or lack, let alone the enemy, of religion but is the most common form of religion." With regards to secularity, he observes that religions are quite secular in general and include many mundane activities by default such as games like bingo, pot luck dinners etc.

Secularity.

According to a review of secularity from Peter Glasner's study on secularization processes, Jack Eller observes that secularization is very diverse and only one type of secularity out of 10 leads to pure secularism.

Studies on irreligion.

A comprehensive study by David Campbell and Harvard University professor Robert Putnam found that religious Americans are three to four times more likely than their nonreligious counterparts to "work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes – including secular ones." However, religious Americans who regularly attend religious services but have no friends there do not have higher levels of civic participation, while nonreligious Americans who have religious friends do get more involved. "It's not faith" that accounts for civic activism, Putnam said, "It's faith communities." The authors said the same effect might be found in secular organizations that are close-knit with shared morals and values. The study also found that religious Americans are less tolerant than secular Americans of free speech, dissent, and several other measures of tolerance.  Alan Cooperman of Pew Research Center notes that nonreligious Americans commonly grew up in a religious tradition and consciously lost it "after a great deal of reflection and study". As a result, atheists and agnostics are more knowledgeable about religion than those who identify with most major religions, according to a 2010 Pew survey.  The American public at large has a positive view of nonreligious people but a negative view of atheists. One "extensive study of how Americans view various minority groups" found that "atheists are at the top of the list of groups that Americans find problematic." A Religion and Public Life Survey (2002) found that 54 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of atheists, but the favorability of people who are "not religious" is 52.2%, with a net difference of 23.8%.

Inaccuracy of polling and identification.

The reliability of any poll results, in general and specifically on religion, can be questioned due numerous factors such as:  The measurement of religiosity is hampered by the difficulties involved in defining what is meant by the term and the variables it entails. Numerous studies have explored the different components of religiosity, with most finding some distinction between religious beliefs/doctrine, religious practice, and spirituality. When religiosity is measured, it is important to specify which aspects of religiosity are referred to.  The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) found a difference between how people identify and what people believe. While only 0.7% of U.S. adults identified as atheist, 2.3% said there is no such thing as a god. Only 0.9% identified as agnostic, but 10.0% said there is either no way to know if a god exists or they weren't sure. Another 12.1% said there is a higher power but no personal god. In total, only 15.0% identified as Nones or No Religion, but 24.4% did not believe in the traditional concept of a personal god. The conductors of the study concluded, "The historic reluctance of Americans to self-identify in this manner or use these terms seems to have diminished. Nevertheless... the level of under-reporting of these theological labels is still significant... many millions do not subscribe fully to the theology of the groups with which they identify."  Similarly, the 2012 Pew study reported that 23% of Americans who affiliated with a religion were not religious. The religiously affiliated were 79% of the population, and the unaffiliated were 19.6%, including 6% "atheist" or "agnostic".  Existing nationally representative polls such as Pew and Gallup indicate atheist prevalence is relatively low (3% -11%) in the United States, however, in one study using validated unmatched counting interviewing technique, in which people did not need to "admit" explicitly to a certain position, the number of people who did not believe in a god was indirectly estimated to be 26% overall. The authors noted that 26% of Baby boomers and millennials did not have belief in a god.  According to a Pew study in 2009, only 5% of the total US population did not have a belief in a god. Out of all those without a belief in a god, only 24% self-identified as "atheist", while 15% self-identified as "agnostic", 35% self-identified as "nothing in particular", and 24% identified with a religious tradition.  According to a Gallup's editor in chief, Frank Newport, numbers on surveys may not be the whole story. In his view, declines in religious affiliation or declines in belief in God on surveys may not actually reflect an actual decline in these beliefs among people since increased honesty on spiritual matters to interviewers may merely be increasing since people may feel more comfortable today expressing viewpoints that were previously deviant.

Demographics.

A 2007 Barna group poll found that about 20 million people say they are atheist, have no religious faith, or are agnostic, with 5 million of that number claiming to be atheists. The study also found that "[t]hey tend to be more educated, more affluent and more likely to be male and unmarried than those with active faith" and that "only 6 percent of people over 60 have no faith in God, and one in four adults ages 18 to 22 describe themselves as having no faith."  A 2008 Gallup survey reported that religion is not an important part of daily life for 34% of Americans. In May of that year, a Gallup poll asking the question "Which of the following statements comes closest to your belief about God: you believe in God, you don't believe in God but you do believe in a universal spirit or higher power, or you don't believe in either?" showed that, nationally, 78% believed in God, 15% in "a universal spirit or higher power", 6% answering "neither", and 1% unsure. The poll also highlighted the regional differences, with residents in the Western states answering 59%, 29%, and 10% respectively, compared to the residents in the Southern states that answered 86%, 10%, and 3%. Several of the western states have been informally nicknamed Unchurched Belt, contrasting with the Bible Belt in the southern states.  A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center reported that, of the U.S. adult population, 19.6% had no religious affiliation and an additional 16% identified as "neither spiritual nor religious". Furthermore, atheists made up 2.4% and agnostics made up 3.3% of the US population. It also notes that a third of adults under the age of 30 are religiously unaffiliated. However, out of the religiously unaffiliated demographic: the majority describe themselves either as a religious (18%) or as spiritual but not religious (37%) while a significant minority (42%) considers themselves neither spiritual nor religious. Additionally, out of the unaffiliated: 68% believe in God, 12% are atheists, 17% are agnostics and overall 21% of the religiously unaffiliated pray every day.  The Pew Religious Landscape survey reported that as of 2014, 22.8% of the U.S. population is religiously unaffiliated, atheists made up 3.1% and agnostics made up 4% of the U.S. population. The 2014 General Social Survey reported that 21% of Americans had no religion with 3% being atheist and 5% being agnostic.

Trends.

Religion is highly variable between people, and it touches not only their intellectual position, but also their internal and external identity. Any assessment will be impacted by a large number of factors. One common way of assessing people's religiousness, spirituality, and affiliations is asking them to directly self-identify in interviews and polls.

Religiousness.

Self reports.

According to General Social Survey data, which allowed for degrees of religiosity to be expressed, 21.5% of Americans consider themselves not religious, 25.1% were slightly religious, 37.5% were moderately religious, and 15.5% were very religious in 2018. Irreligiousness is highest among young healthy unmarried educated white males. Overall, approximately 80% of Americans described themselves as both religious and spiritual to varying degrees.  According to the 2010–2014 wave of the World Values Survey, 67.9% of Americans considered themselves as a religious person, 27.7% were not a religious person, and 4.5% were a convinced atheist. In the 2005–2009 wave: 72.1% of Americans considered themselves as a religious person, 24.4% were not a religious person, and 3.5% were a convinced atheist.  According to Pew's study on religious and spiritual identity, the number of Americans who consider themselves religious (irrespective of whether they are affiliated or spiritual, or believe in one or more Gods or a higher power) had dropped from 65% in 2012 to 54% in 2017. 27% were spiritual but not religious and another 18% were neither.  According to the Win-Gallup International polls, those who self-identified as religious person were at 73% in 2005, 60% in 2012 and 56% in 2015 and in 2017. In the 2012 poll, 30% were not a religious person and an additional 5% identified as an atheist. In the 2017 poll, 32% were not a religious person and an additional 7% identified as atheist. However, researchers have advised caution with WIN/Gallup International figures since other surveys like the World Values Survey, which have used the same wording for decades and have bigger sample sizes, show differences in results at the global level.  It is worth noting that about half of "not religious" people do actually identify/affiliate themselves with established religious groups and most believe in God.

Polling organizations.

Polling organizations sometimes generate their own abstract versions of what "religious" and "nonreligious" is using variable and inconsistent criteria. According to a 2017 report by Gallup, church attendance and the importance of religion American's lives were interpreted as measure of religiosity. Based on this, Gallup classified Americans as 37% highly religious, 30% moderately religious, and 33% not religious. According to Pew Research Center's typology of religiosity, which included frequency of practicing their faith, the value they place on their religion, and the other sources of meaning and fulfillment in their lives, 39% were highly religious, 32% were somewhat religious, and 29% were nonreligious.

Spirituality.

Historically, the words "religious" and "spiritual" have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion. However, in contemporary usage, many people use the term spirituality to refer to the interior life of the individual and religion to mean the exterior life of groups such as communities and/or organizations. For some, spirituality can become distinct in that it marks a separation from group affiliation and focuses more people's private beliefs and for others it is interchangeable with religious things. Both spirituality and religion have similarities and have 4 basic components: belief in a reality greater than the individual, desire to connect with the greater reality, promotion of rituals for that connection, and an expectation of particular behaviors (moral or not), that reflect that connection.  According to Pew's study on religious and spiritual identity, the number of people who consider themselves as spiritual (without consideration of whether they are affiliated or religious) was 78% in 2012 and 75% in 2017.  According to Mark Chaves' review of General Social Survey data, of people who were not religious, 88% considered themselves as at least moderately spiritual.

Affiliation.

In 1776, only 17% of the US population was religiously involved in America and by 2000, the number of people who were religiously involved had actually increased gradually to 62%.  According to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) report, in 1990 only 8.2% of the US population identified as "no religion", atheists were not detectable, and agnostics made up 0.7% of the US population. By 2001, 14.1% of the US population identified as "no religion", atheists made up 0.4% and agnostics made up 0.5% of the US population. By 2008, 15% of the US population identified as "no religion", atheists made up 0.7% and agnostics made up 0.9% of the US population.  According to the 2014 General Social Survey the percentages of the US population that identified as no religion were 21% in 2014, 20% in 2012, just 14% in 2000, and only 8 percent in 1990. Furthermore, the number of atheists and agnostics in the US has remained relatively flat in the past 23 years since in 1991 only 2% identified as atheist and 4% identified as agnostic while in 2014 only 3% identified as atheist and 5% identified as agnostic.  According to the 2008 Pew Religious Landscape report, as 2007, 16.1% of the US population identified as "no religion", atheists made up 1.6% and agnostics made up 2.4% of the US population.  According to a 2012 Pew Report on the "Nones", 19.6% of the population identified as "no religion", atheists made up 2.4% and agnostics made up 3.3% of the US population.  The Pew Religious Landscape survey reported that as of 2014, 22.8% of the American population is religiously unaffiliated, atheists made up 3.1% and agnostics made up 4% of the US population.  A 2010 Pew Research Center study comparing Millennials to other generations showed that of those between 18–29 years old, only 3% self-identified as "atheists" and only 4% as "agnostics". Overall, 25% of Millennials were "Nones" and 74% were religiously affiliated. Though Millennials are less religious than previous generations at the same age frame, they are also much less engaged in many social institutions in general than previous generations.  A 2018 Barna group study shows 35% of Generation Z to be nones.  Several groups promoting secularist beliefs or opposing religious faith altogether – including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Atheists, Camp Quest, and the Rational Response Squad – have witnessed large increases in membership numbers in recent years, and the number of secularist student organizations at American colleges and universities increased during the 2000s (decade). However, the growth of atheist groups is very limited and will possibly shrink due to atheists normally being non-joiners and some atheist organizations being too "religious" like. Phil Zuckerman notes that the overwhelming majority of the nonreligious in the US are not identifying with secular movements or secularism or secular beliefs and instead live basic mundane lives without much thought of the secular. As such, the overwhelming majority on the nonreligious do not join secular groups. Only a very small minority of the nonreligious, around 1% to 2%, actually join these kinds of groups.  According to the third American Family Survey from 2019, 33% of the US population identify as 'nones' ('atheists', 'agnostics', 'nothing in particular'), up from 30% in 2015.  According to the American Values Atlas from PPRI, 24% of the US Population is unaffiliated with a religion in 2017.  According to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study in 2016 31% were "nones" in 2016 and 29.5% were "nones" in 2018.

Various explanations for trends.

Some of the underlying factors in the increases in people identifying as "Nones" seem to not be that significant numbers of people are dropping religion, but rather that, in recent times, it has become more socially acceptable for younger and older generations to identify as a "None" than in previous decades, when identifying as having no religion carried negative stigmas. With young people usually having lower religious observance than older people and them feeling more comfortable identifying as a "None", generational replacement factors could play a role in the increment. Recent evidence suggests the opposite negative stigma, i.e. that Intelligence is negatively associated with religiousness. Other possible driving factors may be just broader general cultural changes in the American way of life. The growth of the internet and social media has altered the sense of community and spirituality and the growth of self-focused citizenry, as opposed to community-focused citizenry, has broadly led to less civic involvement and less loyalty to many public institutions.  Other possible driving forces could be political backlash. Young adults, in particular, have turned away from organized religion because they perceive it as deeply entangled with conservative politics and some seek to distance themselves from polarized systems.  Others have suggested that delays in marriage, settling down, and having children among younger people reduces or delays the number and commitment of people participating in traditional religions or religious activities.  Younger generations as a whole have lost trust and belief in numerous institutions along with religion. For instance, Millennials, which make up about 1/3 the "Nones" demographic, tend to have less belief and trust in institutions such as the labor market, the economy, government and politics, marriage, the media, along with churches; than previous generations.

Tables.

Various beliefs.

Various beliefs and practices of the Nones in 2012.

Irreligion by territory.

Territories of the United States with percentage of population claiming no religion in 2010.

Irreligion by region.

Regions of the United States ranked by percentage of population claiming no religion in 2014.

Irreligion demographics.

Demographics of the religiously unaffiliated in 2012 (as fraction of the named groups).

Politics.

Voting trends and political affiliation.

In the election of 2016 and 2018, 15%/17%/21% of the voters was religiously unaffiliated, of which a majority voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. 21% of registered voters were religiously unaffiliated; they are considered to be the largest "religious" voting block. The number of voters who never attend worship services increased to 27% in 2018, up from 22% from 2016.  According to exit polls in the 2008 presidential election, 71% of non-religious whites voted for Democratic candidate Barack Obama while 74% of white Evangelical Christians voted for Republican candidate John McCain. This can be compared with the 43–55% share of white votes overall. More than six-in-ten religiously unaffiliated registered voters are Democrats (39%) or lean toward the Democratic Party (24%). They are about twice as likely to describe themselves as political liberals than as conservatives, and solid majorities support legal abortion (72%) and same-sex marriage (73%). In the last five years, the unaffiliated have risen from 17% to 24% of all registered voters who are Democrats or lean Democratic. According to a Pew Research exit poll 70% of those who were religiously unaffiliated voted for Barack Obama.

Changes in stigmas in politics.

In January 2007, California Congressman Pete Stark became the first openly atheist member of Congress. He described himself as "a Unitarian who does not believe in a Supreme Being." In January 2013, Kyrsten Sinema became the first openly non-theist Congresswoman, representing the State of Arizona. Although she "believes the terms 'nontheist', 'atheist' or 'nonbeliever' are not befitting of her life's work or personal character," she does believe in a secular approach to government. Her unbelief "was not used to slander her as un-American or suggest that she was unfit for office."  On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the first U.S. President to acknowledge "non-believers" in his, although other presidents such as George W. Bush have previously acknowledged non-believers in different speeches.  The 2012 study by the Pew Research Center reported that unaffiliated Americans say by a margin of 39% that churches should keep out of political matters. Affiliated Americans agree by a margin of 7%.

Irreligous/secular impact on politics and policies.

Irreligious viewpoints are perceived by religious people as starting to have an impact. It is seen by religious people as a "culture war". This despite demonization of atheism, low organisation, low voter turnout, and the low number of openly irreligious politicians.

External links.

Surveys show that Americans without a religious affiliation (which include 'nothing particular', agnostic, and atheist), sometimes referred to as "Nones" range around 23.8%, 26%, 24.8%, 33%, 21%, and 31.4% of the population, with 'nothing in particulars' making up the majority of this demographic. Since the early 1990s, independent polls have shown the rapid growth of those without a religious affiliation.

Englobant l'athéisme, l'agnosticisme, le déisme, le scepticisme, la libre pensée, l'humanisme séculier ou plus largement le sécularisme, différents sondages estiment le pourcentage de personnes « sans religion » aux États-Unis à environ 23 % en 2014, un chiffre en augmentation constante.


Club career.

Kreek was born in Tallinn and started his career in his hometown club Sylvester Tallinn at the age of 17. In 2006 he moved to Estonian powerhouse VK Selver Tallinn where he played for the next three years. With Selver he won the Estonian Championship, the Estonian Cup and the Schenker League title twice. Selver and Kreek also reached to CEV Challenge Cup quarterfinals in 2008.  In the beginning of 2009 Kreek played half a season in France, for Rennes Volley 35. In September 2009 he moved to Poland and signed with PlusLiga top team Asseco Resovia Rzeszów. He left the team in December and joined another Polish team Jadar Radom where he played the rest of the 2009–10 season. Kreek stayed in Poland for the next two seasons playing in the AZS Politechnika Warszawska team. With Politechnika he reached the CEV Challenge Cup finals in 2012 where they lost to another Polish team AZS Częstochowa in the golden set.  In 2012 Kreek signed with French top team Paris Volley. With Paris team he has reached the French Pro A finals four times between 2013 and 2016 winning the French Championship in 2016. Kreek and Paris Volley also won the 2013–14 CEV Cup by defeating Russian team Guberniya Nizhniy Novgorod in the finals. Kreek left Paris after eight seasons and signed with another Pro A team Arago de Sète in Southern France.

National team.

Kreek represented the Estonian youth teams in the U18 and U20 level. He is a member of the Estonian national team since 2004 and has represented Estonia at the 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2019 European Volleyball Championships. With the national team Kreek won the 2016 European Volleyball League title.

Ardo Kreek (born 7 August 1986) is an Estonian volleyball player, a member of Estonia men's national volleyball team and French club Arago de Sète.

Ardo Kreek (né le ) est un joueur estonien de volley-ball. Il mesure et joue central. Il est international estonien.


Early life.

Oliva R. Duffy was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, but often claimed her birth name was Oliveretta Elaine Duffy. She was the eldest of three children born to James and Rena Duffy, both of whom were of Irish descent. She had two brothers: James (born 1896) and William (born 1899). Thomas later helped both of her brothers to secure work in the film industry; after serving in the Marines in France during World War I, William worked as a cameraman, and James worked as an assistant director. At the time of her death, both brothers were employed by Selznick Productions.  Her father, James Duffy, a steelworker, died in a work-related accident in 1906. After his death, the family moved to McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, a small mill town. Thomas and her brothers often stayed with their grandparents while her mother Rena worked in a local factory. Rena Duffy later married Harry M. Van Kirk, a worker on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. The two had a daughter, Harriet, who was born in 1914 and died in a car accident in 1931.  Thomas left school at the age 15 to help support her siblings. She got a job selling gingham at Joseph Horne's department store for per week (). In April 1911, aged 16, she married Bernard Krug Thomas in McKees Rocks. During the two-year marriage, she reportedly worked as a clerk in Kaufmann's, a major department store in Pittsburgh. After their separation in 1913, Thomas moved to New York City and lived with a family member. She later found work in a Harlem department store.

Career.

Modeling.

In 1914, Thomas entered and subsequently won the "Most Beautiful Girl in New York City" contest held by Howard Chandler Christy, a commercial artist. Winning the contest helped establish her career as an artists' model, and she would later pose for Harrison Fisher, Raphael Kirchner, Penrhyn Stanlaws, and Haskell Coffin. Thomas was featured on many magazine covers, including that of the "Saturday Evening Post".

Stage.

Fisher wrote a letter of recommendation to Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., resulting in Thomas' being hired for the "Ziegfeld Follies". However, Thomas later disputed this, claiming she "walked right up and asked for the job". She made her stage debut in the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1915" on June 21, 1915. Thomas' popularity in the "Follies" led to her being cast in Ziegfeld's more risqué "Midnight Frolic" show. The "Frolic" was staged after hours in the roof garden of the New Amsterdam Theatre. It was primarily a show for famous male patrons who had plenty of money to bestow on the young and beautiful female performers. Thomas received expensive gifts from her admirers; it was rumored that German Ambassador Albrecht von Bernstorff had given her a $10,000 string of pearls.  During her time in "The Follies", Thomas began an affair with Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld, who was married to actress Billie Burke, had affairs with other Ziegfeld girls, including Lillian Lorraine and Marilyn Miller (who would later marry Thomas' widower Jack Pickford). Thomas ended the affair with Ziegfeld after he refused to leave Burke to marry her. Thomas continued modeling while appearing in the "Follies". She became the first "Vargas Girl" after she posed for a portrait painted by Peruvian artist Alberto Vargas. The portrait, titled "Memories of Olive," features Thomas nude from the waist up while clutching a rose. The portrait was reportedly commissioned by Florenz Ziegfeld but Vargas later denied this claim. Ziegfeld purchased and hung the portrait in his office at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Vargas, who called Thomas "one of the most beautiful brunettes that Ziegfeld ever glorified," kept a copy of the painting for his personal collection.

Silent films.

In July 1916, Thomas signed with the International Film Company. She made her on-screen debut in "Episode 10" of "Beatrice Fairfax", a film serial. In 1917, she made her full-length feature debut in "A Girl Like That" for Paramount Pictures.  That same year, she signed with Triangle Pictures. Shortly after, news broke of her engagement to actor Jack Pickford, whom she had married a year prior. Thomas and Pickford, who was the younger brother of Mary Pickford, kept the marriage secret because Thomas did not want people to think her success in film was due to her association with the Pickfords. Her first film for Triangle, "Madcap Madge", was released in June 1917. Thomas' popularity at Triangle grew with performances in "Indiscreet Corrine" (1917) and "Limousine Life" (1918). In 1919, she portrayed a French girl who poses as a boy in "Toton the Apache". Thomas later said that she felt her work in "Toton" was "the first real thing I've ever done." She made her final film for Triangle, "The Follies Girl", that same year.  After leaving Triangle, Thomas signed with Myron Selznick's Selznick Pictures Company in December 1918 for a salary of $2,500 a week. She hoped for more serious roles, believing that with her husband signed to the same company, she would have more influence. Her first film for Selznick, "Upstairs and Down" (1919), proved successful and established her image as a "baby vamp". She followed with roles in "Love's Prisoner" and "Out Yonder", both in 1919. In 1920, Thomas played a teenage schoolgirl "The Flapper," who yearns for excitement beyond her small Florida town. Thomas was the first actress to portray a lead character who was a flapper and the film was the first of its kind to portray the flapper lifestyle. Frances Marion, who wrote the scenario, was responsible for bringing the term into the American vernacular. "The Flapper" proved to be popular and became one of Thomas' most successful films. On October 4, 1920, Thomas' final film, "Everybody's Sweetheart", was released.

Personal life.

Thomas' first marriage was to Bernard Krug Thomas, a man she met at age 15 while living in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. They married on April 1, 1911, and lived with his parents in McKees Rocks for the first six months of their marriage. The couple later moved into their own apartment. Krug Thomas worked as a clerk at the Pressed Steel Car Company while Olive took care of the home. In 1913, the couple separated and Olive moved to New York City to pursue a career as a model. She was granted a divorce on September 25, 1915, on the grounds of desertion and cruelty. In 1931, Bernard Krug Thomas gave an interview to "The Pittsburg Press", detailing his marriage to Olive, implying that a cause of the demise of their marriage was her ambition, a desire to obtain a life of "luxury", and "improve her station".  In late 1916, Thomas met actor Jack Pickford, brother of one of the most successful silent stars, Mary Pickford, at a beach cafe on the Santa Monica Pier. Both Thomas and Pickford were known for their partying. Screenwriter Frances Marion remarked, "I had seen her often at the Pickford home, for she was engaged to Mary's brother, Jack. Two innocent-looking children, they were the gayest, wildest brats who ever stirred the stardust on Broadway. Both were talented, but they were much more interested in playing the roulette of life than in concentrating on their careers." Thomas eloped with Pickford on October 25, 1916, in New Jersey. None of their family was present, with only actor Thomas Meighan as their witness. Although the couple never had any children of their own, in 1920, they adopted Thomas' six-year-old nephew, the son of one of her brothers, after his mother died.  By most accounts, Thomas was the love of Pickford's life. However, the marriage was tumultuous and filled with highly charged conflict, followed by lavish making up through the exchange of expensive gifts. Pickford's family did not always approve of Thomas, though most of the family did attend her funeral. In Mary Pickford's 1955 autobiography "Sunshine and Shadow", she wrote:I regret to say that none of us approved of the marriage at that time. Mother [i.e., Charlotte Hennessey] thought Jack was too young, and Lottie and I felt that Olive, being in musical comedy, belonged to an alien world. Ollie had all the rich, eligible men of the social world at her feet. She had been deluged with proposals from her own world of the theater as well. Which was not at all surprising. The beauty of Olive Thomas is legendary. The girl had the loveliest violet-blue eyes I have ever seen. They were fringed with long dark lashes that seemed darker because of the delicate translucent pallor of her skin. I could understand why Florenz Ziegfeld never forgave Jack for taking her away from "the Follies". She and Jack were madly in love with one another, but I always thought of them as a couple of children playing together.

Death.

For many years, Thomas and Pickford had intended to vacation together. Both were constantly traveling and had little time to spend together. With their marriage on the rocks, the couple decided to take a second honeymoon. In August 1920, the pair headed for Paris, hoping to combine a vacation with some film preparations.  On the night of September 5, 1920, they went out for a night of entertainment and partying at the famous bistros in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris. Returning to their room in the Hotel Ritz around 3 a.m., Pickford either fell asleep or was outside the room. An intoxicated and tired Thomas ingested mercury bichloride liquid solution. It had been prescribed to Pickford to topically treat sores caused by his chronic syphilis.  Thomas had either thought the flask contained drinking water or sleeping pills; accounts vary. The label was in French, which may have added to her confusion. After drinking the liquid she screamed, "Oh, my God!" and Pickford ran to pick her up. She was taken to the American Hospital in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, where Pickford and his former brother-in-law Owen Moore remained at her side until she died five days later.

Controversy and death ruling.

While Thomas lay in the American Hospital dying, the press began reporting on the various rumors that began to arise about the circumstances of the incident. Some papers reported that Thomas had attempted suicide after having a fight with Pickford over his alleged infidelities, while others said she attempted suicide after discovering Pickford had given her syphilis. There were rumors that Thomas was plagued by a drug addiction, that she and Pickford had been involved in "champagne and cocaine orgies," or that Pickford tricked her into drinking poison in an attempt to murder her to collect her insurance money. Owen Moore, who accompanied Pickford and Thomas in Paris, denied the rumors, saying that Thomas was not suicidal and that she and Pickford had not fought that evening. Jack Pickford also denied the rumors, stating, "Olive and I were the greatest pals on Earth. Her death is a ghastly mistake."  On September 13, 1920, Pickford gave his account of that night to the "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner":We arrived back at the Ritz hotel at about 3 o'clock in the morning. I had already booked airplane seats for London. We were going Sunday morning. Both of us were tired out. We both had been drinking a little. I insisted that we had better not pack then, but rather get up early before our trip and do it then. I went to bed immediately. She fussed around and wrote a note to her mother.... She was in the bathroom.Suddenly she shrieked: 'My God.' I jumped out of bed, rushed toward her and caught her in my arms. She cried to me to find out what was in the bottle. I picked it up and read: 'Poison.' It was a toilet solution and the label was in French. I realized what she had done and sent for the doctor. Meanwhile, I forced her to drink water in order to make her vomit. She screamed, 'O, my God, I'm poisoned.' I forced the whites of eggs down her throat, hoping to offset the poison. The doctor came. He pumped her stomach three times while I held Olive.Nine o'clock in the morning I got her to the Neuilly Hospital, where Doctors Choate and Wharton took charge of her. They told me she had swallowed bichloride of mercury in an alcoholic solution, which is ten times worse than tablets. She didn't want to die. She took the poison by mistake. We both loved each other since the day we married. The fact that we were separated months at a time made no difference in our affection for each other. She even was conscious enough the day before she died to ask the nurse to come to America with her until she had fully recovered, having no thought she would die.She kept continually calling for me. I was beside her day and night until her death. The physicians held out hope for her until the last moment, until they found her kidneys paralyzed. Then they lost hope. But the doctors told me she had fought harder than any patient they ever had. She held onto her life as only one case in fifty. She seemed stronger the last two days. She was conscious, and said she would get better and go home to her mother. 'It's all a mistake, darling Jack,' she said. But I knew she was dying.She was kept alive only by hypodermic injections during the last twelve hours. I was the last one she recognized. I watched her eyes glaze and realized she was dying. I asked her how she was feeling and she answered: 'Pretty weak, but I'll be all right in a little while, don't worry, darling.' Those were her last words. I held her in my arms and she died an hour later. Owen Moore was at her bedside. All stories and rumors of wild parties and cocaine and domestic fights since we left New York are untrue.  After Thomas' death, the police initiated an investigation and an autopsy was performed. Thomas' death was attributed to acute nephritis caused by mercury bichloride absorption. On September 13, 1920, her death was ruled accidental by the Paris physician who conducted her autopsy.

Funeral.

Jack Pickford brought Thomas' body back to the United States. Several accounts state that Pickford tried to commit suicide en route but was talked out of it. In her autobiography, Mary Pickford recalls her brother's disclosure that he had made such an attempt during the return trip:  On September 29, 1920, an Episcopal funeral service for Thomas was held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York City. According to "The New York Times", police escorts were needed at the event, for the entire church was crowded with “hundreds” of fellow actors, other invited attendees, as well as a horde of curious onlookers. Several women are reported to have fainted during the ceremony, and several men had their hats crushed in the rush to view the casket. Thomas is interred in a crypt at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Estate.

Thomas did not leave a will upon her death. Her estate, which was later valued at $27,644, was split between her mother, her two brothers, and husband Jack Pickford. Adjusted for inflation, that amount would be the equivalent to $354,892.92 in 2019. Pickford later relinquished his right to a portion of the money, choosing instead to give his share to Thomas' mother.  On November 22, 1920, the bulk of Thomas' personal property was auctioned off in an estate sale, which netted approximately $30,000. Lewis Selznick bought Thomas' town car for an undisclosed sum. Mabel Normand bought a 20-piece toilet set, a 14 karat gold cigarette case, and three pieces of jewelry, including a sapphire pin.

Aftermath.

The press coverage of Olive Thomas' death was one of the first examples of the media sensationalism related to a major Hollywood star. Her death has been cited as one of the first major Hollywood scandals.  Other scandals including the Fatty Arbuckle trial in 1921, the murder of William Desmond Taylor in 1922, and the drug-related death of Wallace Reid caused many religious and morality groups to label Hollywood as "immoral".

Olive Thomas (born Oliva R. Duffy; October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model and photo model.

Olive Thomas, née le à Charleroi (Pennsylvanie, États-Unis) et morte le à Neuilly-sur-Seine, est une actrice du cinéma muet américaine. Ziegfeld Girl et toute première garçonne, elle est surtout connue pour son mariage avec Jack Pickford et sa mort prématurée.


Education.

Domagk was born in Lagow, Brandenburg, the son of a school headmaster. Until he was 14, he attended school in Sommerfeld (now Lubsko, Poland). Domagk studied medicine at the University of Kiel, but volunteered to serve as a soldier in World War I, where he was wounded in December 1914, working the rest of the war as a medic. After the war, he finished his studies, and worked at the University of Greifswald, where he researched infections caused by bacteria.

Career.

In 1925, he followed his professor Walter Gross to the University of Münster (WWU) and became a professor there himself. He also started working at the Bayer laboratories at Wuppertal. The same year, he married Gertrud Strube (1897–1985). Later they would have three sons and a daughter.  Domagk was appointed director of Bayer's Institute of Pathology and Bacteriology, where he continued the studies of Josef Klarer and Fritz Mietzsch, based on works by Paul Ehrlich, to use dyes, at that time a major product of IG Farben, as antibiotics. He found the sulfonamide Prontosil to be effective against streptococcus, and treated his own daughter with it, saving her the amputation of an arm.  In 1939, Domagk received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery, the first drug effective against bacterial infections. He was forced by the Nazi regime to refuse the prize and was arrested by the Gestapo and detained for a week. (This was because the Nazi-critical Carl von Ossietzky had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935, which had angered the German government and resulted in German nationals not being permitted by law to accept the Nobel Prize.) In the same year, Domagk was also awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh. In 1941 Domagk was awarded the "Medaglia Paterno" (Rome) by the Kingdom of Italy and also the Von-Klebelsberg-Medal and Prize by the Kingdom of Hungary. He became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in 1942. Sulfonamides had revolutionary antibacterial effectiveness for their time, surpassing phage therapy, but were later replaced by penicillin, which showed both better effects and fewer side effects (sulfonamides can cause kidney stones and changes in bone marrow). However, Domagk's work on sulfonamides eventually led to the development of the antituberculosis drugs thiosemicarbazone and isoniazid, which helped to curb the epidemic of tuberculosis which swept Europe after World War II.  After the war, in 1947, Domagk was finally able to receive his Nobel Prize, but not the monetary portion of the prize due to the time that had elapsed. In 1951, he was one of seven Nobel Laureates who attended the 1st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.  Domagk became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1959; his short biography was published by the Royal Society in 1964. He changed his focus to tuberculosis and chemotherapy against cancer. He continued to live and work in Wuppertal. Domagk died from a heart attack in Burgberg near Königsfeld, Schwarzwald.

Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk (30 October 1895 – 24 April 1964) was a German pathologist and bacteriologist. He is credited with the discovery of Sulfonamidochrysoidine (KI-730), the first commercially available antibiotic and marketed under the brand name Prontosil, for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk ( - ) est un bactériologiste allemand, auteur de la découverte de la sulfamidochrysoïdine, brevetée en 1935 sous le nom de Prontosil, premier médicament antibactérien commercialement exploitable. Cette découverte lui vaut le prix Nobel de physiologie ou médecine de 1939.


Plot.

In Victorian-era London lives a thirteen-year-old earl named Ciel Phantomhive, who acquired this position after the events of December 14, 1885 (Ciel's 10th birthday), when the Phantomhive manor was attacked by unidentified perpetrators and was set ablaze. Ciel, amidst the chaos, discovers his parents, Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive, to be dead along with the family dog, Sebastian. The same night he is kidnapped by the attackers and then sold into slavery, where he ends up in the hands of a sadistic, demon-worshipping cult. Ciel then endures endless physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of his captors. Ciel was also heat branded with a mark referred to as the "mark of the beast". One night, during a sacrificial ceremony to summon a demon, instead of forming a contract with the cult members, the demon states that he was summoned by Ciel, therefore he only agrees to form a contract with him, killing all the cultist members in the process. To show a contract was formed, the demon places a contract symbol referred to as the Faustian contract symbol on Ciel's right eye, giving it a purple hue, and his iris and pupil now showcase the symbol of the covenant. After the formation of the contract, the demon reveals he will consume Ciel's soul as payment for helping him achieve his goal; revenge on those who brought down the House of Phantomhive. Afterwards Ciel names the demon Sebastian Michaelis, after his deceased pet dog. The duo then return to society as Ciel takes over his now late father's previous position as the queen's watchdog, a very high-profile individual who is tasked with investigating cases that Queen Victoria herself deems especially important or threatening to England and the crown.

Media.

Manga.

Written and illustrated by Yana Toboso, the chapters of "Black Butler" have been serialized in the "shōnen" manga magazine "Monthly GFantasy" since its debut in the October 2006 issue, published on September 16, 2006. The chapters are collected and published into individual "tankōbon" volumes by Square Enix. The first volume was released on February 27, 2007. As of December 27, 2019, twenty-nine volumes have been released.  Yen Press licensed the series for an English language release and serialized the manga in "Yen Plus" August 2009 issue for the magazine's first anniversary. The publisher released the first volume in January 2010. The second volume was released in May 2010.  French publisher Kana licensed the series in under the Dark Kana imprint as "Black Butler". The publisher released the first volume in November 2009. Carlsen Comics has licensed the series in Germany as "Black Butler", the same title used for the French and English releases. "Black Butler" have been also published in Italy by Panini Comics. In Poland, Waneko is publishing the manga as original "Kuroshitsuji" with subtitle "Mroczny kamerdyner" – as of February 2013, nine volumes have been released. The series has been published in Finland under the original Japanese name "Kuroshitsuji" by Punainen jättiläinen since July 2012. In Spain, the series has been published in Norma Editorial since November 2011 under the title "Black Butler".

Drama CD.

On August 10, 2007, a drama CD was released by Frontier Works. It featured many of the characters appearing in volumes one and two. A second drama CD was released on November 26, 2008 under the Aniplex label.

Anime.

In July 2008, it was announced that an anime adaption of "Black Butler", directed by Toshiya Shinohara and produced by A-1 Pictures. It premiered in October 2008 and broadcast on MBS as well as the TBS. On January 1, 2009, a limited edition DVD containing the first episode was released by Aniplex. The next three episodes were released on another DVD on February 25, 2009. On an event on June 14, 2009, it was announced that the anime would be returning for a second series. Japanese voice actor Junichi Suwabe confirmed this news on his official blog later that day. The second series, "Black Butler II", premiered in July and follows a butler, Claude Faustus, and his master, Alois Trancy, as well as Sebastian and Ciel. Both new characters were designed by Toboso. Aniplex later released the complete Blu-ray and DVD on May 7, 2014.  On March 29, 2010, North American anime distributor Funimation announced on their online FuniCon 3.0 panel that they had licensed "Black Butler". At Anime Expo 2010, Funimation also announced that they would stream the simulcast series, "Black Butler II". Funimation announced on their Facebook page that they had fully licensed the second season. Funimation released "Black Butler" Combo Pack Blu-ray/DVD first and second season on April 3, 2012. The series made its North American television debut on February 8, 2011 on the Funimation Channel. Funimation lost the rights to the series' first season in 2017, and the rights to the second season in 2018. The first season is currently licensed by Aniplex of America and it was released on a Blu-ray Disc box set on January 29, 2019. In November 2019, Funimation re-licensed the first two seasons for its streaming service.  On January 16, 2014, it was announced that "Black Butler" had been green-lit for another anime adaptation. Unlike most of the previous seasons, the third series was a close adaptation of the original manga storyline, adapting the "Noah's Ark Circus" arc and titled "Black Butler: Book of Circus". The series was directed by Noriyuki Abe at A-1 Pictures, with Hiroyuki Yoshino in charge of scripts, along with Ichiro Okuchi and Yuka Miyata as scriptwriters. The main cast from the previous anime series returned, along with new cast members, and the series aired from July 10, 2014, to September 12, 2014. In addition, a two-part original video animation (OVA) titled the "Book of Murder", an adaptation of the "Phantomhive Manor Murders" arc, was screened in Japanese theatres on October 25, and November 15, 2014. The OVAs featured returning staff from the previous season.  On August 7, 2014, Funimation announced that they have licensed "Black Butler: Book of Circus", and have streamed it on their simulcast. Funimation released the series on Blu-ray and DVD on April 19, 2016. Additionally, Funimation has licensed the two-part OVA "Black Butler: Book of Murder" and released it on May 17, 2016.

Musical.

, a musical adaptation of the manga, had run at the Sunshine Theater in Ikebukuro between May 28, 2009 and June 7, 2009. Yuya Matsushita portrayed Sebastian Michaelis, Shougo Sakamoto played Ciel Phantomhive and Uehara Takuya as Grell Sutcliff. , the second musical adaptation of the manga, ran at Akasaka Act Theater (1300 seats) in Akasaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, between May 3 and May 23, 2010. Yuya Matsushita reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, Yukito Nishii played Ciel Phantomhive, and Uehara Takuya reprised his role as Grell Sutcliff. The other two main characters, Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries, were portrayed by Taisuke Saeki and Shinya Matsumoto, respectively. The musical was written by Mari Okada, directed by Sakurako Fukuyama, with music composed by Taku Iwasaki, and lyrics by Yukinojo Mori. A second run of "The Most Beautiful Death in the World" was announced in December 2012. It ran between May 17 and June 9, 2013 in the Akasaka ACT Theater (Akasaka, Tokyo) again, and the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka. It was announced in February 2013 that Yuya Matsushita, Uehara Takuya, and Shuhei Izumi would reprise their roles as Sebastian Michaelis, Grell Sutcliff, and the Undertaker, respectively. The rest of the roles were re-cast, with Taketo Tanaka replacing Yukito Nishii as Ciel Phantomhive, and Shinji Rachi and Masataka Nakagauchi replacing Taisuke Saeki and Matsumoto Shinya in the roles of Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries.  A third musical was performed in September 2014. Most of the cast reprised their roles from the re-run of "The Most Beautiful Death in the World" although Fukuzaki Nayuta replaced Taketo Tanaka as Ciel Phantomhive and Yuka Terasaki replaced Saki Matsuda as Mey-Rin. Akane Liv was introduced as Madam Red, Yuusuke Hirose as Charles Phipps, Oota Motohiro as Charles Grey and Araki Hirofumi as Lau. A re-run of the third "Black Butler" musical ""Lycoris that Blazes the Earth"" was scheduled to perform in November–December 2015. It started in Osaka on November 7 then travel to Miyagi, Tokyo and Fukuoka. The new run of the third musical was the first oversea tour in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen) in December 2015. Yuta Furukawa is replacing Yuya Matsushita as Sebastian Michaelis, who had been playing Sebastian since the first musical. Meanwhile, most of the cast from the third musical reprise their roles.  A fourth "Black Butler" musical, based on the Noah's Ark Circus arc of the manga, ran between November–December 2016. Yuta Furukawa reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, with Reo Uchikawa replacing Nayuta Fukuzaki as Ciel. Miura Ryosuke was introduced as Joker, Tano Asami as Beast and Tamaki Yuki as Snake, among others. Notably, Izumi Shuuhei reprised his role as the Undertaker again, making him the only original cast member still performing.  A fifth "Black Butler" musical, Tango on the Campania, which was based on the Luxury Liner arc in the manga, ran between December 2017 to February 2018. Yuta Furukawa reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, with Reo Uchikawa also reprising his role as Ciel Phantomhive. Mikata Ryosuke was introduced as Ronald Knox, Okazaki Momoko as Elizabeth Midford, and others. Other actors from previous performers also reprised their roles, such as Uehara Takuya as Grell Sutcliff, Izumi Shuuhei as the Undertaker, and Sasaki Yoshihide as Viscount Druitt.

Video game.

A video game for Nintendo DS, called "Kuroshitsuji Phantom & Ghost" was developed by Square Enix and was released on March 19, 2009. The game is sold in two versions, a limited first-press edition with a higher price and numerous extra goods, and a regular edition.

Print.

On February 27, 2009, the was released. The was released on March 27, 2009. An official comics anthology was also released on that date.

Films.

It was announced on January 18, 2013 that the manga would be made into a live-action film starring Ayame Goriki as Genpou Shiori, Hiro Mizushima as Sebastian Michaelis. Filming began in April 2013 and the film was released on January 18, 2014.  On October 10, 2015, it was announced an animated film for the series has been green-lit, and the original anime cast returned to reprise their roles. On February 17, 2016, the film "Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic", was confirmed to be an animated adaptation of the arc from the original manga. It was released in Japan on January 21, 2017. On April 1, 2017, Funimation announced that they have licensed the animated film and would screen it in a limited theatrical release in North America later in the year. "Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic", premiered in Japan on January 21, 2017, and in North America on the selected dates of June 12 and 14, 2017.

Reception.

As of July 2019, "Black Butler" has sold over 28 million copies worldwide. Individual volumes alone have done well in weekly polls in Japan, taking several high spots. "Black Butler" has a large fan base that is very supportive. Some fans say Ciel Phantomhive is the Archangel Azrael partly because "Azur" was one of the names Yana was going to use for Ciel, and the shows relation to death, as revealed by prophet Lord Kalki Ravi, with all the grim reapers, ghosts, and murder. The main themes in "Black Butler" reflect that. In addition to the volumes, the comics anthology "Rainbow Butler" ranked seventeenth during the week of March 31 to April 6 selling 41,083 copies after ranking thirty-third the previous week. The fourth and fifth volumes ranked thirty-third and thirty-ninth of the top-selling manga in Japan during 2008, selling 529,210 copies and 468,550 copies respectively. The sixth volume ranked thirteenth of the top-selling manga in Japan during the first half of 2009, selling 619,501 copies. The series itself was ranked tenth of the top-selling manga series in Japan during 2009, selling a total of 1,603,197 estimated copies. The series is also quite popular in other countries.  The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has created an annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. Sebastian Michaelis ranked ninth in the category "The Character I Want to Be My Groom".  By 2 February, the film had grossed ¥479,554,245 (US$4,687,163) at the Japanese box office.

A 24-episode anime adaption produced by A-1 Pictures aired from October 2008 to March 2009. A second season aired in 2010 spanning 12 episodes with two new main characters, Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus, following the aftermath of the first season. This series had an original storyline and did not feature manga content. A third anime series, titled "Black Butler: Book of Circus", was broadcast between July and September 2014. A two-part theatrical original video animation (OVA) titled "Black Butler: Book of Murder" screened in Japanese theaters in October and November 2014. A live action film adaptation was released in Japan in January 2014. An for the series, titled "", premiered in Japan in January 2017.

À la suite du succès du manga, une adaptation en série télévisée d'animation produite par le studio A-1 Pictures a été diffusée entre octobre 2008 et mars 2009 sur la chaîne TBS au Japon. Une deuxième saison est diffusée entre juillet et septembre 2010. Plusieurs OAV sont également produits. Un nouvel anime intitulé "Black Butler : Book of Circus", reboot adaptant l'arc du Cirque Noah du manga, est diffusé entre juillet et septembre 2014 avant d'être suivi par une série de deux OAV, "Book of Murder", adaptant l'arc du meurtre au manoir et diffusés respectivement dans les salles japonaises en octobre et novembre 2014, ainsi que par un film d'animation, "Book of the Atlantic", adaptant l'arc du voyage sur le Campania, diffusé dans les salles japonaises en janvier 2017. La licence a également connu plusieurs autres adaptations, notamment deux drama CD entre 2007 et 2009, un jeu vidéo en 2009, cinq comédies musicales différentes entre 2009 et 2017, ainsi qu'un film live en 2014.


First claims.

In 1956, Arnold Eldredge, of General Electric, filed a patent application for an "Object Camouflage Method and Apparatus," which proposed using a particle accelerator in an aircraft to create a cloud of ionization that would "...refract or absorb incident radar beams." It is unclear who funded this work or whether it was prototyped and tested. U.S. Patent 3,127,608 was granted in 1964.  During Project OXCART, the operation of the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft, the CIA funded an attempt to reduce the RCS of the A-12's inlet cones. Known as Project KEMPSTER, this used an electron beam generator to create a cloud of ionization in front of each inlet. The system was flight tested but was never deployed on operational A-12s or SR-71s.  In 1992, Hughes Research Laboratory conducted a research project to study electromagnetic wave propagation in unmagnetized plasma. A series of high voltage spark gaps were used to generate UV radiation, which creates plasma via photoionization in a waveguide. Plasma filled missile radomes were tested in an anechoic chamber for attenuation of reflection. At about the same time, R. J. Vidmar studied the use of atmospheric pressure plasma as electromagnetic reflectors and absorbers. Other investigators also studied the case of a non-uniform magnetized plasma slab.  Despite the apparent technical difficulty of designing a plasma stealth device for combat aircraft, there are claims that a system was offered for export by Russia in 1999. In January 1999, the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency published an interview with Doctor Anatoliy Koroteyev, the director of the Keldysh Research Center (FKA Scientific Research Institute for Thermal Processes), who talked about the plasma stealth device developed by his organization. The claim was particularly interesting in light of the solid scientific reputation of Dr. Koroteyev and the Institute for Thermal Processes, which is one of the top scientific research organizations in the world in the field of fundamental physics.  The "Journal of Electronic Defense" reported that "plasma-cloud-generation technology for stealth applications" developed in Russia reduces an aircraft's RCS by a factor of 100 (20 dB). According to this June 2002 article, the Russian plasma stealth device has been tested aboard a Sukhoi Su-27IB fighter-bomber. The Journal also reported that similar research into applications of plasma for RCS reduction is being carried out by Accurate Automation Corporation (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia) in the U.S.; and by Dassault Aviation (Saint-Cloud, France) and Thales (Paris, France).

Plasma and its properties.

A plasma is a "quasineutral" (total electrical charge is close to zero) mix of ions (atoms which have been ionized, and therefore possess a net positive charge), electrons, and neutral particles (un-ionized atoms or molecules). Most plasmas are only partially ionized, in fact, the ionization degree of common plasma devices like fluorescent lamp is fairly low ( less than 1%). Almost all the matter in the universe is very low density plasma: solids, liquids and gases are uncommon away from planetary bodies. Plasmas have many technological applications, from fluorescent lighting to plasma processing for semiconductor manufacture.  Plasmas can interact strongly with electromagnetic radiation: this is why plasmas might plausibly be used to modify an object's radar signature. Interaction between plasma and electromagnetic radiation is strongly dependent on the physical properties and parameters of the plasma, most notably the electron temperature and plasma density.  Plasmas can have a wide range of values in both temperature and density; plasma temperatures range from close to absolute zero and to well beyond 10 kelvins (for comparison, tungsten melts at 3700 kelvins), and plasma may contain less than one particle per cubic metre. Electron temperature is usually expressed as electronvolt (eV), and 1 eV is equivalent to 11,604 K. Common plasmas temperature and density in fluorescent light tubes and semiconductor manufacturing processes are around several eV and 10per cm. For a wide range of parameters and frequencies, plasma is electrically conductive, and its response to low-frequency electromagnetic waves is similar to that of a metal: a plasma simply reflects incident low-frequency radiation. Low-frequency means it is lower than the characteristic electron plasma frequency. The use of plasmas to control the reflected electromagnetic radiation from an object (Plasma stealth) is feasible at suitable frequency where the conductivity of the plasma allows it to interact strongly with the incoming radio wave, and the wave can either be absorbed and converted into thermal energy, or reflected, or transmitted depending on the relationship between the radio wave frequency and the characteristic plasma frequency. If the frequency of the radio wave is lower than the plasma frequency, it is reflected. if it is higher, it is transmitted. If these two are equal, then resonance occurs. There is also another mechanism where reflection can be reduced. If the electromagnetic wave passes through the plasma, and is reflected by the metal, and the reflected wave and incoming wave are roughly equal in power, then they may form two phasors. When these two phasors are of opposite phase they can cancel each other out. In order to obtain substantial attenuation of radar signal, the plasma slab needs adequate thickness and density.  Plasmas support a wide range of waves, but for unmagnetised plasmas, the most relevant are the Langmuir waves, corresponding to a dynamic compression of the electrons. For magnetised plasmas, many different wave modes can be excited which might interact with radiation at radar frequencies.

Plasmas on aerodynamic surfaces.

Plasma layers around aircraft have been considered for purposes other than stealth. There are many research papers on the use of plasma to reduce aerodynamic drag. In particular, electrohydrodynamic coupling can be used to accelerate air flow near an aerodynamic surface. One paper considers the use of a plasma panel for boundary layer control on a wing in a low-speed wind tunnel. This demonstrates that it is possible to produce a plasma on the skin of an aircraft. Radioactive Xenon nuclear poison or Polonium isotopes when successfully suspended in generated plasma layers or doped into vehicle hulls, may be utilized in order for a reduction in radar cross-section by generating a plasma layer on the surface. If tunable this could shield against HMP/EMP and HERF weaponry or act as optical radiation pressure actuators.  Boeing filed a series of patents related to the concept of plasma stealth. In US 7,744,039 B2, Jun. 2010, a system to control air flow with electrical pulses is described. In US 7,988,101 B2, Aug. 2011, a plasma generating device is used to create a plasma flow on the trailing edge, which can change its RCS. In US 8,016,246 B2 Sep. 2011, a plasma actuator system is used to camouflage weapon bay on a fighter when it is open. In US 8,016,247 B2, the plasma actuator system is described in detail, which is basically a dielectric barrier discharge device. In US 8,157,528 B1 Apr. 2012, a plasma actuating cascade array for use on rotor blade is described. In US 8,220,753 B2 Jul. 2012, a system for controlling airflow on wing surface with pulsed discharge is described.

Absorption of EM radiation.

When electromagnetic waves, such as radar signals, propagate into a conductive plasma, ions and electrons are displaced as a result of the time varying electric and magnetic fields. The wave field gives energy to the particles. The particles generally return some fraction of the energy they have gained to the wave, but some energy may be permanently absorbed as heat by processes like scattering or resonant acceleration, or transferred into other wave types by mode conversion or nonlinear effects. A plasma can, at least in principle, absorb all the energy in an incoming wave, and this is the key to plasma stealth. However, plasma stealth implies a substantial reduction of an aircraft's RCS, making it more difficult (but not necessarily impossible) to detect. The mere fact of detection of an aircraft by a radar does not guarantee an accurate targeting solution needed to intercept the aircraft or to engage it with missiles. A reduction in RCS also results in a proportional reduction in detection range, allowing an aircraft to get closer to the radar before being detected.  The central issue here is frequency of the incoming signal. A plasma will simply reflect radio waves below a certain frequency (characteristic electron plasma frequency). This is the basic principle of short wave radios and long-range communications, because low-frequency radio signals bounce between the Earth and the ionosphere and may therefore travel long distances. Early-warning over-the-horizon radars utilize such low-frequency radio waves (typically lower than 50 MHz). Most military airborne and air defense radars, however, operate in VHF, UHF, and microwave band, which have frequencies higher than the characteristic plasma frequency of ionosphere, therefore microwave can penetrate the ionosphere and communication between the ground and communication satellites demonstrates is possible. ("Some" frequencies can penetrate the ionosphere).  Plasma surrounding an aircraft might be able to absorb incoming radiation, and therefore reduces signal reflection from the metal parts of the aircraft: the aircraft would then be effectively invisible to radar at long range due to weak signals received. A plasma might also be used to modify the reflected waves to confuse the opponent's radar system: for example, frequency-shifting the reflected radiation would frustrate Doppler filtering and might make the reflected radiation more difficult to distinguish from noise.  Control of plasma properties like density and temperature is important for a functioning plasma stealth device, and it may be necessary to dynamically adjust the plasma density, temperature, or combinations, or the magnetic field, in order to effectively defeat different types of radar systems. The great advantage Plasma Stealth possesses over traditional radio frequency stealth techniques like shape morphing into LO geometry and use of radar-absorbent materials is that plasma is tunable and wideband. When faced with frequency hopping radar, it is possible, at least in principle, to change the plasma temperature and density to deal with the situation. The greatest challenge is to generate a large area or volume of plasma with good energy efficiency.  Plasma stealth technology also faces various technical problems. For example, the plasma itself emits EM radiation, although it is usually weak and noise-like in spectrum. Also, it takes some time for plasma to be re-absorbed by the atmosphere and a trail of ionized air would be created behind the moving aircraft, but at present there is no method to detect this kind of plasma trail at long distance. Thirdly, plasmas (like glow discharges or fluorescent lights) tend to emit a visible glow: this is not compatible with overall low observability concept. However, present optical detection devices like FLIR has a shorter range than radar, so Plasma Stealth still has an operational range space. Last but not least, it is extremely difficult to produce a radar-absorbent plasma around an entire aircraft traveling at high speed, the electrical power needed is tremendous. However, a substantial reduction of an aircraft's RCS may be still be achieved by generating radar-absorbent plasma around the most reflective surfaces of the aircraft, such as the turbojet engine fan blades, engine air intakes, vertical stabilizers, and airborne radar antenna.  There have been several computational studies on plasma-based radar cross section reduction technique using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations. Chaudhury et al. studied the electromagnetic wave attenuation of an Epstein profile plasma using this method. Chung studied the radar cross change of a metal cone when it is covered with plasma, a phenomenon that occurs during reentry into the atmosphere. Chung simulated the radar cross section of a generic satellite, and also the radar cross section when it is covered with artificially generated plasma cones.

Theoretical work with Sputnik.

Due to the obvious military applications of the subject, there are few readily available experimental studies of plasma's effect on the radar cross section (RCS) of aircraft, but plasma interaction with microwaves is a well explored area of general plasma physics. Standard plasma physics reference texts are a good starting point and usually spend some time discussing wave propagation in plasmas. One of the most interesting articles related to the effect of plasma on the RCS of aircraft was published in 1963 by the IEEE. The article is entitled ""Radar cross sections of dielectric or plasma coated conducting spheres and circular cylinders"" (IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, September 1963, pp. 558–569). Six years earlier, in 1957, the Soviets had launched the first artificial satellite. While trying to track Sputnik it was noticed that its electromagnetic scattering properties were different from what was expected for a conductive sphere. This was due to the satellite's traveling inside of a plasma shell: the ionosphere.  The Sputnik's simple shape serves as an ideal illustration of plasma's effect on the RCS of an aircraft. Naturally, an aircraft would have a far more elaborate shape and be made of a greater variety of materials, but the basic effect should remain the same. In the case of the Sputnik flying through the ionosphere at high velocity and surrounded by a naturally occurring plasma shell, there are two separate radar reflections: the first from the conductive surface of the satellite, and the second from the dielectric plasma shell.  The authors of the paper found that a dielectric (plasma) shell may either decrease or increase the echo area of the object. If either one of the two reflections is considerably greater, then the weaker reflection will not contribute much to the overall effect. The authors also stated that the EM signal that penetrates the plasma shell and reflects off the object's surface will drop in intensity while traveling through plasma, as was explained in the prior section.  The most interesting effect is observed when the two reflections are of the same order of magnitude. In this situation the two components (the two reflections) will be added as phasors and the resulting field will determine the overall RCS. When these two components are out of phase relative to each other, cancellation occurs. This means that under such circumstances the RCS becomes null and the object is completely invisible to the radar.  It is immediately apparent that performing similar numeric approximations for the complex shape of an aircraft would be difficult. This would require a large body of experimental data for the specific airframe, properties of plasma, aerodynamic aspects, incident radiation, etc. In contrast, the original computations discussed in this paper were done by a handful of people on an IBM 704 computer made in 1956, and at the time, this was a novel subject with very little research background. So much has changed in science and engineering since 1963, that differences between a metal sphere and a modern combat jet pale in comparison.  A simple application of plasma stealth is the use of plasma as an antenna: metal antenna masts often have large radar cross sections, but a hollow glass tube filled with low pressure plasma can also be used as an antenna, and is entirely transparent to radar when not in use.

Plasma stealth is a proposed process to use ionized gas (plasma) to reduce the radar cross-section (RCS) of an aircraft. Interactions between electromagnetic radiation and ionized gas have been extensively studied for many purposes, including concealing aircraft from radar as stealth technology. Various methods might plausibly be able to form a layer or cloud of plasma around a vehicle to deflect or absorb radar, from simpler electrostatic or radio frequency discharges to more complex laser discharges. It is theoretically possible to reduce RCS in this way, but it may be very difficult to do so in practice. Some Russian systems e.g. the 3M22 Zircon (SS-N-33) missile have been reported to make use of plasma stealth.

La plasma stealth (« furtivité [grâce au] plasma ») est une théorie qui se propose de réduire la surface équivalente radar (SER) d'un avion en utilisant un gaz ionisé (plasma). Les interactions entre un rayonnement électromagnétique et un gaz ionisé ont été largement étudiées avec des objectifs différents comme la possibilité de dissimuler un avion aux radars. Alors qu'il est théoriquement possible de réduire la SER d'un avion en « enveloppant » sa carlingue dans du plasma, il est très difficile de l'envisager dans la pratique. Il existe plusieurs méthodes qui peuvent raisonnablement permettre de créer un nuage de plasma autour de l'avion, de la simple décharge électrostatique ou électromagnétique, à des systèmes plus exotiques comme des plasmas produits à l'aide de lasers.


History.

The Kabarda has been bred since the 16th century by mountain tribesmen in the northern Caucasus, and is the product of centuries of selective breeding for the ability to survive in harsh conditions. The Kabarda breed was formed from a combination of steppe horses, the Karabakh, the Arabian and the Turkoman. The breed are usually kept in herds, and are moved between mountain pastures in the summer and foothills areas in the winter. A theory exists that Kabardian and Cleveland Bay breeds may have common origins.  At the beginning of the 20th century, Count Stroganov began a program of crossing Kabardas with Arabians, and the results were considered satisfactory. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the numbers of Kabarda were hugely reduced, and during the 1920s efforts were made to re-establish the breed. Between 1935 and 1953, the purebred population averaged 446 stallions and 3272 mares. During early half of the twentieth century, a new breed, called the Anglo-Kabarda was formed by crossing Kabardas with Thoroughbreds, and in 1966 the new breed was recognized. By the late 1980s the number of purebred Kabarda breeding mares had dropped to between 400 and 450, concentrated mainly at the Malokarachaevski and Malkinski studs and other breeding farms in the Kabardino-Balkaria region, including the Krasny Partizan collective farm in the Stavropol territory.

Breed Characteristics.

The Kabarda stands high, with a coat that is bay, black, or gray. They are a solid, cleanly built horse with a clean head, a well-muscled neck, medium-high withers, a deep chest, long, sloping shoulders, a short, solid back, and a muscular, slightly sloping croup. Their legs are correctly set, with clean, well-developed joints and hard hooves. The Kabardas' blood has a heightened oxidizing capacity, useful for work high in the mountains. The breed also is an easy keeper, that is, it has a tendency to accumulate fat quickly, which helps when the horses are exposed to extreme conditions on a regular basis, but can be a hardship for owners when the horses are kept stabled.

Sub-Types.

There are three main subtypes of the Kabarda breed:

Uses.

The Kabarda horse has been bred for stony and mountainous terrain. The breed is usually fast and has good endurance. They are often used as a sport horse outside of Russia, and for the creation and improvement of other breeds, such as the Anglo-Kabarda, the Tersky, and native stock in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Although they are mainly used as a saddle horse, they have work well in harness and as a pack horse. The mountain tribesmen of the Caucasus make hay on steep slopes by hitching Kabardas to horse-drawn mowers.

The Kabarda or Kabardin horse is a breed from the Caucasus, currently part of the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. Historically the breed has been known for at least 400 years, but its origins are probably as old as the Hittite civilization. These horses are noted for their endurance and ease to adapt in difficult environments.

Le Kabardin () est une race de chevaux originaire du nord des montagnes du Caucase, en Russie. Ce cheval de montagne rustique, de taille modérée, est historiquement la monture des circassiens, d'ailleurs anciennement appelée « pur-sang circassien » et plus récemment, en anglais, « Kabarda », d'où le terme français Kabarde.