Mercenary captains.

Background.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Italian city-states of Venice, Florence, and Genoa were very rich from their trade with the Levant, yet possessed woefully small armies. In the event that foreign powers and envious neighbors attacked, the ruling nobles hired foreign mercenaries to fight for them. The military-service terms and conditions were stipulated in a "condotta" (contract) between the city-state and the soldiers (officer and enlisted man), thus, the "contracted" leader, the mercenary captain commanding, was titled the "Condottiere".  From the eleventh to the thirteenth century, European soldiers led by professional officers fought against the Muslims in the Crusades (1095–1291). These crusading officers provided large-scale warfare combat experience in the Holy Land. On the Crusades' conclusion, the first (bands of roving soldiers) appeared in Italy. Given the profession, some were less mercenaries than bandits and desperate men. These were not Italian, but (mostly) German, from the Duchy of Brabant (hence, ), and from Aragon. The latter were Spanish soldiers who had followed King Peter III of Aragon in the War of the Sicilian Vespers in Italy in October 1282, and, post-war, remained there, seeking military employment. By 1333 other mercenaries had arrived in Italy to fight with John of Bohemia as the (Company of the Dove) in Perugia's war against Arezzo. The first well organised mercenaries in Italy were the Ventura Companies of Duke Werner von Urslingen and Count Konrad von Landau. Werner's company differed from other mercenary companies because its code of military justice imposed discipline "and" an equal division of the contract's income. The Ventura Company increased in number until becoming the fearsome "Great Company" of some 3,000 (each comprised a knight and a sergeant).

Rise.

The first mercenary company with an Italian as its chief was the "Company of St. George" formed in 1339 and led by Lodrisio Visconti. This company was defeated and destroyed by Luchino Visconti of Milan (another condottiero and uncle of Lodrisio) in April 1339. Later, in 1377, a second "Company of St. George" was formed under the leadership of Alberico da Barbiano, also an Italian and the Count of Conio, who later taught military science to condottieri such as Braccio da Montone and Giacomuzzo Attendolo Sforza, who also served in the company.  Once aware of their military power monopoly in Italy, the condottieri bands became notorious for their capriciousness, and soon dictated terms to their ostensible employers. In turn, many condottieri, such as Braccio da Montone and Muzio Sforza, became powerful politicians. As most were educated men acquainted with Roman military science manuals (e.g. Vegetius's "Epitoma rei militarii"), they began viewing warfare from the perspective of military science, rather than as a matter of valor or physical courage—a great, consequential departure from chivalry, the traditional medieval model of soldiering. Consequently, the condottieri fought by outmanoeuvring the opponent and fighting his ability to wage war, rather than risking uncertain fortune—defeat, capture, death—in battlefield combat. The earlier, medieval condottieri developed the "art of war" (military strategy and tactics) into military science more than any of their historical military predecessors—fighting indirectly, not directly—thus, only reluctantly endangering themselves and their enlisted men, avoiding battle when possible, also avoiding hard work and winter campaigns, as these all reduced the total number of trained soldiers available, and were detrimental to their political and economic interest. Niccolò Machiavelli even said that condottieri fought each other in grandiose, but often pointless and near-bloodless battles. However, later in the Renaissance the condottieri line of battle still deployed the grand armoured knight and medieval weapons and tactics after most European powers had begun employing professional standing armies of pikemen and musketeers; this helped to contribute to their eventual decline and destruction.  In 1347, Cola di Rienzo (Tribune and effective dictator of the city) had Werner von Urslingen executed in Rome, and Konrad von Landau assumed command of the Great Company. On the conclusion (1360) of the Peace of Bretigny between England and France, Sir John Hawkwood led an army of English mercenaries, called the White Company, into Italy, which took a prominent part in the confused wars of the next thirty years. Towards the end of the century the Italians began to organize armies of the same description. This ended the reign of the purely mercenary company, and began that of the semi-national mercenary army which endured in Europe till replaced by the national standing army system. In 1363, Count von Landau was betrayed by his Hungarian soldiers, and defeated in combat, by the White Company's more advanced tactics under commanders Albert Sterz and John Hawkwood. Strategically, the was replaced with the three-soldier, mounted (a, a groom, and a boy); five composed a, five composed a (flag). By that time, the campaigning condottieri companies were as much Italian as foreign: the Astorre I Manfredi's (Company of the Star); a new (Company of St. George) under Ambrogio Visconti; Niccolò da Montefeltro's (Little Hat Company); and the (Company of the Rose), commanded by Giovanni da Buscareto and Bartolomeo Gonzaga.  From the fifteenth century hence, most "condottieri" were landless Italian nobles who had chosen the profession of arms as livelihood; the most famous of such mercenary captains was the son of Caterina Sforza, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, from Forlì, known as "The Last Condottiere"; his son was Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany; besides noblemen, "princes" also fought as condottieri, given the sizable income to their estates, notably Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, and Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino; despite war-time inflation, soldier's pay was high:  The condottieri company commanders selected the soldiers to enlist; the "condotta" was a consolidated contract, and, when the (service period) elapsed, the company entered an (wait) period, wherein the contracting city-state considered its renewal. If the expired definitively, the condottiere could not declare war against the contracting city-state for two years. This military–business custom was respected because professional reputation (business credibility) was everything to the condottieri; a deceived employer was a reputation ruined; likewise for maritime mercenaries, whose (contract of assent) stipulated naval military-service terms and conditions; sea captains and sailors so-contracted were called. Their principal employers were Genoa and the Papal States, beginning in the fourteenth century, yet Venice considered it humiliating to so employ military sailors, and did not use naval mercenaries, even during the greatest danger in the city's history.  In fifteenth-century Italy, the "condottieri" were masterful lords of war; during the wars in Lombardy, Machiavelli observed:  In 1487, at Calliano, the Venetians successfully met and acquitted themselves against the German landsknechte and the Swiss infantry, who then were the best soldiers in Europe.

Decline.

In time, the financial and political interests of the "condottieri" proved serious drawbacks to decisive, bloody warfare: the mercenary captains often were treacherous, tending to avoid combat, and "resolve" fights with a bribe – either for the opponent or for themselves. Towards the end of the 15th century, when the large cities had gradually swallowed up the small states, and Italy itself was drawn into the general current of European politics, and became the battlefield of powerful armies – French, Spanish and German – the venture captains, who in the end proved quite unequal to the gendarmerie of France and the improved troops of the Italian states, gradually disappeared. The soldiers of the condottieri were almost entirely heavy armoured cavalry (men-at-arms). Before 1400, they had little or nothing in common with the people among whom they fought, and their disorderly conduct and rapacity seem often to have exceeded that of medieval armies. They were always ready to change sides at the prospect of higher pay – the enemy of today might be the comrade-in-arms of tomorrow. Further, a prisoner was always more valuable than a dead enemy. As a consequence, their battles were often as bloodless as they were theatrical.  The age of firearms and weapons utilizing gunpowder further contributed to the decline of the "capitani di ventura". Although the mercenary forces were among the first to adapt to the emerging technologies on the battlefield, ultimately, the advent of firearms-governed warfare rendered their ceremonial fighting style obsolete. When battlefields shifted from chivalric confrontations characterized by ostentatious displays of power to an everyman's war, they were ill-prepared to adjust.

Captain generals.

In 1494, the French king Charles VIII's royal army invaded the Italian peninsula, initiating the Italian Wars. The most renowned condottieri fought for foreign powers: Gian Giacomo Trivulzio abandoned Milan for France, while Andrea Doria was Admiral of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In the end, failure was political, rather than military, stemming from disunity and political indecision, and, by 1550, the military service "condotta" had disappeared, while the term "condottiere" remained current, denominating the great Italian generals (mainly) fighting for foreign states; men such as Gian Giacomo Medici, Ambrogio Spinola, Alexander Farnese, Marcantonio II Colonna, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Prospero Colonna were prominent into the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries. The political practice of hiring foreign mercenaries, however, did not end. For example, the Vatican’s Swiss Guards are the modern remnants of a historically effective mercenary army.  The end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 and the birth of Westphalian sovereignty diminished Roman Catholic influence in Europe and led to the consolidation of large states, while Italy was fragmented and divided. The condottieri tradition greatly suffered the political and strategic decline of Italy and never recovered.

Condottieri (; singular "condottiero" or "condottiere") were Italian captains contracted to command mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served European monarchs and Popes during the Italian Wars of the Renaissance and the European Wars of Religion. Notable "condottieri" include Prospero Colonna, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Cesare Borgia, Andrea Doria, the Duke of Parma, and the Marquis of Pescara.

Apparu en Italie au Moyen Âge, un condottiere (au pluriel condottieres ou condottieri, de l'italien "condotta", contrat de louage), ou "capitano di ventura", est un chef d'armée de mercenaires. Il est de fait le chef de compagnies d'hommes d'armes.


Name.

Historically, Rijeka was also called Tharsatica, Vitopolis (), or Flumen () in Latin. The city is called "Rijeka" in Croatian, "Reka" in Slovene, and "Reka" or "Rika" in the

Geography.

Rijeka is located in western Croatia, southwest of the capital, Zagreb, on the coast of Kvarner Gulf (), in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea. Geographically, Rijeka is roughly equidistant from Milan (), Budapest (), Münich (), Vienna () and Belgrade (). The Bay of Rijeka, which is bordered by Vela Vrata (between Istria and the island of Cres), Srednja Vrata (between Cres

History.

Ancient and Medieval times.

Though traces of Neolithic settlements can be found in the region, the earliest modern settlements on the site were Celtic Tharsatica (modern Trsat, now part of Rijeka) on the hill, and the tribe of mariners, the Liburni, in the natural harbour below. The city long retained its dual character. Rijeka was first mentioned in the 1st century AD by Pliny the Elder as Tarsatica in his "Natural History" (iii.140).  In the time of Augustus, the Romans rebuilt Tharsatica as a "municipium" Flumen (MacMullen 2000), situated on the right bank of small river Rječina (whose name means "the big river"). It became a city within the Roman Province of Dalmatia until the 6th century.  After the 4th century Rijeka was rededicated to St. Vitus, the city's patron saint, as "Terra Fluminis sancti Sancti Viti" or in German "Sankt Veit am Pflaum". From the 5th century onwards, the

Under Habsburg sovereignty.

After coming under Habsburg rule in 1466, the town was attacked and plundered by Venetian forces in 1509. While Ottoman forces attacked the town several times, they never occupied it. From the 16th century onwards, Rijeka was largely rebuilt in its present Renaissance and Baroque style. Emperor Charles VI declared the Port of Rijeka a free port (together with the Port of Trieste) in 1719 and had the trade route to Vienna expanded in 1725.  By order of Empress Maria Theresa in 1779, the city was annexed to the Kingdom of Hungary and governed as "corpus separatum" directly from Budapest by an appointed governor, as

The "Fiume Question" and the Italian-Yugoslav dispute.

Habsburg-ruled Austria-Hungary's disintegration in October 1918 during the closing weeks of World War I led to the establishment of rival Croatian-Serbian and Italian administrations in the city; both Italy and the founders of the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) claimed sovereignty based on their "irredentist" ("unredeemed") ethnic populations.  After a brief military occupation by the Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes, followed by the unilateral annexation of the former Corpus Separatum by Belgrade, an international force of British, Italian,

The Regency of Carnaro.

On 10 September 1919, the Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed, declaring the Austro-Hungarian monarchy dissolved. Negotiations over the future of the city were interrupted two days later when a force of Italian nationalist irregulars led by the poet Gabriele d'Annunzio seized control of the city without casualties and wholeheartedly acclaimed by a part of the population. Because the Italian government, wishing to respect its international obligations, did not want to annex Fiume, d'Annunzio and the intellectuals at his side eventually established an independent state, the Italian Regency of Carnaro, a unique social experiment for the age and a revolutionary cultural experience in which various international intellectuals of diverse walks of life took part (like Osbert Sitwell, Arturo Toscanini, Henry Furst, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Harukichi Shimoi, Guglielmo Marconi, Alceste De Ambris, Léon Kochnitzky, Whitney Warren).  Among the many political experiments that took place during

The Free State of Fiume.

In a subsequent democratic election the Fiuman electorate on 24 April 1921 approved the idea of a free state of Fiume-Rijeka with a Fiuman-Italo-Yugoslav consortium ownership structure for the port, giving an overwhelming victory to the independentist candidates of the Autonomist Party. Fiume became consequently a full-fledged member of the League of Nations and the ensuing election of Rijeka's first president, Riccardo Zanella, was met with official recognition and greetings from all major powers and countries worldwide. Despite many positive developments leading to the establishment of the new state's structures, the subsequent formation of a constituent assembly for the state did not put an end to strife within the city. A brief Italian nationalist seizure of

The territory of Fiume part of the Kingdom of Italy.

With the Treaty of Rome (27 January 1924) between the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the two countries agreed to annex and split the territory of the Free State of Fiume between themselves. The formal annexation (16 March 1924) inaugurated 19 years of Italian fascist rule and the city became the seat of the newly formed Province of Carnaro. In this period Fiume lost

During World War II and the German Operational Zone.

At the beginning of World War II Rijeka immediately found itself in an awkward position. The city was overwhelmingly Italian, but its immediate surroundings and the city of Sušak, just across the Rječina river (today a part of Rijeka proper) were inhabited almost exclusively by Croatians and part of a potentially hostile power – Yugoslavia. Once the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Croatian areas surrounding the city were occupied by the Italian military, setting the stage for an intense and bloody insurgency which would last until the end

Aftermath of World War II.

The city's fate was again resolved by a combination of force and diplomacy. Despite the requests of the Fiuman government in exile and the initial promises of large autonomy for the city by the Yugoslav authorities (up to it becoming a Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), the city became part of Yugoslavia (within the federal state of Croatia). The situation was formalised by the Paris peace treaty between Italy and the wartime Allies on 10 February 1947, despite the protests of the last democratically elected government and its president in exile Riccardo Zanella, and the attempts by experienced Italian foreign minister Carlo Sforza to uphold the previous Wilsonian plans for a Free State solution, with a local headquarter for the newly created United Nations. Once the change to Yugoslav sovereignty was formalised, and in particular in the years leading to the Trieste Crisis of

Rijeka's International Carnival.

The Rijeka Carnival Croatian: "Riječki karneval") is held each year before Lent (between late January and early March) in Rijeka, Croatia. Established in 1982, it has become the biggest carnival in Croatia. Every year there are numerous events preceding the carnival itself. First the mayor of Rijeka gives the symbolic key of the city to Meštar Toni, who is "the maestro" of the carnival, and he becomes the mayor of the city during the carnival, although this is only figuratively. Same day, there is an election of the carnival queen. As all the cities around Rijeka have their own events during the carnival time, Queen and Meštar Toni are attending most of them.  Also, every

Demographics.

In the census of 2011, the city proper had a population of 128,624, which included: Other groups, including Slovenes and

Panoramas.

Panoramic view of Rijeka from Opatija:  Panoramic

Notable people from Rijeka.

Scientists, professors and inventors  Arts and culture

Climate.

The terrain configuration, with mountains rising steeply just a few kilometres inland from the shores of the Adriatic, provides for some striking climatic and landscape contrasts within a small geographic area. Beaches can be enjoyed throughout summer in a typically Mediterranean setting along the coastal areas of the city to the east (Pećine, Kostrena) and west (Kantrida, Preluk). At the same time, the ski resort of Platak, located only about from

Transport.

The Port of Rijeka is the largest port in Croatia, with a cargo throughput in 2017 of 12.6 million tonnes, mostly crude oil and refined petroleum products, general cargo and bulk cargo, and 260,337 Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The port is managed by the Port of Rijeka Authority. The first record of a port in Rijeka date back to 1281, and in 1719, the Port of Rijeka was granted a charter as a free port. There are ferry connections between Rijeka and the surrounding islands and cities, but no direct international passenger ship connections. There are coastal lines to Split and onward to Dubrovnik, which operate twice weekly and have international connections.  The city is difficult to get to by air outside of the tourist season. The city's own international airport, Rijeka Airport is located on the nearby island of Krk across the tolled Krk Bridge. Buses, with a journey time of approximately 45 minutes, operate from Rijeka city center and nearby Opatija, with a schedule based on the planned arrival and departure times of flights. Handling 200,841 passengers in 2019, the facility

Sports.

The history of Rijeka's organised sports started between 1885 and 1888 with the foundation of the Club Alpino Fiumano in 1885, the Young American Cycle Club in 1887 (the first club of this American league to be founded in a foreign land), and the Nautico Sport Club Quarnero in 1888 by the Hungarian minority of the city. Even earlier, in 1873, following the initiative by Robert Whitehead, the first football match to be disputed in today's Republic of Croatia territory was played in Rijeka: the Hungarian Railways team and the English engineers-led team of the Stabilimento Tecnico di Fiume (later Torpedo Factory of Fiume). The first football club in Fiume was founded under the name of Fiumei Atletikai Club.  Today, HNK Rijeka are the city's main football team.

International relations.

Twin towns – sister cities.

Rijeka is

In popular culture.

The German western Winnetou movies from the 1960s, based on Karl May novels, were in part filmed on location in the outskirts of Rijeka.  Marvel's villain Purple Man originates from this city, and has been present in many of the character's stories.  The setting of the 1970s cartoon series "Professor Balthazar" was inspired by Rijeka.  The 1980s American TV series "The Winds of War" was in part filmed in Rijeka and the surrounding areas.  A stylised version of Fiume during the 1920s was one of the main settings in the 1992 movie "Porco Rosso" by world acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, as the town in front of which the fantastical "Hotel Adriano" is found and to which it is connected by a boat service taken by the protagonist.  Bruce Sterling's November 2016 novel, written in collaboration with Warren Ellis, "Pirate Utopia", a dieselpunk alternative history, is set in Fiume (now Rijeka) in 1920 during the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro.  The TV series "Novine" ("The Paper"), which has been streaming on Netflix since April 2018, is based in Rijeka and the city was used as the main filming location.

Rijeka (,, ;, ; ; ) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,624 inhabitants. Historically, because of its strategic position and its excellent deep-water port, the city was fiercely contested, especially among Italy, Hungary (serving as the Kingdom of Hungary's largest and most important port), and Croatia, changing hands and demographics many times over centuries. According to the 2011 census data, the majority of its citizens are Croats, along with a large minority of Serbs, and smaller numbers of Bosniaks and Italians.

Rijeka, en italien Fiume, est une ville et une municipalité située sur la baie de Kvarner en Croatie, le chef-lieu du Comitat de Primorje-Gorski Kotar. Au recensement de 2001, la municipalité comptait — dont 80,39 % de Croates, 6,21 % de Serbes et 1,92 % d'Italiens — la ville seule,. C'est la principale ville portuaire du pays. Rijeka a de plus été choisie comme capitale européenne de la culture pour 2020.


Biography.

Early years.

Louis Armand was born in Cruseilles, Haute-Savoie, and studied in Annecy and in Lyon at the Lycée du Parc. He graduated second in his class from the École Polytechnique (class of 1924), then joined the Corps des Mines and was major from École des Mines. He married his wife, Genevieve Gazel, in 1928.

Career.

He joined the Compagnie du chemin de fer Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) in 1934, transferring to the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) when the PLM was nationalised in 1938. In 1940–1941 he invented a method for preventing the calcification, furring up, of engine boilers called the "Traitement Integral Armand" (TIA) water treatment process for steam locomotives.  During the Second World War he organized and led the Resistance group named Résistance-Fer, from February 1943 onwards. He was arrested by the Gestapo on 25 June 1944. He was liberated from jail during the liberation of Paris, and was decorated with the Croix de la Liberation.  In 1949, Armand was named the general manager of the SNCF and created the Société du tunnel sous la Manche in 1957. During this time, he pushed for the electrification of the rail system using AC voltage.  From 1958 to 1959, he managed the European atomic energy commission (Euratom), having inspired its creation.  In the late 1960s, after May 1968 in Paris, Louis Armand was instrumental in helping Christian LeClercq and the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Brussels to start a new European thinktank and membership organization: "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow". This non-profit and non political organization was soon going to leave the Junior Chamber of Commerce to become independent. To help that organization, Louis Armand, as a visionary global thinker, provided access to some of the best "global leaders" in international business, world politics, academia and scientific research who addressed the Forum, under the royal guidance of Baudouin I of Belgium.  "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" soon developed chapters in Denmark, France, Switzerland and the United States, allowing some of the most brilliant minds of the time to address corporate executives and share their views about the future of the world.  Louis Armand wrote a book on "l'Entreprise de Demain" in 1970, and the history of the organization was also published in the "Que Sais-Je?" collection. In 1971, Louis Armand successfully pushed to have the word "creativity" included in the French dictionary.  Armand died in Villers-sur-Mer, at 66.  Without the visionary inspiration and guidance of Louis Armand, "L'Entreprise de Demain - Forum for Tomorrow" could never have been formed. The worldwide organization lasted for well over 20 years. Its founder and international president, Christian LeClercq, died in July 2011.

Louis Armand (17 January 1905 – 30 August 1971) was a French engineer who managed several public companies, and had a significant role during World War II as an officer in the Resistance. He was the first chair of Euratom and was elected to the Académie française in 1963.

Louis Armand, né à Cruseilles (Haute-Savoie) le et mort le à Villers-sur-Mer (Calvados), est ingénieur, haut fonctionnaire et résistant français.


Nomenclature.

"α Draconis" (Latinised to "Alpha Draconis") is the star's Bayer designation.  The traditional name "Thuban" is derived from the Arabic word "", 'large snake' (e.g. a python or a legendary draconian serpent). It is sometimes known as the "Dragon's Tail" and as "Adib". In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included "Thuban" for this star. It is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.  In Chinese, (), meaning "Right Wall of Purple Forbidden Enclosure", refers to an asterism consisting of Alpha Draconis, Kappa Draconis, Lambda Draconis, 24 Ursae Majoris, 43 Camelopardalis, Alpha Camelopardalis and BK Camelopardalis. Consequently, the Chinese name for Alpha Draconis itself is (,.), representing (), meaning "Right Pivot". 右樞 (Yòushū) is westernized into "Yu Choo" by R.H. Allen with the same meaning.

Visibility.

Given good viewing conditions, Thuban is relatively easy to spot in the night sky, due to its location in relation to the Big Dipper (aka the Plough) asterism of Ursa Major. While it is well known that the two outer stars of the 'dipper' point to the modern-day pole star Polaris, it is less well known that the two inner stars, Phecda and Megrez, point to Thuban, just 15 degrees of arc from Megrez. Thuban is not bright enough to be viewed from badly light-polluted areas.

Pole star.

Due to the precession of Earth's rotational axis, Thuban was the naked-eye star closest to the north pole from 3942 BCE, when it superseded Iota Draconis as the Pole Star, until 1793 BCE, when it was superseded by Kappa Draconis. It was closest to the pole in 2830 BCE, when it was less than ten arc-minutes away from the pole. It remained within one degree of celestial north for nearly 200 years afterwards, and even 900 years after its closest approach, was just five degrees off the pole. Thuban was considered the pole star until about 1800 BCE, when the much brighter Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab) began to approach the pole as well.  Having gradually drifted away from the pole over the last 4,800 years, Thuban is now seen in the night sky at a declination of 64° 20' 45.6", RA 14h 04m 33.58s. After moving nearly 47 degrees off the pole by 10000 CE, Thuban will gradually move back toward the north celestial pole. In 20346 CE, it will again be the pole star, that year reaching a maximum declination of, at right ascension.

Binary system.

Thuban is a single-lined spectroscopic binary. Only the primary star can be detected in the spectrum. The radial velocity variations of the primary can be measured and the pair have a somewhat eccentric orbit of 51.4 days. Making some assumptions based on the faintness of the secondary, the stars are likely to be about 0.46 astronomical units apart and the secondary is a little less massive than the primary. The secondary is likely to be a main sequence star slightly cooler than the primary, possibly an A2 spectral class.  The secondary star was detected in high spatial resolution observations using the Navy Precision Optical Interferometer. The secondary star is 1.8 magnitudes (at 700 nm) fainter than the primary star and was detected at separations ranging from 6.2 to 2.6 milli-arcseconds. Eclipses were detected using data obtained with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The presence of eclipses places Thuban into the class of binaries known as eclipsing binaries.

Properties.

Thuban has a spectral class of A0III, indicating its similarity to Vega in temperature and spectrum, but more luminous and more massive. It has been used as an MK spectral standard for the A0III type.  Thuban is not a main sequence star; it has now ceased hydrogen fusion in its core. That makes it a white giant star, being 120 times more luminous than the Sun. It is 300 light years away and its brightness is only decreased by 0.003 magnitudes by intervening gas and dust.

Popular culture.

The United States Navy ship was built in 1943 and decommissioned in 1967.  Thuban has featured in works of fiction.

Thuban, designation Alpha Draconis (α Draconis, abbreviated Alpha Dra, α Dra), is a star (or star system) in the constellation of Draco. A relatively inconspicuous star in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere, it is historically significant as having been the north pole star from the 4th to 2nd millennium BCE.

Alpha Draconis (α Draconis / Thuban) est une étoile de la constellation du Dragon. Bien qu'étant la de la constellation par ordre d'éclat, elle est probablement la plus connue car elle indiquait le pôle nord céleste il y a ans.


History.

Chabrey is first mentioned in 1343 as "Charbrey".

Geography.

Chabrey has an area,, of. Of this area, or 43.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 36.4% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 7.6% is settled (buildings or roads), or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and or 11.4% is unproductive land.  Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 4.3% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 36.1% is used for growing crops and 4.5% is pastures, while 3.0% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is in lakes.  The municipality was part of the Avenches District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006, and Chabrey became part of the new district of Broye-Vully.  The municipality is located along the shore of Lake Neuchâtel.

Coat of arms.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is "Gules, on a bend Argent an badger proper."

Demographics.

Chabrey has a population () of 267., 7.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 32.2%. It has changed at a rate of 33.7% due to migration and at a rate of 0% due to births and deaths.  Most of the population () speaks French (171 or 86.4%), with German being second most common (23 or 11.6%) and Portuguese being third (2 or 1.0%).  Of the population in the municipality 76 or about 38.4% were born in Chabrey and lived there in 2000. There were 30 or 15.2% who were born in the same canton, while 70 or 35.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 19 or 9.6% were born outside of Switzerland.  In there was 1 live birth to Swiss citizens and were 2 deaths of Swiss citizens. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 17 and the non-Swiss population increased by 4 people. This represents a population growth rate of 8.8%.  The age distribution,, in Chabrey is; 29 children or 10.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 33 teenagers or 12.4% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 25 people or 9.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 44 people or 16.5% are between 30 and 39, 43 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 44 people or 16.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 25 people or 9.4% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 14 people or 5.2% are between 70 and 79,there are 9 people or 3.4% who are 80 and 89, and there is 1 person who is 90 and older. , there were 83 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 91 married individuals, 15 widows or widowers and 9 individuals who are divorced. , there were 81 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. There were 28 households that consist of only one person and 10 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 82 households that answered this question, 34.1% were households made up of just one person. Of the rest of the households, there are 19 married couples without children, 29 married couples with children There were 2 single parents with a child or children. There were 3 households that were made up of unrelated people and 1 household that was made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.  The historical population is given in the following chart:

World heritage site.

The prehistoric settlement at Pointe de Montbec I is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Politics.

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 41.74% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (23.46%), the FDP (11.69%) and the Green Party (6.94%). In the federal election, a total of 66 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 38.8%.

Economy.

, Chabrey had an unemployment rate of 5.4%., there were 17 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 5 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 3 businesses in this sector. 21 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 12 businesses in this sector. There were 96 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.8% of the workforce. , there were 9 workers who commuted into the municipality and 56 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 6.2 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. Of the working population, 8.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 57.3% used a private car.

Religion.

From the, 32 or 16.2% were Roman Catholic, while 131 or 66.2% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there was 1 individual who belongs to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 9 individuals (or about 4.55% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were There were and 1 individual who belonged to another church. 21 (or about 10.61% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3 individuals (or about 1.52% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education.

In Chabrey about 65 or (32.8%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 15 or (7.6%) have completed additional higher education (either University or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 15 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.0% were Swiss men, 33.3% were Swiss women.  In the 2009/2010 school year there were a total of 37 students in the Chabrey school district. In the Vaud cantonal school system, two years of non-obligatory pre-school are provided by the political districts. During the school year, the political district provided pre-school care for a total of 155 children of which 83 children (53.5%) received subsidized pre-school care. The canton's primary school program requires students to attend for four years. There were 19 students in the municipal primary school program. The obligatory lower secondary school program lasts for six years and there were 18 students in those schools. , there were 32 students from Chabrey who attended schools outside the municipality.

Chabrey is a former municipality in the district of Broye-Vully in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The municipalities of Bellerive, Chabrey, Constantine, Montmagny, Mur, Vallamand and Villars-le-Grand merged on 1 July 2011 into the new municipality of Vully-les-Lacs.

Chabrey est une ancienne commune et une localité suisse de la commune de Vully-les-Lacs du canton de Vaud, située dans le district de la Broye-Vully.


Life.

As a descendant of the Huguenot noble family Vallot, which originates in South of France, Paul Wallot was born on 26 June 1841 at Krämerstraße 7 in Oppenheim. In the years 1856 to 1859 he attended the Technische Universität Darmstadt. He then studied for a year at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover with Conrad Wilhelm Hase and moved to the Berlin Bauakademie in 1861. He graduated from University of Giessen with Hugo von Ritgen.  Following his studies, Wallot worked for a year as a 'Bauakzessist' in Hessen. Between the years 1864 and 1868 he worked again in Berlin with the architects Heinrich Strack, Richard Lucae and Friedrich Hitzig. Wallot was also able to sit in the common studio of the architects Martin Gropius and Heino Schmieden.  From 1867 to 1868, Wallot undertook extensive study trips through Italy and the Great Britain. In the year of his return, he settled in Frankfurt am Main as an independent architect. In this function, he was responsible for various private and commercial buildings and became a member of the Masonic lodge "Socrates to fortitude". In Frankfurt he also worked with the architects Heinrich Burnitz and Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli.  In 1872, Wallot undertook a second study trip to Italy, where he became particularly interested in works by the architects Andrea Palladio and Michele Sanmicheli. After returning from this trip, he took part in various architectural competitions, such as, the Frankfurt Central Station in 1880 and the Niederwald Monument in 1883. However, his applications were not successful.  Wallot made his breakthrough when he won the second competition for the Reichstag building in Berlin victorious in 1882. With his colleague Friedrich von Thiersch, Wallot shared the competition's first prize, but his design was almost unanimously voted by the jury. In 1883, Wallot settled in Berlin to better monitor the construction. On 9 June 1884, the foundation ceremony was celebrated, and a ten years later, on 5 December, 1894, the capstone was set solemnly. The glazed iron dome above an official building, such as the Reichstag building, was astonishing and can be described as progressive in view of the further developments in architecture. Nevertheless, the construction was highly controversial throughout its construction period. With its original height of 67 meters, the dome was higher than that of the Stadtschloss, Berlin. In the construction commission for the Reichstag building sat competitors who were inferior to him in the competition. Kaiser Wilhelm II called the Reichstag building "Reichsaffenhaus ", (Reich monkey house), which, however, also referred to the democratic legal form of parliamentarism.  A key scene of the dispute between Wallot and Wilhelm II is a visit by Wilhelm II in Wallot's studio. During his visit, Wilhelm grabbed a pen, edited the floor plan of the Reichstag building only to then tell the eighteen-years older Wallot “My son, this is how we do it.” Wallot replied "Your Majesty, that will not work!" In addition, the building commission made several major changes to the building, since not only the wishes of the Prussian government, but above all those of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, Friedrich III. and Wilhelm II had to be considered.  In 1889, Wallot had already thought about the interior design and contracted the painter Franz von Stuck (two monumental ceiling paintings) and the sculptor Adolf von Hildebrand (two ballot boxes). When the drafts were presented on in the Reichstag on 1 March 1899 and were to be voted on, there were tumultuous scenes. Spokesman of the critics was the Philipp Ernst Maria Lieber of the Center Party from Bad Camberg. The rejection was so great that Wallot resigned the same day as head of the Decoration Commission. Thereupon Lieber was accepted in this commission. The designs of the paintings and the urns have disappeared from this day.  Probably since Wallot had rejected in 1889 a change request Wilhelm II, the relationship between the two was disturbed. The emperor refused the architect, despite different recommendations, several awards. In 1894, Wallot received only the small gold medal, not the Roter Adlerorden, but only the title of Geheimer Baurat instead of the great gold medal of the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung] " he was awarded in 1894 for his services to the Reichstag. At the same time he accepted teaching assignments at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and at Dresden University of Technology, which he held until 1911. In Dresden, the new building of the Saxonian Estates Houses on the Brühlsche Terrasse was also transferred to him. Oswin Hempel, Karl Paul Andrae and Wilhelm Fränkel were some of his disciples.  From Dresden he also directed from 1897 to 1907 the establishment of the presidential building of the Reichstag. In the years 1898 and 1899, Paul Wallot led the competition for the construction of Bismarck monuments in the German Reich, which had proclaimed the German Student Union. In 1911 he resigned all offices and retired. He retired to his retirement home in Biebrich on the Rhine. During a stay at the spa, Paul Wallot died at the age of 71 on August 10, 1912 in Langenschwalbach, today the county seat of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Bad Schwalbach. His burial took place in the family grave in Oppenheim, which was designed by Alfred Friedrich Bluntschli.

Johann Paul Wallot (26 June 1841 Oppenheim am Rhein – 10 August 1912 Bad Schwalbach) was a German architect of Huguenot descent, best known for designing the Reichstag building in Berlin, erected between 1884 and 1894. He also built the adjacent Palace of the President of the Reichstag, finished in 1904, and the former Saxon "Ständehaus" state diet building of 1906 at Brühl's Terrace in Dresden.

Paul Wallot ( - ), né à Oppenheim, est l'architecte allemand qui remporta en 1882 le concours pour le palais du Reichstag de Berlin, qui demeura son unique œuvre célèbre.


Early professional career.

From 1968 to 1978, before dedicating his life to his political career, Michel taught English, Dutch and German in the Provincial School of Jodoigne, a rural town 25 miles from Brussels.

Political career.

From 1967 to 1977, Michel was chairman of the "Young Liberals" in the district of Nivelles. Then he became alderman in Jodoigne from 1977 to 1983, "secretary-general" of the Parti Réformateur Libéral (PRL) political party from 1980 to 1982 and chairman of the PRL from 1982 to 1990 and from 1995 to 1999.  He was a member of the Belgian federal parliament from 1978 to 2004, first as a representative (1978–1999) and then as a senator (1999–2004).

Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1999–2004.

Michel was the Belgian foreign minister and Vice Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004. During his time in office, he pursued former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for crimes against humanity and played an active role in trying to bring peace to the war-weary Great Lakes region of central Africa.  In July 2004, the Verhofstadt government appointed Michel as its candidate for the Belgian seat on the European Commission led by José Manuel Durão Barroso, to replace former commissioner Philippe Busquin. He was nominated on 12 August 2004 to become EU commissioner starting in November 2004.  As part of a political agreement, Busquin resigned early in September 2004 to give Louis Michel an early opportunity to serve on the European Commission. Michel completed Busquin's term as the European Commissioner for Science and Research and then served as the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Development.  He is also the mayor of the municipality of Jodoigne in Walloon Brabant and has been since 1983.  In 2006, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him to a High-level Panel on United Nations Systemwide Coherence, which was set up to explore how the United Nations system could work more coherently and effectively across the world in the areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment.  Michel withdrew himself from the Commission between the 12 May and the 10 June 2007 to take care of his political party because of the elections of 10 June 2007. He resigned as Commissioner in July 2009 to become a Member of the European Parliament.

Member of the European Parliament, 2009–2019.

Throughout his time as Member of the European Parliament, Michel served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. From 2016 until 2017, he was part of the Committee of Inquiry into Money Laundering, Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion (PANA) that investigated the Panama Papers revelations and tax avoidance schemes more broadly.  In addition to his committee assignments, Michel co-presided over the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly which advises on the orientations of co-operation policies between the EU and its partners in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. He was also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights; the European Parliament Intergroup on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights; and the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system. He supported the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that will help reduce the burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).  Michel is also a member of the Fondation Chirac's honour committee, ever since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac to promote world peace.

Political issues.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo dossier.

Michel has been interested in the Central Africa situation and busy with the Democratic Republic of the Congo dossier since he became Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs (1999–2004) and European Commissioner in charge of the Development & Humanitarian Aid in the Barroso Commission.  Congo was a Belgian colony between 1908 and 1960. Since then, the relations between Brussels and Kinshasa have been tumultuous. They have included such events as the secession of Katanga backed by Belgium, the murder of the Prime Minister Lumumba by the Belgian secret services, the expulsion of the Belgian ambassador in the 1960s, the banning of the Sabena company from landing in Kinshasa, and "authentic Zaïrian" policy. The father of Joseph Kabila, Laurent-Désiré Kabila had very bad relations with Brussels. Many rumours accuse Louis Michel of having used Joseph Kabila as a puppet since his father was murdered in 2001. Therefore, the media has described in a very suspicious way the good relations between Louis Michel and Joseph Kabila.  Since 2001, Michel has encouraged the peace process for the Democratic Republic of the Congo that officially put an end to the Second Congo War by establishing a Transitional government (June 2003 – June 2006). The two main missions of this government were to maintain the peace by integrating all the militias into the unified army and to bring the country to elections on 30 June 2006 having ratified the new constitution by referendum.  In a lecture on 17 January 2008 (entitled Africa-Europe: the indispensable partnership) at the London School of Economics, Michel faced Congolese protestors who accused him of being complicit in Kabila's assassination and installing a puppet government in the Congo. The meeting was abandoned shortly before its scheduled end as the chair found it impossible to continue with the interruptions.  In a 2010 magazine interview Michel stated, "Leopold II was a true visionary for his time, a hero." The comment was negatively received in the Congo.

Lebanon.

After the Israeli-Lebanese conflict in 2006 the Commissioner visited Lebanon and called for €30 million to repair the damage there. The Parliament's development committee was cautious though about the expenditure and he was also criticised for his slow response with one MEP comparing him to "a fireman who arrives at the scene after the fire has gone out". In the same debate MEPs attacked the Commissioner for "appearing partial in the Congolese elections" in describing Joseph Kabila as "the hope of Congo". Michel responded by saying he would have said the same about any candidate in the democratic elections.

Controversy.

Michel caused some mild controversy in 2007 among MEPs when it became known that he is to take leave from his work to compete in Belgian elections. Generally Commissioners are meant to remain above national politics and the European Parliament's development committee asked the Parliament's legal service to assess if his participation violates the treaties. During his absence (12 May 2007 onwards), Commissioner Rehn took over his duties.  In 2010, Michel called King Leopold II of Belgium, the Congo Free State's colonial master responsible for the deaths of between 3 million and 10 million Congolese Africans, a "visionary hero." Guy Verhofstadt, then leader of the Liberals in the European Parliament, refused to comment on Michel's controversial remarks.  In November 2010, Michel led a delegation of 50 MEPs on an eight-day trip to an ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Kinshasa, whose total cost to the Parliament's administrative budget was €1.03 million, an average cost per MEP of €20,511. It was the costliest parliamentary delegation trip outside the EU in 2010.

Louis Hortense Omer Charles Michel (born 2 September 1947) is a Belgian politician. He served in the government of Belgium as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004 and was European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid from 2004 to 2009. From 2009 to 2019, he was a Member of the European Parliament. Michel is a prominent member of the French-speaking liberal party, the "Mouvement Réformateur". He is the father of Charles Michel, the previous Prime Minister of Belgium.

Louis Michel, né le à Tirlemont, est un homme politique belge du Mouvement réformateur (MR), également député européen. Il a été membre du Parlement belge de 1978 à 2004 (en tant que député puis sénateur), vice-Premier ministre et ministre des Affaires étrangères et de la réforme institutionnelle de 1999 à 2004, et commissaire européen à la recherche puis au Développement et à l'Aide humanitaire dans la Commission Barroso.


Publication history.

The comic was published in August 1999, monthly at first by Top Cow/Image Comics, and then under the Joe's Comics imprint. Within a few months, however, there were unscheduled artist changes and unexplained delays by Top Cow in shipping the comics—sometimes lasting months.  The comic itself came to an unexpected halt after issue 21 due to internal arguments between Straczynski and Top Cow. Straczynski claimed he was cut out of the loop on the potential "Rising Stars" movie. After communication broke down between them, he held back the scripts for the last three issues, and the entire comic was put on hold. In addition to an apology for the way Straczynski was treated in regard to the possible film, Top Cow relented by giving him the full rights to an anthology comic he had written for them, "Dream Police" (later published by Marvel Comics), as well as the rights to the name and logo for the Joe's Comics imprint.  The last issue of "Rising Stars" was published in March 2005. During the intervening time, Straczynski had gone on to write a revamp of Marvel's "Squadron Supreme", "Supreme Power".

Story.

The story is narrated from the future by the last living Special, John Simon, nicknamed "Poet". The genesis of the Specials is shown to be the unforgettable descent of a fierce comet from the heavens. The story starts when the Specials are all grown up, but it constantly flashes back to when they were children. Through these flashbacks, the development of these 113 Specials is shown, starting with the government's monitoring and handling of the events, to the manifestation of their powers, to the impact of these abilities on the afflicted children and the world around them. Some of the Specials use their powers for the good of the world, others for personal benefit and fame, while others simply wish to forget about them and live a normal life.  A series of murders of the Specials spurs John to investigate. He learns that when a Special dies, their "energy" transfers to the remaining Specials, making each more powerful. This fact had become known to a Special with multiple personality disorder, who calls herself Critical Maas. It emerges that Maas has been manipulating "Patriot" (the alter ego of Jason Miller) to kill other Specials so her own power would be increased. At the instigation of Maas, the U.S. government also attacks the Specials, killing more. With her newly increased powers, Maas and a handful of Specials under her telepathic control are able to conquer Chicago, claiming it for themselves.  Ten years pass and John, his half-brother Randy Fisk (alter ego: Ravenshadow), Elizabeth Chandra, and Joshua Kane (alter ego: Sanctuary) lead the rest of the Specials in an attempt to liberate Chicago after the U.S. government promises that all charges against them will be dropped. Maas is defeated, but at a price: Matthew Bright, who had been sent by the government to assist in her defeat, is beaten into a coma by Patriot, while the latter was still under Maas' control.  Seeing that internecine conflict was not what they were empowered for, John proclaims that he wants them all to act as a unit so they can help humanity. The violence in Chicago affected the rest of the Specials as well and they all agree to assist John in his mission.  Another ten years pass, and their mission is almost complete. Humanity has been helped by the Specials, and more importantly, has been given the confidence and resources to further help themselves. But after Randy Fisk wins the Presidency, elements in the U.S. government, seeing the Specials as a threat to their power, plot to assassinate the remaining few.  A bomb, specifically designed to destroy even the most powerful Special, is set off during a gathering of almost all the Specials, excepting John who is busy working on a secret project. All present are killed, including Randy and John's lover, Elizabeth Chandra.  The released power is initially distributed amongst all the people of the world, instantly curing all forms of illness and injury. It also grants everyone limited telepathy, bringing an end to all wars, violence, and strife as people become aware of the thoughts and feelings of those they had previously viewed as their enemies. Those involved in the mass assassination voluntarily come forward and confess. For 24 hours, not a single human being dies.  After that blessed 24 hours, the power soars into the sky and seeks out John, giving him all its power and knocking him out for seven days. He uses that power to provide energy for the project he had been working on: a space ship that travels near the speed of light.  The immense power within John directs the ship to yet another world, an alien planet much like Earth. John's ship erupts into a fireball, strikingly similar to the one that had empowered the Specials, as it comes crashing down onto the planet's surface. It can be assumed that a process similar to what happened with the Specials would happen to this planet's populace. The circle has been completed.

Characters.

Specials.

There are 113 Specials, with the story focusing on a select few and often featuring appearances by others.  At first, the Specials possessed varying levels of power, ranging from the clearly superhuman, such as Matthew Bright and Jason Miller, to almost negligible abilities like being invisible when not in direct sunlight. However, when a Special died, the energy they possessed was evenly distributed among the rest, making them stronger. In an incident similar to the Waco Siege, a number of Specials were killed. The resultant transfer of energy, later known as the Surge, was enough to turn all specials regardless of their standing into high powered individuals.

Spin-offs.

"Rising Stars: Bright".

The first "Rising Stars" spin-off, a three-issue miniseries, written by Fiona Avery, penciled by Dan Jurgens and published in Feb–Apr 2003, is about Matthew Bright's rookie years as a police officer in the NYPD under the name Brendan Miller, after he left Pederson.

"Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead".

The six-issue miniseries "Rising Stars: Voices of the Dead" features Lionel Zerb, a Special who can see dead people, and was published in Apr–Dec 2005. It was again written by Fiona Avery, with pencils by Staz Johnson and Al Rio. It concentrates on various mysteries Lionel uncovers because of his ability.

"Rising Stars: Untouchable".

The five-issue miniseries "Rising Stars: Untouchable" features Laurel Darkhaven, a Special who worked for the CIA as an assassin. Written by Fiona Avery with pencils by Brent Anderson. Published February 2006 – June 2006.

Collected editions.

Typical of Straczynski, the beginning and end of the story were planned before he wrote the first issue. It was set to span 24 issues, and neatly divide up into three acts. Each trade paperback collects one of those acts.  All the publications are collected in one volume:

In other media.

Film adaptation.

In 2016, MGM optioned Rising Stars, with Straczynski slated to write the script and Alex Gartner and Richard Suckle to produce for Atlas Entertainment.

Novelization.

Between 2002 and 2005, a novelization of "Rising Stars" by Arthur Byron Cover was published in a three-volume series.

Rising Stars is a 24-issue comic book limited series written by J. Michael Straczynski about 113 people (called "Specials") born with special abilities following the appearance of a mysterious light in the sky above Pederson, Illinois. The series explores how society may react to the advent of superpowers, and how those who are Specials may react towards society and each other. "Rising Stars" was one of the first comics produced under Straczynski's own "Joe's Comics" imprint for Top Cow Productions.

Rising Stars est une série de comics américaine, écrite par le scénariste Joe Michael Straczynski. Elle a été dessinée successivement par Gary Frank, Livesay, Keu Cha, Christian Zanier, Ken Lashley, Dave Finch, Stuart Immonen et Brent Anderson. Elle est publiée par le label Top Cow Productions des éditions Image Comics aux États-Unis, et chez Semic en France. La série a été reprise chez Delcourt, y compris la fin inédite. La traduction en a été assurée par Stephane Deschamps, puis Alex Nikolavitch à partir du n°11.


Description.

Alexanders is a stout biennial growing to high, with a solid stem which becomes hollow and grooved with age. The leaves are bluntly toothed, the segments ternately divided the segments flat, not fleshy.

Habitat.

The plant is common on waste ground and field margins, especially near the sea, where it may also be found on cliff paths and near the shore.

Distribution.

Alexanders is native to continental Europe and has long been naturalised in Britain and Ireland where it is widely dispersed and - in addition to other disturbed habitats - commonly found on the sites of medieval monastery gardens as a persistent relic of former cultivation. Irish localities include: Counties Down, Antrim and Londonderry and throughout most of Ireland.

Culinary uses.

Alexanders is native to the Mediterranean but is able to thrive farther north. The plant was introduced to the UK by the Romans, who called it the ‘pot herb of Alexandria.’ Every part of the plant is edible. The flowers are yellow-green in colour and arranged in umbels, and its fruits are black. It flowers from April to June. Alexanders is intermediate in flavor between celery and parsley. It was once used in many dishes, either blanched, or not, but it has now been replaced by celery. The black seeds have a taste that has been described as both spicy or peppery.  They were used in medieval cuisine in place of a bitter type of celery. One 17th century text describes young shoots used in salads or a "vernal pottage" and an early 18th century recipe recorded by Caleb Threlkeld for Irish Lenten Potage includes alexanders, watercress and nettles. Alexanders fell out of favour in the 18th century after celery started being mass produced to replace wild herbs and vegetables. Alexanders are not commonly used as a food product in the modern era, but have found some renewed use in exotic "foraged" food recipes and restaurants. Look for this tall plant on cliff paths; the first seaside greenery of the year. Roman soldiers would carry the plant on long journeys, as they could eat the leaves, the stems, the roots, and the buds.

Fodder plant.

Alexanders is a feed source much appreciated by horses.

Medicinal use.

The plant is used as traditional medicine in China.

Smyrnium olusatrum, common name Alexanders, is an edible cultivated flowering plant of the family Apiaceae (or Umbelliferae). It is also known as alisanders, horse parsley, and smyrnium. It was known to Theophrastus (9.1) and Pliny the Elder ("N.H. 19.48).

Le maceron (Smyrnium olusatrum) est une plante herbacée bisannuelle de la famille des Apiacées (Ombellifères), parfois cultivée comme plante potagère pour ses feuilles et ses jeunes pousses consommées comme légume ou utilisées pour aromatiser les mets. Il est aussi apprécié pour sa racine tubérisée.


Background.

Blanche was the eldest daughter of John I, Marquis of Namur and Marie of Artois. On her father's side, she was a member of the powerful House of Dampierre, being a grandchild of Count Guy of Flanders. On her mother's side Blanche was related to the French royal house, as her mother was a daughter of Philip of Artois, a patrilineal great-grandson of Louis VIII of France, and thus a member of a junior line of the House of Capet.

Marriage.

It is unknown why a marriage was arranged between the king of Sweden and Norway and a member of the House of Namur. In June 1334 king Magnus travelled from Norway to Namur to propose. They were engaged in Namur and Magnus returned to Sweden in the fall of 1334. Blanche left Namur in the fall of 1335 and the wedding took place in October or early November 1335, possibly at Bohus Castle. As a wedding gift Blanche received the province of Tunsberg in Norway and Lödöse in Sweden as fiefs; Tunsberg was exchanged in 1353 to Bohus, Marstrand, Elfsyssel, Rånrike and Borgarsyssel. Blanche's coronation took place in July 1336, possibly 22 July, in the Great Church in Stockholm. She was accompanied to Sweden by an entourage which included her brothers Robert and Louis, who came to be in service of her spouse: it is known that Louis remained in the king's service as late as 1354.

Queenship.

After her coronation, Queen Blanche was given her own seal with the inscription: "Blanche, by the Grace of God Queen of Sweden, Norway and Scania", in which she is depicted with a crown and holding a scepter: unusually for a married woman of that period, she did not cover her hair with a veil.  The queen was described as wise and as an extraordinary beauty. At this point, Sweden did not have an official capital, and queen Blanche accompanied the king in their travels between the royal residences. In 1345, her brothers Louis and Robert were made vassals of her spouse.  Blanche and Magnus had two sons, Eric and Haakon, plus at least three daughters who died as children. In 1343, it was agreed that the two kingdoms of Sweden and Norway should again be divided, and that their eldest son Eric should inherit Sweden and their second son Haakon Norway. The same year, Haakon was invested as King of Norway at the age of three. At this occasion, the members of the Norwegian council guaranteed the right of Magnus to govern Norway during the minority of Haakon and to resist all attempts from Haakons' elder brother to take over Norway: they swore their promise not only to Magnus, but also to queen Blanche. On 18 November 1343, the archbishops and bishops of Sweden swore an oath to assist queen Blanche in the case king Magnus died when prince Eric was still minor.  The future saint Bridget of Sweden served as "magistra" or mistress of the robes to the queen at an unknown period, and regularly socialized with the royal couple before she left Sweden for Rome in 1349, and Bridget left descriptions of them and their court. In the will of the royal couple from 1 May 1346, they made large donations to Bridget's planned Vadstena Abbey and asked to be buried there. Bridget, however, opposed to their burial in her convent, and describe the royal couple in a negative fashion. She accused queen Blanche of having been a negative influence on state affairs by discrediting capable advisers before the king; "She is a snake with the tongue of a harlot, the bile of dragons in her heart and the most bitter poison in her flesh. Therefore all her eggs became poisonous. Lucky are those who never experience their burden". Bridget expressed great dislike over the fact that the king and queen decided to live in a marriage without intercourse after the queen's 7th pregnancy; she claims that this was the reason for the king's rumored homosexuality, that queen Blanche had been responsible when Magnus made his controversial favorite Bengt Algotsson, Duke of Finland, and that Algotsson was the lover of them both.  In the 1350s, a crisis occurred because of the Black Death and the failed politics in the Baltic, followed by the division of the kingdom of Sweden and Norway when their second son Haakon VI of Norway was declared of legal majority and free from his father's regency, resulting in the end of the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. In 1356, the opposition supported their eldest son Eric in a rebellion against his parents, resulting in a mediation where king Magnus had to make Eric his co-ruler and divide Sweden between them. During this conflict, queen Blanche seems to have supported her spouse against their son. When Eric and his spouse Beatrice of Bavaria died in 1359, Blanche was accused of having poisoned them, accusations that are however regarded to have been but a part of the propaganda against her. It is now believed that they died from the plague.  From 1359, she seems to have resided in Tønsberg Castle in Norway. Tønsberg was a part of her dower lands, and she ruled the area as her dower. It appears that her finances were somewhat strained during these years.  On 9 April 1363, she and Magnus attended the wedding of their son Haakon with Margaret, daughter of Valdemar IV of Denmark in Copenhagen. Shortly after the wedding, Blanche fell ill and died. The cause of death and the place where she is buried are unknown.

Legacy.

Queen Blanche is one of the most well-known of the Swedish/Norwegian medieval queens. Apparently, she was very politically and socially active and noticeable, not only as a queen, as many stories and songs were written about her.  In Sweden, Queen Blanche is also remembered for the song: "Rida rida ranka, hästen heter Blanka" ("Ride, ride on my knee, the horse is called Blanka"), which has influenced the famous historical painting by Albert Edelfelt of her and her son Haakon.  A Belgian wheat beer produced by Brasserie du Bocq is named "Blanche de Namur" (and was named "world's best wheat beer" at the 2009 World Beer Awards).

Blanche of Namur (Swedish and Norwegian: "Blanka"; 1320–1363) was queen of Norway and Sweden as the wife of King Magnus VII / IV.

Blanche de Namur (en néerlandais : "Blanca van Namen"), naquit vers 1320 à Namur (Comté de Namur) et morte en 1363 à Stockholm (Suède). Reine consort de Suède de 1335 à 1364 et Reine consort de Norvège de 1335 à 1343.


Biography.

Gaston Tissandier was born in Paris in 1843. He studied chemistry and in 1864 became the head of the experimental laboratory of Union nationales. He was also a teacher at Association polytechnique. His interest in meteorology led him to take up aviation.  His first trip in the air was conducted at Calais in 1868 together with, where his balloon drifted out over the sea and was brought back by an air stream of opposite direction in a higher layer of air. In September 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, he managed to leave the besieged Paris by balloon.  His most adventurous air trip took place near Paris in April 1875. He and companions, journalist, and, naval officer, were able to reach in a balloon the unheard-of altitude of 8,600 meters (28,000 feet). Both of his companions died from breathing the thin air. Tissandier survived, but became deaf.  In 1883, Tissandier fit a Siemens electric motor to an airship, thus creating the first electric-powered flight.  Tissandier reported his meteorological observations to the French Academy of Sciences. In 1873 he founded the weekly scientific magazine "La Nature", which he edited until 1896, after which it was continued by others. He also authored several books:

Works.

Besides these scientific works, Tissandier also published several titles for the youth, such as "Les récréations scientifiques ou l'enseignement par les jeux" (1880), perhaps the very first title in the genre of books of simple science experiments that anybody can conduct in their own home. Its chapters were in part based on the column "physique sans appareils" (physics without apparatus) in "La Nature".

References.

This text is based in part on articles from old public domain encyclopedias in German and Swedish.

Gaston Tissandier (November 21, 1843 – August 30, 1899) was a French chemist, meteorologist, aviator and editor. Adventurer could be added to the list of his titles, as he managed to escape besieged Paris by balloon in September 1870. He founded and edited the scientific magazine "La Nature" and wrote several books.

Gaston Tissandier, né le à Paris où il est mort le, est un scientifique et aérostier français. Ce chimiste attiré par toutes les sciences de la nature et fasciné par le monde des techniques et de l'invention, a également été un aventurier de l'air et un écrivain scientifique. Au sortir de la guerre de 1870-71, préoccupé par les lacunes françaises de l'information scientifique, il est devenu éditeur de revues, en particulier "La Nature" au milieu de l'année 1873.


Synopsis.

Across Europe, car engines are spontaneously exploding; this coincides with the spectre of a potential war throughout the continent, resulting in Captain Haddock being mobilised into the navy. Although detectives Thomson and Thompson initially suspect that the oil crisis is a scam intended to drive up business for a local roadside assistance company, Tintin learns from the managing director of Belgium's leading oil company, Speedol, that it is a result of someone tampering with the petrol at its source, and discovers a conspiracy involving a crew member of one of their petrol tankers, the "Speedol Star". The three work undercover as new members of the "Star"'s crew as it sets off for the Middle Eastern kingdom of Khemed. Recognising Snowy from Tintin's earlier scouting of the ship, the treacherous mate attempts to drown the dog, but becomes amnesiac in an altercation with Tintin.  Upon arrival, Tintin and the detectives are framed and arrested by the authorities under various charges. Thomson and Thompson are cleared and released, but Tintin is kidnapped by the Arab insurgent Bab El Ehr, who mistakenly believes that Tintin has information for him concerning an arms delivery. Tintin escapes and encounters an old enemy, Dr. Müller, sabotaging an oil pipeline. He reunites with Thomson and Thompson during a sandstorm and eventually arrives in Khemed's capital city of Wadesdah. When Tintin narrates the sabotage orchestrated by Müller to the Emir Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab, one of the Emir's attendants, Ali Ben Mahmud, informs the Emir that his son Prince Abdullah is kidnapped. Tintin suspects that Müller is responsible and assures the Emir that he would rescue Abdullah.  While on Müller's trail, he happens to meet his old friend, the Portuguese merchant Oliveira da Figueira. With Figueira's help, Tintin enters Müller's house and knocks the criminal unconscious. He finds the prince, who is imprisoned in a dungeon, and rescues him as Haddock arrives with the authorities. Müller is revealed to be the agent of a foreign power responsible for the tampering of the fuel supplies, having invented a type of chemical in tablet form, codenamed Formula 14, which increases the explosive power of oil by a significant amount. Thomson and Thompson find the tablets and, mistaking them for aspirin due to their being packaged as such, swallow them, resulting in them growing long hair and beards that change colour. After analysing the tablets, Professor Calculus develops an antidote for Thomson and Thompson and a means of countering the affected oil supplies.

History.

Background and influences.

Georges Remi—best known under the pen name Hergé—was employed as editor and illustrator of (""The Little Twentieth""), a children's supplement to (""The Twentieth Century""), a staunchly Roman Catholic, conservative Belgian newspaper based in Hergé's native Brussels, formerly run by the "Abbé" Norbert Wallez, who had subsequently been removed from the paper's editorship following a scandal. In 1929, Hergé began "The Adventures of Tintin" comic strip for, revolving around the exploits of fictional Belgian reporter Tintin. Hergé incorporated several characters into the story who had previously been introduced in earlier "Adventures"; this included Dr. Müller, a German villain who had previously appeared in "The Black Island", and the Portuguese merchant Oliveira da Figueira, who had first appeared in "Cigars of the Pharaoh". Hergé also included a reference to the recurring character Bianca Castafiore, whose singing appears on the radio in one scene. He also introduced a number of new characters in the story; this included the Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, a character who was based largely on Ibn Saud, the king of Saudi Arabia, whom Hergé had learned about from a 1939 book by Anton Zischke. It has also been suggested that the character was partly inspired by the deceased Iraqi leader, Faisal I. The character of the Emir's son, Prince Abdullah, was inspired by the King of Iraq, Faisal II, who was appointed monarch in 1939 aged four, although in creating this character Hergé had also been influenced by an obnoxious child character that appears in the work of O. Henry.  The idea of European nations rivaling each other for oil supplies was inspired by a February 1934 issue of "Le Crapouillot" magazine. The fictional Arabic names that Hergé integrated into the story were parodies based on the Marollien dialect of Brussels; "Wadesdah" translated as "what is that?", "Bab El Ehr" was Marollien for chatterbox, Kalish Ezab derived from the Marollien term for liquorice water, and Moulfrid, the last name of Kalish Ezab's military adviser Yussuf Ben Mulfrid (Youssouf Ben Moulfrid in the original French version), is named after a dish named "Moules-frites".  ""Boum!"", an iconic song by Charles Trenet, appears in parody as the roadside assistance company's advertising jingle, which plays on Thomson and Thompson's car radio at the very beginning of the story. The Supermarine Spitfire, a British single-seat fighter aircraft, was used as the model for Kalish Ezab's plane which drops leaflets onto Bab El Ehr's camp. In creating "Land of Black Gold", Hergé adopted many elements from a previously aborted idea about militants blowing up prominent buildings in Europe; rather than European buildings, this story would involve industrial sabotage.

First version: 1939–40.

Following the German invasion of Poland, Hergé was conscripted into the Belgian Army and temporarily stationed in Herenthout. Discharged within the month, he returned to Brussels and began "Land of Black Gold". The story subsequently began serialisation in "Le Vingtième Siècle" on 25 September 1939. He was re-mobilised in December and stationed in Antwerp, from where he continued to send the Tintin strip to "Le Petit Vingtième". However, he fell ill with sinusitis and boils and was declared unfit for service in May 1940. That same day, Germany invaded Belgium, and "Le Vingtième Siècle" was shut down part way through the serialisation of "Land of Black Gold", on 8 May. The point at which the story was ended corresponds to pages 28 and 30 of the current book edition, when Tintin is caught in a sandstorm following his first confrontation with Müller. This version, which amounts to 58 pages, has never been collected in book form.  Given its portrayal of Germans as the antagonists of the story, it would not have been appropriate for "Land of Black Gold" to continue serialisation under Nazi occupation. After being published in Belgium, the story began serialisation in neighbouring France; initially appearing in the magazine "Cœurs Vaillants-Âmes Vaillants" from 4 August 1940, the story was ultimately interrupted, and would only recommence in June 1945, this time in the magazine "Message Aux Cœurs Vaillants". From December 1945 to May 1946 it then appeared in a youth supplement to the newspaper "La Voix de l'Ouest" under the title of "Tintin et Milou au pays de l'or liquide" ("Tintin and Snowy in the Land of Liquid Gold").

Second version: 1948–49.

By the late 1940s, after the end of the Second World War, Hergé was continuing to produce new instalments of "The Adventures of Tintin" for the Belgian magazine "Tintin", of which he was the artistic director. After completing serialisation of "Prisoners of the Sun" in April 1949, he ordered his staff to re-serialise one of his old stories, "Popol and Virginia", while he took a three-month break. At this point, Hergé was depressed and suffering from a range of physical ailments, including boils and eczema on his hands. Although fed up with "The Adventures of Tintin", he felt great pressure on him to continue producing the series for "Tintin" magazine. Hergé was planning on creating a story in which Tintin travels to the moon, but his wife Germaine and close friend Marcel Dehaye both advised him to revive "Land of Black Gold" instead, recognising that it would entail less work and thus cause him less stress. Thus, "Land of Black Gold" was revived after an eight-year hiatus. In a letter to Germaine, he stated that "I don't like to restart things that are already finished, or to make repairs. "Black Gold" was a repair, and I abandoned it."  The story began serialisation in "Tintin" magazine from 16 September 1948, before beginning its serialisation in the French edition of the magazine from 28 October 1948. Rather than continuing at the point where he had previously left off, Hergé restarted the story from scratch. He nevertheless made revisions to the early part of the story, namely by reworking the characters of Captain Haddock (who now first appears in a new scene on page 3) and Professor Calculus, as well as the location of Marlinspike Hall, into the narrative, all of which were elements that had been introduced to the "Adventures of Tintin" during the intervening eight years. Other alterations include new scenes of Tintin making a divining rod, Tintin disguising himself as one of Müller's henchmen, and a restructuring of the Thompsons' humorous antics while driving a Jeep (a Peugeot 201 in the original version) prior to their reunion with Tintin; the scene in which they fall asleep at the wheel and crash into a mosque, for instance, originally took place without Tintin's presence. Hergé was contractually obliged to produce two pages of comic for each issue, and in the previous adventure, "Prisoners of the Sun", had fulfilled this by producing two pages of new Tintin stories each week. Seeking to limit his workload, he would only produce one page of "Land of Black Gold" per issue, with the other page being filled by a re-serialisation of old stories from his "Jo, Zette and Jocko" series.  On 4 August 1949, the story was suspended part way through its serialisation as Hergé left Belgium for a holiday near to Gland in Switzerland. The magazine used this as a publicity stunt, posting a headline in their next issue declaring "Shocking News: Hergé Has Disappeared!" to encourage speculation as to his whereabouts among the young readership. His co-workers and staff at "Tintin" magazine were increasingly annoyed by unplanned absences such as this, which affected the entire production; his colleague Edgar P. Jacobs sent him letters urging him to return to work. After an absence of twelve weeks, "Land of Black Gold" continued serialisation on 27 October 1949. Following its serialisation, "Land of Black Gold" was collected together and published in a 62-page colour volume by Editions Casterman in 1950.

Third version: 1971.

After Hergé had redrawn "The Black Island" for publication in the United Kingdom, his British publishers at that time, Methuen, suggested that alterations be made to "Land of Black Gold" before releasing it into the UK market; in compliance with their requests, virtually all of the content between pages 6 and 26 was rewritten and redrawn. Hergé's assistant, Bob de Moor, was responsible for many of the alterations. De Moor was sent to the port at Antwerp to sketch a 1939 oil tanker that would provide a basis for a ship that appears in the story, the "Speedol Star". For this version, Hergé transplanted the events of the story from Palestine to the fictional Emirate of Khemed and its capital city of Wadesdah, a setting that he would reuse in a later adventure, "The Red Sea Sharks". This modernised third version was issued by Casterman in 1971.  In the original versions, Tintin arrived at Haifa in British-occupied Palestine, where he was arrested by British police before being captured by members of the Zionist terrorist organization the Irgun, who mistake him for one of their own agents (named "Finkelstein" in the first version, "Salomon Goldstein" in the second), before being abducted by a henchman of Bab El Ehr. In this revised version, Tintin arrives at Khemkhah in Khemed, where he is arrested by the Arab military police before being captured and taken directly to Bab El Ehr. The inclusion of forces from the British Palestinian Mandate and the Irgun were no longer seen as relevant and thus were removed from the story, including the characters of the British officers Commandant ["sic"] Thorpe and Lieutenant Edwards (respectively responsible for the Thompsons' detainment and release, and the arresting of the Irgun agents who kidnapped Tintin). These changes were also applied to a scene which a Supermarine Spitfire drops propaganda leaflets on Bab El Ehr's camp: in the earlier versions, the plane is British and Bab El Ehr threatens to shoot anyone who reads the leaflets; in the revised scene, the plane is from an unidentified rival Arabic nation and Bab El Ehr laughs off the bombardment as his men are illiterate. As a result of the truncation of Tintin's kidnapping, which now occurs two pages earlier than in the second version, the Thompsons' crash into a palm tree in the desert now takes place after the aforementioned scene. Background details was changed accordingly, with Jewish shop fronts with Hebrew signage being removed, and the nonsensical pseudo-Arabic script from the earlier versions was replaced with real Arabic text. The political rivalry between Britain and German that was present in the earlier versions was also toned down.

Critical analysis.

Hergé biographer Benoît Peeters stated that "no book has gone through more ups and downs" than "Land of Black Gold", adding that it carries a "mood of foreboding" caused by the impending war in the story. He also felt that the introduction of the Emir and Abdullah was "the most striking innovation in this story", and elsewhere declared that its earlier versions contained "not the slightest trace of anti-Semitism", despite allegations that a number of other "Adventures" featuring Jewish characters exhibited anti-Semitic stereotypes.  Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier believed that "Land of Black Gold" suffered from having been "rebaked", being "pulled between the 'old' pre-war Tintin and the more modern one." The Lofficiers opined that the story's "clear concern about war and rumours of war" enable it to fit well after "King Ottokar's Sceptre", at the point at which Hergé had initially developed it. They felt that this pre-Second World War atmosphere also pervaded the second, coloured version of the book, but that they had nevertheless been partly removed by the creation of the third version. Despite this, they felt that the third version of the story was "better" because it incorporated elements from the spy thrillers that had become increasingly popular in Western Europe during the 1950s. Despite its problems, they thought that the Thom(p)sons' ingestion of Formula 14 was "virtually inspired", showing that Hergé "had lost none of his touch when it comes to creating unforgettable images". They opined that the character of Abdullah "indisputably steals the show" in "Land of Black Gold", commenting on his "love-hate" relationship with Haddock and suggesting that he is "possibly the only character to have ever succeeded in driving Tintin so batty that he loses his cool." They ultimately awarded the story two stars out of five, feeling that Hergé had been unable to develop its "greater potential".  Michael Farr believed that "Land of Black Gold" illustrated how "shelved material could be usefully resuscitated." He added that in making revisions to the story for the 1971 version, "the result is disappointing, lacking the pungency which the contemporary allusion gave the earlier version". Farr felt that in this story, the Thom(p)sons "have a splendid adventure" with the various scenarios that they get into. Harry Thompson described "Land of Black Gold" as a "patchwork effort", believing that the final result owed little to the "story's original satirical thrust". He praised Khemed as Hergé's "most successful imaginary country", something that he attributed to its "geographic accuracy" and to the "realistic parody" of Arabic names. However, he criticised the way in which Haddock had been integrated into the story, deeming this to be "the least satisfying aspect" of it. Believing that it offered a "fine swansong" for the decline of the Thom(p)sons as central characters in the series, ultimately Thompson felt that "Land of Black Gold" retained a "somewhat fragmentary air". Differing from Thompson's assessment, Hergé biographer Pierre Assouline felt that the inclusion of Haddock into the story was successful, "precisely because [it] defied all logic".  Literary critic Tom McCarthy believed that in the story, the desert represented "a space of multiple misreading", which included the mirages, fake documents, and cases of mistaken identity. Focusing on those fake documents, he believed that it represented the theme of fakery which recurs throughout the series. Describing the scenario in which Thomson and Thompson are lost and driving around the desert, he refers to it as a "brilliantly allegorical scene", before highlighting Hergé's "wishful retroactive wiping out of history" by evading the war. In his psychoanalytical study of the "Adventures of Tintin", the literary critic Jean-Marie Apostolidès dealt only briefly with "Land of Black Gold", commenting that Calculus' development of a cure for the Thom(p)sons' consumption of N14 was a sign of his growing status and reputation as a scientist, as he moved from being the "small-time, ridiculous" inventor of "Red Rackham's Treasure" and came to establish himself as the internationally renowned scientist of "Destination Moon".

Adaptations.

In 1991, a collaboration between the French studio Ellipse and the Canadian animation company Nelvana adapted 21 of the stories into a series of episodes, each 42 minutes long. "Land of Black Gold" was the thirteenth episode of "The Adventures of Tintin" to be produced. Directed by Stéphane Bernasconi, the series has been praised for being "generally faithful", with compositions having been actually directly taken from the panels in the original album.

Land of Black Gold () is the fifteenth volume of "The Adventures of Tintin", the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper for its children's supplement, in which it was initially serialised from September 1939 until the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, at which the newspaper was shut down and the story interrupted. After eight years, Hergé returned to "Land of Black Gold", completing its serialisation in Belgium's "Tintin" magazine from September 1948 to February 1950, after which it was published in a collected volume by Casterman in 1950. Set on the eve of a European war, the plot revolves around the attempts of young Belgian reporter Tintin to uncover a militant group responsible for sabotaging oil supplies in the Middle East.

Tintin au pays de l’or noir (initialement Au Pays de l’or noir) est le quinzième album de bande dessinée des "Aventures de Tintin", pré-publié en noir et blanc et en couleurs du 28 septembre 1939 au 9 mai 1940 dans les pages du "Petit Vingtième", supplément du journal "Le Vingtième Siècle", ainsi que dans l'hebdomadaire "Cœurs vaillants", en noir et blanc puis en couleurs. Il parut à nouveau en couleur du 16 septembre 1948 au 23 février 1950 dans les pages du journal "Tintin".