Early life.

Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California, and grew up in Compton, California. He is the youngest of three boys, the middle of whom died at birth. His mother, Sharon Rae (Tedrick), was a welfare worker, and his father, William Costner, was an electrician and, later, a utilities executive at Southern California Edison. His father's heritage originates with German immigrants to North Carolina in the 1700s, and Costner also has English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry. Costner was raised Baptist. He was not academically inclined in school. He enjoyed sports (especially football), took piano lessons, wrote poetry, and sang in the First Baptist Choir. He has stated that a viewing of the 1962 film "How the West Was Won" at the age of seven had "formed" his childhood.  He has described spending his teenage years in various parts of California as his father's career progressed, as a period when he "lost a lot of confidence", having to make new friends often. Costner lived in Ventura, then in Visalia; he attended Mt. Whitney High School and moved to Orange County, where he graduated from Villa Park High School in 1973. He earned a BA in marketing and finance from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) in 1978. While at CSUF, he became a brother in the Delta Chi fraternity.  Costner became interested in acting and dancing while in his last year of college, and upon graduation, he married Cindy Silva, who worked at Disneyland as Cinderella. The couple honeymooned in Puerto Vallarta; on the return plane journey, they had a chance encounter with actor Richard Burton, who had purchased all the seats around him for solitude. Burton agreed to speak to Costner after he finished reading his book. Costner, who had been taking acting classes but had not told his wife about his desire to be an actor, watched Burton closely and approached when Burton gestured. Costner told Burton that he would prefer to avoid the drama that followed Burton and asked if he would have to tolerate that if he became an actor. Burton replied, "You have blue eyes, I have blue eyes. I think you'll be fine." After the plane landed, Burton's limousine pulled up to the curb where Costner and his wife were waiting for a taxi. Burton wished Costner good luck, and the two never met again. Costner credits Burton with partially contributing to his career. Having agreed to undertake a job as a marketing executive, Costner began taking acting lessons five nights a week, with the support of his wife. His marketing job lasted 30 days. He took work which allowed him to develop his acting skills via tuition, including working on fishing boats, as a truck driver, and giving tours of stars' Hollywood homes to support the couple while he also attended auditions.

Career.

Costner made his film debut in the film "Sizzle Beach, U.S.A." (known originally as "Hot Malibu Summer"). Filmed in the winter of 1978–79, the film was not released until 1981 and re-released in 1986. The release complications and lack of documentation lead many to believe that Costner's debut was in "The Touch" (also known as "Stacy's Knights"), in 1983 with Eve Lilith and Andra Millian. Costner made a brief appearance in the Ron Howard film "Night Shift" (1982). He is listed in the credits as 'Frat Boy No. 1' and appears at the climax of a frat-style, blow-out party in the New York City morgue, when the music is suddenly stopped by a frantic Henry Winkler. Costner can be seen holding a beer and looking surprised at the sudden halt of celebration. Costner appeared in a commercial for the Apple Lisa and "Table for Five" in 1983, and, the same year, had a small role in the nuclear holocaust film "Testament". Later, he was cast in "The Big Chill" and filmed several scenes that were planned as flashbacks, but they were removed from the final cut. His role was that of Alex, the friend who committed suicide, the event that brings the rest of the cast together. Costner was a friend of director Lawrence Kasdan, who promised the actor a role in a future project. That became "Silverado" (1985) and a breakout role for Costner. He also starred that year in the smaller films "Fandango" and "American Flyers" and appeared alongside Kiefer Sutherland in an hour-long special episode of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories".  Costner achieved movie star status in 1987, when he starred as federal agent Eliot Ness in "The Untouchables" and in the leading role of the thriller "No Way Out". He solidified his A-list status in the baseball-themed films "Bull Durham" (1988) and "Field of Dreams" (1989). In 1990, he partnered with producer Jim Wilson to form the production company Tig Productions. Tig's first film was the epic "Dances with Wolves" which Costner directed and starred in. This film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including two for him personally (Best Picture and Best Director). The same year saw the release of "Revenge", in which he starred along with Anthony Quinn and Madeleine Stowe, directed by Tony Scott; Costner had wanted to direct it himself.  Costner followed with "" (1991); the Oliver Stone-directed "JFK" (1991); "The Bodyguard" (1992); and Clint Eastwood's "A Perfect World" (1993); all of which provided box office or critical acclaim. He took the title role in the biopic "Wyatt Earp" (1994), directed by Kasdan. "The War", also made in 1994, seemed to gain little attention. The science fiction-post-apocalyptic epics "Waterworld" (1995) and "The Postman" (1997), the latter of which Costner also directed, were both commercial disappointments and both largely regarded by critics as artistic failures. However, results for "The Postman" were worse than "Waterworld" and it ended up "winning" five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Director for Costner. Costner starred in the golf comedy "Tin Cup" (1996) for Ron Shelton, who had previously directed him in "Bull Durham". He developed the film "Air Force One" and was set to play the lead role of the President, but ultimately decided to concentrate on finishing "The Postman" instead. He personally offered the project to Harrison Ford. In 1999, he starred in "Message in a Bottle " with Robin Wright, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. His career revived somewhat in 2000 with "Thirteen Days", in which he portrayed Kenneth O'Donnell, a top adviser to John F. Kennedy. The western "Open Range", which he directed and starred in, received critical acclaim in 2003, and was a surprise success commercially. He received some of his best reviews for his supporting role as retired professional baseball player Denny Davies in "The Upside of Anger", for which he received a nomination from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and won the San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. After that, Costner starred in "The Guardian" and in "Mr. Brooks", in which he portrayed a serial killer. In 2008, his Tig Productions company closed and was changed to Tree House Films. In 2008, Costner starred in "Swing Vote". He starred opposite Jennifer Aniston in the 2005 movie "Rumour Has It". Costner was honored on September 6, 2006, when his hand and foot prints were set in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre alongside those of other celebrated actors and entertainers. In 2010, he appeared in "The Company Men" alongside Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, and received good reviews. It was released in cinemas worldwide in January 2011. The film was considered to be an Oscar contender, but did not get a nomination.  Costner announced that he would be returning to the director's chair for the first time in seven years, in 2011, with "A Little War of Our Own". He was also about to team up again with director Kevin Reynolds in "Learning Italian". Neither film has been made.  He also appears, as a special cameo, in "Funny or Die" "Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout". Costner portrayed Jonathan Kent in the rebooted Superman film "Man of Steel", directed by Zack Snyder. Costner was going to have a role in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained", but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.  Costner starred in the three-part miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys", which premiered on May 28, 2012, on the History Channel. It broke a record by pulling 13.9 million viewers. The miniseries tells the true American story of a legendary family feud – one that spanned decades and nearly launched a war between Kentucky and West Virginia. The role earned Costner the 2012 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, and the 2013 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television.  In 2014, Costner appeared in the spy movie "", as Thomas Harper, a mentor for the series' title character. The same year, he starred in the thriller "3 Days to Kill" and the drama "Draft Day" and produced and starred in "Black or White". "Black or White" premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and opened in the United States in 2015. In 2015, Costner played coach Jim White in the drama film "McFarland, USA", about cross-country running. In 2016, he played the fictional character Al Harrison, a NASA Space Task Group supervisor, in "Hidden Figures", and in 2017, he starred with Jessica Chastain in Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut film "Molly's Game". In 2018, he has appeared in the television series "Yellowstone", marking the first regular TV series role of his career.

Other ventures.

Country music.

Costner is the singer in Kevin Costner & Modern West, a country rock band which he founded with the encouragement of his wife Christine. In October 2007, they began a worldwide tour which included shows in Istanbul and Rome. The group also performed at NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.  The band released a country album, "Untold Truths", on November 11, 2008, on Universal South Records. The album peaked at No. 61 on the "Billboard" Top Country Albums and No. 35 on the Top Heatseekers chart. Three singles ("Superman 14", "Long Hot Night" and "Backyard") have been released to radio, although none have charted. For the single "Superman 14" a live music video was made.  In 2009, they went on tour with opening act The Alternate Routes. In August, at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, Costner and the band were scheduled next on stage when a severe thunderstorm struck, causing the stage and stands on the main stage to collapse. One person was reported dead and forty injured. Later, an auction was held to raise money for the two young sons of the woman killed. A dinner with Costner was auctioned off for $41,000. Two guitars, one autographed by Costner, helped raise another $10,000 each.  A second Kevin Costner and Modern West album, "Turn It On", was released in February 2010 in Europe and was supported by a European tour. In July 2012, the band performed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the 20th annual Telus World Skins Game in support of the IWK Health Centre Foundation, donating a guitar personally autographed by Costner.  Kevin Costner has also appeared in the documentary film "Country Roads" by Marieke Schröder.

Baseball.

Several of Costner's films have included a baseball theme: "Chasing Dreams", "Bull Durham", "Field of Dreams", "For Love of the Game", and "The Upside of Anger", in three of which his character is a pro baseball player and one a former pro baseball player.  Costner has a home in Austin, Texas, and sometimes appears at Texas Longhorns baseball practices and games. He was a close friend of former Longhorns baseball coach Augie Garrido from Garrido's days coaching at Cal State Fullerton, Costner's alma mater. He cast Garrido to play the role of the Yankee manager in "For Love of the Game". He tries to attend every College World Series game that CSUF Titans plays in Omaha, Nebraska. Costner walked-on for a try-out, but did not make the team early in his time at the university.  Costner was a partial owner of the Zion, Illinois-based Lake County Fielders independent baseball team in the North American League. The Fielders name was an homage to "Field of Dreams", with the logo showing a ballplayer standing amid a field of corn.

Business interests.

In 1995, Costner began developing oil separation machines based on a patent he purchased from the US government. The machines developed by the company were of little commercial interest until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, when BP took six of the machines from a company in which Costner owned an interest, Ocean Therapy Solutions, for testing in late May 2010. On June 16, 2010, BP entered into a lease with Ocean Therapy Solutions for 32 of the oil-water separation devices. Although Spyron Contoguris and Stephen Baldwin previously sold their interests in Ocean Therapy Solutions in mid-June to another investor in the company, they filed a lawsuit in Louisiana District Court claiming $10.64 million for securities fraud and misrepresentation. The suit claimed that Costner kept a meeting with BP secret from them, and the secret meeting resulted in an $18-million down payment on a $52 million purchase, and that after the down payment, but before any announcement, another investor used part of the downpayment to buy out their shares, thus excluding them from their share of the profits from the total sale. The suit claimed that, despite public statements by Costner, Ocean Therapy Solutions, BP and others to the contrary, Baldwin and Contogouris were told that BP was still testing the machines and had not yet committed to lease the machines from Ocean Therapy Solutions and that the other investor in Ocean Therapy Solutions purchased their shares for $1.4 million to Baldwin and $500,000, to Contogouris. In June 2012, a federal jury in Louisiana deliberated for less than 2 hours before rejecting Baldwin's and Contogouris' claims in the multimillion-dollar oil-clean-up case, and the court ordered Baldwin and Contogouris to reimburse Costner and the other defendants in the case for their costs.  On June 6, 2004, Costner opened Tatanka: The Story of the Bison one mile south of Deadwood, South Dakota, on U.S. Route 85, for what he hoped would be an educational and emotional place for people to learn about America's westward expansion. Promoters stated in a news release that the $5-million attraction had a new, 3,800-square-foot interactive center featuring exhibit, retail, and food and beverage areas, as well as offices and a small orientation theater. The visitor center features graphics, photographs, and text describing how bison came to North America and how Native American tribes used the animals for food, clothing, shelter, and other needs. The centerpiece is a bronze sculpture depicting a buffalo jump commonly used by Plains Indians to kill and process large numbers of animals on which they depended for survival. Hill City artist Peggy Detmers created 14 bronze bison in the act of running from their pursuers and three bronze Lakota riders on horseback. Three of the massive bison are posed in midair, cascading over the face of a cliff. Costner commissioned the work in 1994 from Detmers. The five-fourths-scale bronzes, each weighing between 2,500 and 8,000 pounds, were cast at Eagle Bronze Foundry in Lander, Wyoming. The encampment features living Lakota interpreters of history, dressed in period attire and settled among their tipis.  In July 2004, Costner fired Francis and Carla Caneva, who managed the Midnight Star casino in Deadwood. A judge subsequently ordered Costner to pay a percentage of $6.1 million to buy out the Canevas as his business partners. In October 2006, Costner asked the South Dakota Supreme Court to re-examine the ruling, as an accountant hired by the actor had determined the market value of the casino to be $3.1 million.

Philanthropy.

Costner serves on an honorary board for the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. In spring 2011, he recorded two radio spots for the museum that were aired on Kansas City Royals Radio Network.

NASCAR.

Costner was named ceremonial Grand Marshal of the NASCAR Cup Series' Auto Club 500 which took place on February 25, 2007, at the California Speedway. In 2008, he worked with the NASCAR Media Group and CMT Films to help produce the NASCAR Documentary "The Ride of Their Lives" which would be released in 2009. Costner would be the narrator for that documentary. Also in 2009, he was named the spokesman for NASCAR Day which took place on May 15. The next day, May 16, he and his country music band would perform in the infield of Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as participate as a judge in the 2nd annual Victory Challenge before the 25th Running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

Personal life.

In 1975 while in college, Costner started dating fellow student Cindy Silva, and married three years later. During their marriage, they had three children. The couple divorced in 1994 after 16 years of marriage. He has a son with Bridget Rooney, with whom he had a brief relationship following his divorce, and then dated Birgit Cunningham. In 1996, he lived with supermodel Elle Macpherson.  On September 25, 2004, Costner married his girlfriend of four years, model and handbag designer Christine Baumgartner, at his ranch in Aspen, Colorado. They have three children.

Political activism.

Costner was raised in a Baptist home and sang in the church choir. When commenting on his religious beliefs, he says that he has faith in God, but it is tested. Early in his life, Costner was a Republican. He was a supporter and good friend of Ronald Reagan, frequently playing golf with the former President. He eventually switched his affiliation in the early 1990s. Since 1992, Costner has financially supported a variety of Democratic politicians, including Al Gore and Tom Daschle, but also made contributions to Republican Phil Gramm as late as 1995. He said publicly in 2008 that he has no ambition to run for political office, adding "I've lived quite a colorful life".  In the final days before the 2008 election, Costner campaigned for Barack Obama, visiting various places in Colorado, where he has a home. In his speech, Costner stated the need for young voters to get to the polls, early and with enthusiasm. "We were going to change the world and we haven't", Costner said at a Colorado State University rally. "My generation didn't get it done, and we need you to help us".  In October 2014, Costner sent a tribute to British troops serving around the world thanking them for their work.  On December 22, 2019, Costner endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg at a rally in Indianola, Iowa. Costner narrated a commercial for J. D. Scholten, a Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives from.

Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A major movie star from the late 1980s to the mid 1990s, Costner is the recipient of two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Kevin Costner est un acteur, réalisateur, chanteur et producteur de cinéma américain né le à Lynwood, en Californie (États-Unis). Il devient célèbre grâce au film policier "Les Incorruptibles" (1987). Il connait la consécration en 1990 avec le western "Danse avec les loups", qui lui vaut l'Oscar du meilleur réalisateur et l'Oscar du meilleur film. Son succès continue avec le film " Bodyguard" (1992), qui devient l'un des films les plus marquants de sa carrière.


Details.

When used to retain piston wrist pins or gudgeon pins, the clips are known as wrist pin clips, wrist pin retainers, or gudgeon pin clips. The most commonly used circlip for this application is a simple spring steel circlip, or plain wire ring.  The term "Jesus clip" comes from the propensity of the clip's spring action to launch the clip at a high velocity when removing or installing, leading to remarks such as, "Oh Jesus, where did it go?"

E-clip.

Common examples include e-clips (e-ring) and the (both internal and external) snap ring or circlip. These general types of fasteners are sized to provide an interference fit onto (or into, in the case of an internal fastener) a groove or land when in use, such that they must be elastically deformed in order to install or remove them.

Installation and maintenance.

The name snap ring generally refers to circlips which have the ends formed to aid installation and removal, and which are not formed from wire (i.e. do not have a round cross-section). These rings are designed to be installed and removed with special pliers. Some of these special pliers can be configured for internal or external clips, while in other cases one pliers is used for internal and another for external clips. For expediency in the field, a pair of needle-nose pliers (for internal clips) or leverage with a flat-headed screwdriver (internal or external) is sometimes used.  Since most snap rings are stamped from sheet steel, one side is slightly rounded and the other has sharp, rough edges. This is due to the stamping die behaving like a cookie cutter and causing a slight rounding of the upper edge of the cut clip. The snap ring must always be installed such that force is transmitted to the retaining groove from the rounded side of the ring, not the rough/square-edged side. If a snap ring is positioned such that its flat side is pressed into the rounded edge of the groove then when load or force is applied, the flat edge of the snap ring will "bite" into the rounded edge of the retaining groove. The snap ring will distort and ride up the rounded edge, spreading an external snap ring and compressing an internal snap ring. This leaves the clip prone to being forced out of its groove and failing at its retaining function. The accompanying images illustrate the correct orientation of the snap ring in its groove. Wet or dry lubrication is recommended to reduce friction against the circlip and maintain function.

A circlip (a portmanteau of "circle" and "clip"), also known as a C-clip, Seeger ring, snap ring or Jesus clip, is a type of fastener or retaining ring consisting of a semi-flexible metal ring with open ends which can be snapped into place, into a machined groove on a dowel pin or other part to permit rotation but to prevent lateral movement. There are two basic types: internal and external, referring to whether they are fitted into a bore or over a shaft. Circlips are often used to secure pinned connections.

Les anneaux élastiques sont des composants d'assemblage mécanique généralement montés dans des gorges réalisées sur des portées cylindriques extérieures (arbres, axes...) ou dans des alésages. Ils permettent de réaliser des arrêts axiaux, des rattrapages de jeu destinés à réduire le bruit de fonctionnement des mécanismes, etc. Les applications sont très nombreuses en mécanique générale et dans de très nombreux secteurs industriels : automobile, électroménager, machines de bureau, etc. Le montage se fait à l'aide d'une pince à circlips.


Current national flag.

Design.

The current flag is divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with the upper triangle yellow and the lower triangle orange. Centred along the dividing line is a large black and white dragon facing away from the hoist side. The dragon is holding a "norbu", or jewel, in each of its claws. The background colours of the flag, yellow and orange, are identified as Pantone 116 and 165 respectively. Equivalents of these shades and the white of the Druk are specified by various other codes according to particular matching systems as indicated below.  The dimensions of the flag must maintain a 3:2 ratio. The following sizes have been declared standard by the Government of Bhutan:

Symbolism.

According to "The Legal Provisions of the National Flag of the Kingdom of Palden Drukpa as Endorsed in Resolution 28 of the 36th Session of the National Assembly held on June 8, 1972", and as restated in the Constitution of 2008, the yellow signifies civil tradition and temporal authority as embodied in the "Druk Gyalpo", the Dragon King of Bhutan, whose royal garb traditionally includes a yellow kabney (scarf). The orange half signifies Buddhist spiritual tradition, particularly the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma schools. The dragon spreads equally over the line between the colors. Its placement in the center of the flag over the dividing line between the flag's two colors signifies the equal importance of both civic and monastic traditions in the Kingdom of Druk (Bhutan) and evokes the strength of the sacred bond between sovereign and people. The dragon's white color signifies the purity of inner thoughts and deeds that unite all the ethnically and linguistically diverse peoples of Bhutan. The jewels held in Druk's claws represent Bhutan's wealth and the security and protection of its people, while the dragon's snarling mouth symbolizes Bhutanese deities' commitment to the defense of Bhutan.

Historic evolution.

The Centre for Bhutan Studies, an independent Bhutanese research centre, in 2002 issued a paper (henceforth the "CBS document") that is the only readily available account from Bhutan of the historical development of the national flag. The document draws heavily on first-hand accounts obtained through interviews with individuals personally involved in the creation and modification of the flag in Bhutan, from the late 1940s until the adoption of the current flag around 1970. This report is therefore a significant primary source for information about the history of the Bhutanese flag. But in the description of the flag from 1949, the document is not in complete accord with photos of the flag (as discussed below), making it difficult to interpret some of the document's assertions. As a record, however, of the few primary sources remaining – namely, the people involved in the flag's history and the handful of existing government records – it represents a valuable source of information about the otherwise poorly documented evolution of the Bhutanese flag.

First national flag (1949).

The CBS document states that the first national flag was designed upon the request of Jigme Wangchuck, the second Druk Gyalpo of the 20th-century Kingdom of Bhutan, and was introduced in 1949 during the signing of the Indo-Bhutan Treaty. While the document does not provide an illustration of the original design, black-and-white photographs taken at this historic event provide images of the first Bhutanese flag at the ceremony.  The design of the flag is credited to Mayeum Choying Wongmo Dorji in 1947. Lharip Taw Taw, one of the few painters available to the royal court at the time, is said to have embroidered the flag. Druk was colored green in accordance with traditional and religious references to "yu druk ngonm" (), or "turquoise druk." Today, a modern reproduction of this historic original (with several significant changes influenced by the modern flag) is displayed behind the throne in the National Assembly Hall in Thimphu.  According to the CBS document, the original Bhutanese flag was a bicolour square flag divided diagonally from the lower hoist to the upper fly. The field of yellow extended from the hoist to the upper fly, and the red field extended from the fly end to the lower hoist. In the centre of the flag, at the convergence of the yellow and red fields, is a green Druk, located parallel to the bottom edge and facing the fly.  However, the CBS document does not illustrate the early versions of the flag and its description of the 1949 flag is not entirely consistent with the photos surviving from 1949. It describes the flag as "square", while the proportions of the flag in the photographs appear closer to 4:5. The document describes the dragon as "facing the fly end", while the dragon visible in the photos faces the hoist. The dragon is described as "parallel to the fly" (meaning, according to a diagram in the document, parallel to the length along the bottom edge of the flag), while the dragon in the photos appears to have a slightly rising vertical slant. The dragon is described as "green", but the shade in the photos, if indeed green, must be very pale.  Western flag books until after 1970 generally show the Bhutanese flag closely resembling the 1949 photos.

Changes in 1956.

The second version of the national flag was developed in 1956 for the visit of the third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuk to eastern Bhutan. During the trip the Druk Gyalpo's Secretariat began to use flags of a new design based upon a photograph of the first national flag of 1949, with the colour of the dragon changed from green to white. The retinue of the Druk Gyalpo included a convoy consisting of over one hundred ponies; a small version of the flag was placed on the saddle of every tenth pony, and a large flag approximately in size was flown in the camp every evening, hoisted to the sound of a bugle.

Changes after 1956.

Beginning in the late 1950s, Dasho Shingkhar Lam, former Secretary to Jigme Dorji Wangchuck and Sixth Speaker of the National Assembly (1971–74), was requested by the king to make several modifications to the flag; he is responsible for its current design, which has remained unchanged since 1969. The king was reportedly dissatisfied that the early square Bhutanese flags did not flutter like the rectangular Indian flag displayed on the visit of an Indian official to the country. The standard measurements of the flag of Bhutan were thereafter altered to resemble the flag of India, which was 9 feet by 6 feet.  In another change, the dragon, which had formerly been placed in a roughly horizontal position in the center of the flag, was repositioned to spread out over the diagonal dividing line between the background colours. This change sought to avoid having the dragon "face the earth" when the flag was hanging limp. Bhutanese artist Kilkhor Lopen Jada painted a new design for the druk in which the curves of the dragon's body are relaxed to create a somewhat longer and more gently undulating shape.  The CBS document states that the king ordered the colour of the lower half changed from red to orange "sometime in 1968 or 69."  The Bhutanese flag was flown abroad beside another nation's flag for the first time in 1961 during a state visit to India by Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. This visit inaugurated a new level of relations between the two countries.

Code of conduct.

On 8 June 1972 the National Assembly of Bhutan approved Resolution 28, bringing into effect National Flag Rules drafted by the Cabinet. The rules have eight provisions covering the description and symbolism of the flag's colouring, fields and design elements. Other rules relate to the size of the flag as well as flag protocol including the appropriate places and occasions for flying the flag and who may display the flag on cars. In general, the flag is given as much respect as the Bhutanese state and the head of state. As in the United States Flag Code, no other flags must be placed higher than the Bhutanese flag, the flag cannot be used as a cover or drape (with some exceptions) and the flag must not touch the ground. Other provisions include prohibitions on including the design in other objects or in a logo. Exceptionally, the flag may be used to drape coffins, but only those of high-ranking state officials such as ministers or military personnel.  The 1972 rules also provide that "every dzongkhag [district headquarters] will hoist the national flag. Where there are no dzongkhag, the national flag will be hoisted in front of the office of the main government officer".  Officials above the rank of minister are allowed to fly the flag at their residence provided they do not live near the capital. The tradition of flying the national flag in front of government offices had not existed in Bhutan prior to 1968 but was decreed standard practice by the Druk Gyalpo after his Secretariat was moved from the city of Taba to Tashichho Dzong in that year. The only flag day prescribed in the 1972 rules is National Day, which is held annually on December 17. National Day commemorates the crowning of Ugyen Wangchuck as the first king of Bhutan on December 17, 1907.

The national flag of Bhutan () is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. The flag features a dragon ("druk" [Wylie 'bruk] in Dzongkha, the Bhutanese language) from Bhutanese mythology. This alludes to the Dzongkha name of Bhutan--"Druk Yul" (འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, 'bruk yul, lit. "Dragon Country" or "Dragon Kingdom")--as well as the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the dominant religion of Bhutan. An alternative hypothesis maintains that the notion of symbolizing sovereignty and the state in the form of a dragon emerged in neighboring China and was adopted by the rulers of Bhutan as a symbol of royalty in the early 20th century.

Le drapeau national du Bhoutan arbore un dragon blanc sur un fond partagé orange et jaune. Les deux couleurs du champ sont séparées par une ligne diagonale du coin de drisse inférieur au coin flottant supérieur. Le triangle supérieur est jaune et le triangle inférieur est orange.


History.

The line was built between 1882 and 1886, to link Saint-Georges-de-Commiers and La Mure through a mountainous region of the "department" of Isère.  The long, metre gauge line runs from La Motte-d'Aveillans and La Mure to a connection with the main line of the PLM railway at Saint-Georges-de-Commiers. The line was almost closed in the mid-1970s and if the country hadn't been suffering an oil crisis the line would have met its end. Its life was extended by fifteen years, which proved to be its saviour. Unlike many other lines this became a tourist attraction which combines an area of industrial heritage with some of the finest scenery on any similar line on the continent.  The railway was electrified in 1903, using a symmetrical current power supply with two overhead lines at plus and minus 1200 volts direct current respectively. In 1950, this non-standard system was replaced with a conventional power supply with a single overhead line at 2400 volts direct current. The branch line between La Mure and Corps was opened in 1932 and closed for passenger traffic in 1952.  Coal traffic ceased in 1988, and most of the coal installations were demolished, the coal being transported by road. The Matheysine coalmines were finally closed on March 28, 1997. The SGLM found a new vocation in providing a tourist attraction and as a result, there remain all of the line's historical installations, the workshops, forge, joinery shop, etc. The network's departure and arrival stations were dependent on connections with the PLM railway's Grenoble–Veynes line. The necessary facilities together with the transhipment platform for the automatic transfer of the coal from the SGLM coal cars to the trains operated by PLM (which became SNCF in 1938) were built adjacent to the PLM station, today the station for the Chemin de fer de La Mure. When they last operated, the trains of the railway ran at the leisurely pace of up to 30 km/h.

Rolling stock.

Electric and Electro-Diesel Locomotives.

Note 1 : Part of a class of 10 electro-diesel locomotives, 2 are in service at the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ), 1 at the Chemins de Fer de Provence (CP).

Freight cars.

"Abbreviations - railroad companies":  "Abbreviations - manufacturers":

The Chemin de Fer de La Mure ("La Mure railway") is a former coal-carrying electrified railway in (and owned by) the Department of Isère near the city of Grenoble, France, which lost its regular public passenger service from 2 February 1950 (although miners' trains continued until autumn 1962). It lost most of its freight traffic – apart from anthracite coal – in 1952, and even the anthracite ceased from 18 October 1988. However, the local tourist office had been chartering seasonal tourist passenger trains from 8 September 1968 and these developed steadily over the years, the line becoming one of the finest tourist railways in Europe with views over dams and lakes, and mountain scenery. Since 1 February 1998 the concession to operate the line and its tourist trains has been held by CFTA, now Veolia. The line can be reached easily by road from Grenoble, or by trains on the SNCF line towards Gap.

Le chemin de fer de La Mure, dit aussi le petit train de La Mure, est un chemin de fer à voie étroite, devenu depuis 1997 une ligne touristique reliant Saint-Georges-de-Commiers à La Mure, dans le sud du département de l'Isère.


Biography.

Robert studied psychology and obtained a Master of Advanced Studies in psycholinguistics. After starting a fanzine "Santiag" in Lorraine in 1982, he joined the editorial staff of the monthly magazine "", where he worked for a year. At the end of 1983, he joined "Libération" as a journalist for twelve years, first as a correspondent in eastern France, then he was transferred to the in the "Society" department. He resigned in 1995 to focus on his own writing work. By this time he had already published two novels, "Chair Mathilde" in 1991 and "Je ferai un malheur" in 1994. But the general public only got acquainted with him in early 1996 with his essay "Pendant les affaires, les affaires continuent".  Also in 1996, Robert gathered seven anti-corruption magistrates to start the "," to create a European judicial area to fight financial crime more effectively. The "Appel de Genève" is the subject of a book "", published the same year. It was followed by a dozen novels and by as many essays on investigations of the multinational finance company Clearstream.  In late 1997, Robert planned to denounce the consequences of what he calls "the machine" (the capitalist economic system) for the poorest. In "Portrait de groupe avant démolition", Robert presented and illustrated a collection of street photographs of homeless persons taken by one of their own, René Taesch.  In addition to his books, Robert has directed and co-directed five documentary films, one for cinema with the cineast Philippe Harel, "Journal intime des affaires en cours" (1998) and later four others for television : "Le cahier" (1999), "Les Dissimulateurs" (2001), "Histoire clandestine" (2002), "L’affaire Clearstream racontée à un ouvrier de chez Daewoo" (2003).  He was also the writer of successful novels: "Happiness" (Original title : "Le bonheur"), an erotic book written in 2000 and translated into 14 languages; "Une ville", published in 2004, which was adapted as a TV series; and "La domination du mode", which appeared in 2006. The same year, he also published a novel on football "Le milieu du terrain" which resulted in several lawsuits, and an investigative book, "Clearstream, l’enquête"; the latter is very rare, because its sale was prohibited and it was removed from bookstores for almost a month. In late 2006, in collaboration with a painter friend, Robert published an art book, "Dominations : 'étrange objet de peinture et de littérature", in parallel with a contemporary art exhibition in Paris.  In 2009 he published "Dunk", a social science fiction novel. He is also the author of a successful four-volume comic strip, "L’affaire des affaires".

The first Clearstream affair.

Just after the "", Robert investigated the multinational Clearstream, which at that time was unknown to the general public. He met, one of the founding managers of this international clearing house.  Robert led the investigation for two years., the firm's vice-president and a former IT manager, explained that one of his tasks was to delete any trace of sensitive transactions. Three months before the publication of his book "", Robert sent a series of registered letters in which he sought explanations from Clearstream's management and from the banks under investigation.  In February 2001, the book "Révélation$" came out and had an explosive effect. Robert held Cedel International (now known as Clearstream) responsible for being one of the major platforms for concealing financial transactions on a worldwide scale. He continued to condemn them by co-producing a movie "Les Dissimulateurs" with Pascal Lorent, as part of Canal+’s investigation show "90 minutes". Business journalists were either in disbelief or hostile to it, while some others were just unsure, perhaps because Clearstream was threatening them with endless lawsuits. The movie gained success among the Alter-globalization movement.  The parliamentary commission on money laundering, chaired by Vincent Peillon and Arnaud Montebourg, took up the revelations and summoned witnesses, all of whom confirmed what the author had written.  Under pressure, a judicial inquiry was opened in Luxembourg. The CEO of Clearstream,, a Swiss banker, was laid off and Clearstream was quickly purchased, for a large sum, by the Deutsche Börse Group. Deutsche Börse had been waiting a long time to acquire this clearing house, which allowed it to control the European markets from start to finish. Deutsche Börse compensated André Lussi, but still maintained the lawsuits against Robert (hiring Charlie Hebdo's attorney Richard Malka, among others).  In light of those developments, Robert wrote a second novel, "La Boite Noire", and a second movie, broadcast by Canal+, "l'Affaire Clearstream racontée à un ouvrier chez Daewoo".

The trials.

After publishing his book "Révélation$"; Robert and had to face 31 suits for defamation. The complaints were raining in France, Belgium, Switzerland and even Canada, all filed by Clearstream, as well as by the Russian bank Menatep of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and by the BGL (General Bank of Luxembourg).  The publishers and declared that the claims for damages exceeded their annual turnover. Canal+'s Legal Department became engaged in expensive lawsuits.  As months went by, the actions failed at first instance one after another; the plaintiffs systematically lodged appeals, which were dismissed; they then lodged appeals to the Court of Cassation, which were also dismissed. Five years later, only two pending proceedings were left, both on appeal: one after a judgement in favour of Clearstream, and the other in favour of Robert. The judges considered: “the allegations are legitimate and supported by strong arguments”.  On 11 June 2008, Robert decided to stop publishing about Clearstream, being under too much pressure.

Procedures in France.

Clearstream filed three complaints for defamation against Robert, the first for his book "", the second for his book "" and the third for his documentary film, broadcast on Canal+, "Les Dissimulateurs", all having the subject of dirty money laundered by Clearstream.

First Instance.

On 29 March 2004, the 17th Chamber of the Criminal Court of Paris convicted Robert for defamation, both for his book "" and for his documentary film broadcast on Canal+, on the subject of the activities of the financial institution. However, the same chamber had dismissed Clearstream's complaint about "La Boite Noire" in October 2003. Both Clearstream and Robert appealed against the decisions which did not turn out in their favour.

Appeal Court.

In 2008, the Appeal Court of Paris convicted Robert in three cases.  On 4 December 2006, Robert was sentenced to pay €1500 in damages for using defamatory words about Clearstream in VSD. The writer appealed against the sentence, saying that the interview in VSD had been truncated. Furthermore, he won every lawsuit filed by Clearstream about his interviews or published and broadcast articles by France 2, "Le Point", "Le Nouvel Observateur" and other various websites.

Court of Cassation.

Alleging that the decisions violated the European Convention on Human Rights, Clearstream lodged an appeal with the Court of Cassation, claiming that Clearstream's rights were being abused in being forbidden from taking legal action. The Luxembourg company claimed that it was impossible for them to be represented by a natural person in this legal process in France, as they were bound by Luxembourg law to be chaired by a board of directors of a collegial nature. On 23 May 2006, the advocate-general at the Court of Cassation, Francis Fréchèdehe, requested that both of these actions be dismissed. He assessed that Clearstream could have used the civil procedure, in which it is not mandatory to be represented by a natural person.  At last, in February 2011, Robert won these three cases in Court of Cassation, which highlighted the seriousness of the investigation, freedom of expression and the public interest.  Decision No.106 from 3 February 2011 of the Court of Cassation "breaks and cancels in its entirety" the decision of the Appeal Court, rejecting all of Clearstream's arguments. The judges commented that "the public interest in the subject and the seriousness of the investigation, led by an investigative journalist, allowed the wording and the contentious allegations, the Appeal Court violated the above-mentioned texts" therefore cancelling Robert's previous convictions. The Court of Cassation specifically stated that "when a public debate of public interest is involved, journalistic freedom includes possible resort to a certain degree of exaggeration, even provocation, in the debate".  Robert reckoned that this decision was also a reply to the attacks on him by Richard Malka and Philippe Val.

Indictment in Luxembourg (2006).

On 27 January 2006, Robert was indicted in Luxembourg for insult, calumny and slander. The complaint aimed at the denunciation in his book "" of a transaction between BCCI and BGL banks. Robert had described this transaction as "illegal", even though a decision allowing the transaction had been made by a court in Luxembourg.  Those supporting Robert emphasized that the same complaints against BGL had already been dismissed in France on two occasions. The Court of Cassation agreed with BGL and the procedures would resume. Robert and also (ex-auditor of Arthur Anderson, who had used the Clearstream files and provided them to Robert. cf. "La Boite Noire") were sued by Clearstream (lawyer: Richard Malka).  This same "sharing" of documents led to theft and breach of trust indictments in France within the context of a complaint filed by Clearstream.  Robert was facing a prison sentence and a fine that can be very high in Luxembourg, in addition to lawyers' fees. In an ironic twist of fate, it is the European judicial area that he contributed to build with the "Appel de Genève" that allowed this procedure in the Luxembourg justice system.  Several support petitions were opened.

Final judgement of the Court of Cassation (2011).

The newspaper "Le Novel Observateur" reported:

Denis Robert (born 9 May 1958) is a French investigative journalist, novelist and filmmaker. He formerly worked for 12 years for the newspaper "Libération". In 2008, he was involved in a polemic with Philippe Val, former director of the magazine Charlie Hebdo, and journalist Edwy Plenel.

Denis Robert, né le à Moyeuvre-Grande en Moselle, est un journaliste et écrivain français. Spécialiste du journalisme d'investigation, il est également l'auteur de romans, de films documentaires et d'essais. Il est par ailleurs plasticien.


Taxonomy and naming.

Puffbirds get their common name from their fluffy plumage. In Spanish, they have been nicknamed "bobo" ("dummy") from their propensity to sit motionless waiting for prey. American naturalist Thomas Horsfield defined the Bucconidae in 1821. The family was classified as part of the Piciformes by Alexander Wetmore in his work "A Systematic Classification for the Birds of the World" (1930, revised in 1951 and 1960). The placement of the combined puffbird and jacamar lineage was in question, with some bone and muscle features suggesting they may be more closely related to the Coraciiformes. However, analysis of nuclear DNA in a 2003 study placed them as sister group to the rest of the Piciformes, also showing that the groups had developed zygodactyl feet (two toes facing forward and two aft) before separating. Per Ericson and colleagues, in analysing genomic DNA, confirmed that puffbirds and jacamars were sister groups and their place in Piciformes. The lineage is sometimes elevated to order level as Galbuliformes, first proposed by Sibley and Ahlquist in 1990.  Molecular investigation of the Bucconidae in 2004 indicated that the nunlets (genus "Nonnula") diverged from the common ancestor of other puffbirds an estimated 25 million years ago, with the genus "Malacoptila" the next to branch off around 19.1 million years ago. A fossil right wing recovered from Lower Eocene beds in Lincoln County Wyoming was initially classified as a puffbird and given the name "Primobucco mcgrewi". However, the discovery of more complete specimens, including twelve in 2010, has indicated that "Primobucco" was instead an early type of roller.

Distribution and habitat.

Puffbirds are found from Mexico to southern Brazil, with the greatest variety of species found in the Amazon Basin. They live in forested or wooded habitats, including lowland, foothills, and open woodland. The white-faced nunbird is the only member of this species known to live in highlands. The swallow-winged puffbird also lives in more open country. No species of puffbirds have been recorded of moving any significant distance beyond its home territory.

Description.

Generally dull-plumaged birds, puffbirds may have brightly colored bills, eyebrows and irises. They have large heads, short wings and strong bills, with short legs and diminutive feet. There is some sexual dimorphism; the female is slightly larger and slightly duller-plumaged than the male. Juvenile birds have shorter beaks.

Voice.

Puffbirds are one of the most silent birds in the Neotropics and vocalize very rarely. The most vocal species are the numbirds and those in the genus " Nystalus". When calling they mostly do so at dawn and dusk. The main vocalizations consists of repeated and high-pitched whistles. The nunbirds are the most vocal of the family; they have a wide repertoire of calls and often give very loud shouts.

Behavior.

Puffbirds are by nature arboreal. Mostly secretive, they are found singly or in small family groups. Species of the genus "Monasa", known as nunbirds, are more gregarious and found in flocks.

Feeding.

Puffbirds are sit-and-wait hunters, perching unmoving for long periods, while watching for insect prey. As well as arthropods, they may eat small lizards and plant material. Arthropod exoskeletons are regurgitated as pellets. The swallow-winged puffbird is the only member in the family that is known to capture insects from open perches.

Breeding.

The breeding behaviour of puffbirds is not well known. Nests are burrows in dirt, rotten wood or termite mounds. Puffbirds are known to lay clutches of two or three eggs. The eggs are round, small, and white. The incubation period is around 15 days, and performed by both parents. Born blind and naked, the young can crawl to the entrance of the nest burrow at one or two days of age. There, their mother feeds them partly chewed insects. They fledge at around 20 to 21 days.

The puffbirds and their relatives in the near passerine family Bucconidae are tropical tree-dwelling insectivorous birds that are found from South America up to Mexico. Together with their closest relatives, the jacamars, they form a divergent lineage within the order Piciformes, though the two families are sometimes elevated to a separate order Galbuliformes. Lacking the iridescent colours of the jacamars, puffbirds are mainly brown, rufous or grey, with large heads, large eyes, and flattened bills with a hooked tip. Their loose, abundant plumage and short tails makes them look stout and puffy, giving rise to the English name of the family. The species range in size from the rufous-capped nunlet, at and, to the white-necked puffbird, at up to and.

Les Bucconidae (ou Bucconidés en français) sont une famille d'oiseaux constituée de 10 genres et de 37 espèces existantes de tamatias et de barbacous.


History.

Premodern era.

Archeological evidence, in the form of a cow skull upon which trepanation been performed, shows that people were performing veterinary procedures in the Neolithic (3400–3000 BCE).  The Egyptian "Papyrus of Kahun" (Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt) is the first extant record of veterinary medicine. The Shalihotra Samhita, dating from the time of Ashoka, is an early Indian veterinary treatise. The edicts of Asoka read: "Everywhere King Piyadasi (Asoka) made two kinds of medicine (चिकित्सा) available, medicine for people and medicine for animals. Where there were no healing herbs for people and animals, he ordered that they be bought and planted." "Hippiatrica" is a Byzantine compilation of hippiatrics, dated to the 5th or 6th century.  The first attempts to organize and regulate the practice of treating animals tended to focus on horses because of their economic significance. In the Middle Ages, farriers combined their work in horseshoeing with the more general task of "horse doctoring". The Arabic tradition of "Bayṭara", or "Shiyāt al-Khayl", originates with the treatise of Ibn Akhī Hizām (fl. late 9th century).  In 1356, the Lord Mayor of London, concerned at the poor standard of care given to horses in the city, requested that all farriers operating within a seven-mile radius of the City of London form a "fellowship" to regulate and improve their practices. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Worshipful Company of Farriers in 1674.  Meanwhile, Carlo Ruini's book "Anatomia del Cavallo," ("Anatomy of the Horse") was published in 1598. It was the first comprehensive treatise on the anatomy of a non-human species.

Establishment of profession.

The first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France, in 1762 by Claude Bourgelat. According to Lupton, after observing the devastation being caused by cattle plague to the French herds, Bourgelat devoted his time to seeking out a remedy. This resulted in his founding a veterinary school in Lyon in 1761, from which establishment he dispatched students to combat the disease; in a short time, the plague was stayed and the health of stock restored, through the assistance rendered to agriculture by veterinary science and art." The school received immediate international recognition in the eighteenth century and its pedagogical model drew on the existing fields of human medicine, natural history, and comparative anatomy.  The Odiham Agricultural Society was founded in 1783 in England to promote agriculture and industry, and played an important role in the foundation of the veterinary profession in Britain. A founding member, Thomas Burgess, began to take up the cause of animal welfare and campaign for the more humane treatment of sick animals. A 1785 Society meeting resolved to "promote the study of Farriery upon rational scientific principles."  The physician James Clark wrote a treatise entitled "Prevention of Disease" in which he argued for the professionalization of the veterinary trade, and the establishment of veterinary colleges. This was finally achieved in 1790, through the campaigning of Granville Penn, who persuaded the Frenchman, Benoit Vial de St. Bel to accept the professorship of the newly established Veterinary College in London. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons was established by royal charter in 1844. Veterinary science came of age in the late 19th century, with notable contributions from Sir John McFadyean, credited by many as having been the founder of modern Veterinary research.  In the United States, the first schools were established in the early 19th century in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. In 1879, Iowa Agricultural College became the first land grant college to establish a school of veterinary medicine.

Veterinary workers.

Veterinary physicians.

Veterinary care and management is usually led by a veterinary physician (usually called a vet, veterinary surgeon or veterinarian). This role is the equivalent of a doctor in human medicine, and usually involves post-graduate study and qualification.  In many countries, the local nomenclature for a vet is a protected term, meaning that people without the prerequisite qualifications and/or registration are not able to use the title, and in many cases, the activities that may be undertaken by a vet (such as animal treatment or surgery) are restricted only to those people who are registered as vet. For instance, in the United Kingdom, as in other jurisdictions, animal treatment may be performed only by registered vets (with a few designated exceptions, such as para-veterinary workers), and it is illegal for any person who is not registered to call themselves a vet or perform any treatment.  Most vets work in clinical settings, treating animals directly. These vets may be involved in a general practice, treating animals of all types; may be specialized in a specific group of animals such as companion animals, livestock, laboratory animals, zoo animals or horses; or may specialize in a narrow medical discipline such as surgery, dermatology, laboratory animal medicine, or internal medicine.  As with healthcare professionals, vets face ethical decisions about the care of their patients. Current debates within the profession include the ethics of purely cosmetic procedures on animals, such as declawing of cats, docking of tails, cropping of ears and debarking on dogs.  A wide range of surgeries and operations are performed on various types of animals, but not all of them are carried out by vets. In a case in Iran, for instance, an eye surgeon managed to perform a successful cataract surgery on a rooster for the first time in the world.

Paraveterinary workers.

Paraveterinary workers, including veterinary nurses, technicians and assistants, either assist vets in their work, or may work within their own scope of practice, depending on skills and qualifications, including in some cases, performing minor surgery.  The role of paraveterinary workers is less homogeneous globally than that of a vet, and qualification levels, and the associated skill mix, vary widely.

Allied professions.

A number of professions exist within the scope of veterinary medicine, but which may not necessarily be performed by vets or veterinary nurses. This includes those performing roles which are also found in human medicine, such as practitioners dealing with musculoskeletal disorders, including osteopaths, chiropractors and physiotherapists.  There are also roles which are specific to animals, but which have parallels in human society, such as animal grooming and animal massage.  Some roles are specific to a species or group of animals, such as farriers, who are involved in the shoeing of horses, and in many cases have a major role to play in ensuring the medical fitness of the horse.

Veterinary research.

Veterinary research includes research on prevention, control, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of animals and on the basic biology, welfare, and care of animals. Veterinary research transcends species boundaries and includes the study of spontaneously occurring and experimentally induced models of both human and animal disease and research at human-animal interfaces, such as food safety, wildlife and ecosystem health, zoonotic diseases, and public policy.

Clinical veterinary research.

As in medicine, randomized controlled trials are fundamental also in veterinary medicine to establish the effectiveness of a treatment. However, clinical veterinary research is far behind human medical research, with fewer randomized controlled trials, that have a lower quality and that are mostly focused on research animals. Possible improvement consists in creation of network for inclusion of private veterinary practices in randomized controlled trials.  There are no studies on the effect of community animal health services on improving household wealth and the health status of low-income farmers.

Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, control, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in animals and along with this, it also deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutrition and product development. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all animal species, both domesticated and wild, with a wide range of conditions which can affect different species.

La médecine vétérinaire est l'application des principes de la médecine, du diagnostic et de la thérapeutique à tous les animaux : animaux de compagnie, animaux de production et chevaux, principalement, mais aussi nouveaux animaux de compagnie (NAC), animaux des parcs zoologiques, animaux sauvages. La science vétérinaire est notamment vitale pour l'étude et la protection de l'élevage, la santé des troupeaux et le suivi de la propagation d'une maladie. Elle requiert l'acquisition et l'application de connaissances scientifiques dans de multiples domaines et l'utilisation de qualités techniques dans un but de prévention de maladies qui peuvent aussi bien toucher les animaux de compagnie que les animaux sauvages.


Life and career.

Salieri started his musical studies in his native town of Legnago; he was first taught at home by his older brother Francesco Salieri (a former student of the violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini), and he received further lessons from the organist of the Legnago Cathedral, Giuseppe Simoni, a pupil of Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. Salieri remembered little from his childhood in later years except passions for sugar, reading, and music. He twice ran away from home without permission to hear his elder brother play violin concertos in neighboring churches on festival days (resulting in the loss of his beloved sugar), and he recounted being chastised by his father after failing to greet a local priest with proper respect. Salieri responded to the reprimand by saying the priest's organ playing displeased him because it was in an inappropriately theatrical style. Sometime between 1763 and 1764, both of Salieri's parents died, and he was briefly taken in by an anonymous brother, a monk in Padua, and then for unknown reasons in 1765 or 1766, he became the ward of a Venetian nobleman named Giovanni Mocenigo (which Giovanni is at this time unknown), a member of the powerful and well connected Mocenigo family. It is possible that Salieri's father and Mocenigo were friends or business associates, but this is obscure. While living in Venice, Salieri continued his musical studies with the organist and opera composer Giovanni Battista Pescetti, then following Pescetti's sudden death he studied with the opera singer Ferdinando Pacini (or Pasini). It was through Pacini that Salieri gained the attention of the composer Florian Leopold Gassmann, who, impressed with his protege's talents and concerned for the boy's future, took the young orphan to Vienna, where he personally directed and paid for the remainder of Salieri's musical education.  Salieri and Gassmann arrived in Vienna on 15 June 1766. Gassmann's first act was to take Salieri to the Italian Church to consecrate his teaching and service to God, an event that left a deep impression on Salieri for the rest of his life. Salieri's education included instruction in Latin and Italian poetry by Fr. Don Pietro Tommasi, instruction in the German language, and European literature. His music studies revolved around vocal composition and thoroughbass. His musical theory training in harmony and counterpoint was rooted in Johann Fux's "Gradus ad Parnassum", which Salieri translated during each Latin lesson. As a result, Salieri continued to live with Gassmann even after Gassmann's marriage, an arrangement that lasted until the year of Gassmann's death and Salieri's own marriage in 1774. Few of Salieri's compositions have survived from this early period. In his old age Salieri hinted that these works were either purposely destroyed or had been lost, with the exception of a few works for the church. Among these sacred works there survives a Mass in C major written without a "Gloria" and in the antique a cappella style (presumably for one of the church's penitential seasons) and dated 2 August 1767. A complete opera composed in 1769 (presumably as a culminating study) "La vestale" ("The Vestal Virgin") has also been lost.  Beginning in 1766 Gassmann introduced Salieri to the daily chamber music performances held during Emperor Joseph II's evening meal. Salieri quickly impressed the Emperor, and Gassmann was instructed to bring his pupil as often as he wished. This was the beginning of a relationship between monarch and musician that lasted until Joseph's death in 1790. Salieri met Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known as Metastasio, and Christoph Willibald Gluck during this period at the Sunday morning salons held at the home of the Martinez family. Metastasio had an apartment there and participated in the weekly gatherings. Over the next several years Metastasio gave Salieri informal instruction in prosody and the declamation of Italian poetry, and Gluck became an informal advisor, friend and confidante. It was toward the end of this extended period of study that Gassmann was called away on a new opera commission and a gap in the theater's program allowed for Salieri to make his debut as a composer of a completely original "opera buffa". Salieri's first full opera was composed during the winter and carnival season of 1770; "Le donne letterate" and was based on Molière's "Les Femmes Savantes" ("The Learned Ladies") with a libretto by, a dancer in the court ballet and a brother of the composer Luigi Boccherini. The modest success of this opera launched Salieri's 34-year operatic career as a composer of over 35 original dramas.

Works.

Opera.

During his time in Vienna, Salieri acquired great prestige as a composer and conductor, particularly of opera, but also of chamber and sacred music. Among the most successful of his 37 operas staged during his lifetime were "Armida" (1771), "La fiera di Venezia"

Sacred works.

Salieri's earliest surviving work is a Mass in C major. He would write four major orchestral masses, a

Instrumental works.

His small instrumental output includes two piano concerti, a concerto for organ written in 1773, a concerto

Relationship with Mozart.

In the 1780s, while Mozart lived and worked in Vienna, he and his father Leopold wrote in their letters that several "cabals" of Italians led by Salieri were actively putting obstacles in the way of Mozart's obtaining certain posts or staging his operas. For example, Mozart wrote in December 1781 to his father that "the only one who counts in [the Emperor's] eyes is Salieri". Their letters suggest that both Mozart and his father, being Austrians who resented the special place that Italian composers had in the courts of the Austrian nobility, blamed the Italians in general and Salieri in particular for all of Mozart's difficulties in establishing himself in Vienna. Mozart wrote to his father in May 1783 about Salieri and Lorenzo Da Ponte, the court poet: "You know those Italian gentlemen; they are very nice to your face! Enough, we all know about them. And if [Da Ponte] is in league with Salieri, I'll never get a text from him, and I would love to show him what I can really do with an Italian opera." In July 1783, he again wrote to his father of "a trick of Salieri's", one of several letters in which Mozart accused Salieri of trickery. Decades after Mozart's death, a rumour began to circulate that Mozart had been poisoned by Salieri. This rumour has been attributed by some to a rivalry between the German and the Italian schools of music. Carl Maria von Weber, a relative of Mozart by marriage whom Wagner has characterized as the most German of German composers, is said to have refused to join (Ludlam's cave), a social club of which Salieri was a member, and avoided having anything to do with him. These rumours then made their way into popular culture. Albert Lortzing's Singspiel "Szenen aus Mozarts Leben" LoWV28 (1832) uses the cliché of the jealous Salieri trying to hinder Mozart's career.  Ironically, Salieri's music was much more in the tradition of Gluck and Gassmann than of the Italians like Paisiello or Cimarosa. In 1772, Empress Maria Theresa commented

Legacy.

Salieri and his music were largely forgotten from the 19th century until the late 20th century. This revival was due to the dramatic and highly fictionalized depiction of Salieri in Peter Shaffer's play "Amadeus" (1979), which was given its greatest exposure in its 1984 film version, directed by Miloš Forman. His music today has regained some modest popularity via recordings. It is also the subject of increasing academic study, and a small number of his operas have returned to the stage. In addition, there is now a Salieri Opera Festival sponsored by the Fondazione Culturale Antonio Salieri and dedicated to rediscovering his work and those of his contemporaries. It is developing as an annual autumn event in his native town of Legnago, where a theatre has been renamed in his honour.

Modern performances of Salieri's work.

In 2003, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli released "The Salieri Album", a CD with 13 arias from Salieri's operas, most of which had never been recorded before. Patrice Michaels sang a number of his arias on the CD "Divas of Mozart's Day". In 2008, another female opera star, Diana Damrau, released a CD with seven Salieri coloratura arias. Since 2000, there have also been complete recordings issued or re-issued of the operas "Axur Re d'Ormus", "Falstaff", "Les Danaïdes", "La Locandiera", "La grotta di Trofonio", "Prima la musica e poi le parole" and "". Salieri has yet to fully re-enter the general repertory, but performances of his works are progressively becoming more regular.

Use of music by Salieri in films.

Salieri has even begun to attract some attention from Hollywood. In 2001, his triple concerto was used in the soundtrack of "The Last Castle", featuring Robert Redford and James Gandolfini. It is a story that builds on the rivalry between a meticulous but untested officer (Gandolfini) serving as the warden of a military prison and an imprisoned but much admired and highly decorated general (Redford). The Salieri piece is used as the warden's theme music, seemingly to invoke the image of jealousy of the inferior for

Fictional treatments.

Salieri's life, and especially his relationship with Mozart,

References.

Notes

External links.

Scores

Antonio Salieri (,, ; 18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg Monarchy.

Antonio Salieri est un compositeur italien, né à Legnago dans la province de Vérone le et mort à Vienne le. Il occupe une place importante dans l'histoire de la musique classique. Malgré cela, sa vie et son œuvre sont aujourd'hui quelque peu oubliées du grand public, qui ne les entraperçoit que vaguement à travers la légende de sa rivalité avec Mozart.


Description.

The description of regulations can be found in Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (formerly Article 249 TEC).  Article 288  To exercise the Union's competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.  A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  A directive shall be binding, as to the result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods.  A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed.  Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force.  The Council can delegate legislative authority to the Commission and, depending on the area and the appropriate legislative procedure, both institutions can make laws. There are Council regulations and Commission regulations. Article 288 does not clearly distinguish between legislative acts and administrative acts, as is normally done in national legal systems.

Legal effect.

Regulations are in some sense equivalent to "Acts of Parliament", in the sense that what they say is law and they do not need to be mediated into national law by means of implementing measures. As such, regulations constitute one of the most powerful forms of European Union law and a great deal of care is required in their drafting and formulation.  When a regulation comes into force, it overrides all national laws dealing with the same subject matter and subsequent national legislation must be consistent with and made in the light of the regulation. While member states are prohibited from obscuring the direct effect of regulations, it is common practice to pass legislation dealing with consequential matters arising from the coming into force of a regulation.

A regulation is a legal act of the European Union that becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law. Regulations can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.

Dans le droit de l'Union européenne, un règlement est un acte juridique de l'Union, obligatoire dans tous ses éléments dès son entrée en vigueur, soit la date précisée par le règlement lui-même, ou à défaut dans les suivant sa publication au Journal officiel. Il ne peut donc s'appliquer de manière incomplète ou sélective.


Characteristics.

The cluster is a fairly heterogeneous mixture of spirals and ellipticals., it is believed that the spiral galaxies of the cluster are distributed in an oblong prolate filament, approximately four times as long as it is wide, stretching along the line of sight from the Milky Way. The elliptical galaxies are more centrally concentrated than the spiral galaxies.  The cluster is an aggregate of at least three separate subclumps: "Virgo A", centered on M87, a second centered on the galaxy M86, and "Virgo B", centered on M49, with some authors including a "Virgo C" subcluster, centered on the galaxy M60 as well as a "LVC" (Low Velocity Cloud) subclump, centered on the large spiral galaxy NGC 4216.  Of all of the subclumps, "Virgo A", formed by a mixture of elliptical, lenticular, and (usually) gas-poor spiral galaxies, is the dominant one, with a mass of approximately 10, which is approximately an order of magnitude larger than the other two subclumps.  The three subgroups are in the process of merging to form a larger single cluster and are surrounded by other smaller galaxy clouds, mostly composed of spiral galaxies, known as "N Cloud", "S Cloud", and "Virgo E" that are in the process of infalling to merge with them, plus other farther isolated galaxies and galaxy groups (like the galaxy cloud Coma I) that are also attracted by the gravity of Virgo to merge with it in the future. This strongly suggests the Virgo cluster is a dynamically young cluster that is still forming.  Other two nearby aggregations known as "M Cloud", "W Cloud", and "W' Cloud" seem to be background systems independent of the main cluster.  The large mass of the cluster is indicated by the high peculiar velocities of many of its galaxies, sometimes as high as 1,600 km/s with respect to the cluster's center.  The Virgo cluster lies within the Virgo Supercluster, and its gravitational effect slows down the nearby galaxies. The large mass of the cluster has the effect of slowing down the recession of the Local Group from the cluster by approximately ten percent.

Intracluster medium.

As with many other rich galaxy clusters, Virgo's intracluster medium is filled with a hot, rarefied plasma at temperatures of 30 million kelvins that emits X-Rays. Within the intracluster medium (ICM) are found a large number of intergalactic stars (up to 10% of the stars in the cluster), including some planetary nebulae. It is theorized that these were expelled from their home galaxies by interactions with other galaxies. The ICM also contains some globular clusters, possibly stripped off dwarf galaxies, and even at least one star formation region.

Galaxies.

Below is given a table of bright or notable objects in the Virgo Cluster and the subunit of the cluster in which they are located. Note that in some cases a galaxy may be considered in a different subunit by other researchers (sources:)  Fainter galaxies within the cluster are usually known by their numbers in the Virgo Cluster Catalog, particularly members of the numerous dwarf galaxy population.

The Virgo Cluster is a cluster of galaxies whose center is 53.8 ± 0.3 Mly (16.5 ± 0.1 Mpc) away in the constellation Virgo. Comprising approximately 1300 (and possibly up to 2000) member galaxies, the cluster forms the heart of the larger Virgo Supercluster, of which the Local Group (containing our Milky Way galaxy) is a member. The Local Group actually experiences the mass of the Virgo Supercluster as the Virgocentric flow. It is estimated that the Virgo Cluster's mass is 1.2 out to 8 degrees of the cluster's center or a radius of about 2.2 Mpc.

L'amas de la Vierge est un grand amas de galaxies situé à une distance de. Il fut découvert par Charles Messier en 1781, qui cartographia un grand nombre de ses galaxies les plus importantes, notamment la galaxie géante M87.


Implementation.

Stored procedures are similar to user-defined functions (UDFs). The major difference is that UDFs can be used like any other expression within SQL statements, whereas stored procedures must be invoked using the codice_7 statement.  or  The exact and correct implementation of stored procedures varies from one database system to the other. Most major database vendors support them in some form. Depending on the database system, stored procedures can be implemented in a variety of programming languages, for example SQL, Java, C, or C++. Stored procedures written in non-SQL languages may or may not execute SQL statements themselves.  The increasing adoption of stored procedures led to the introduction of procedural elements to the SQL language in the and standards in the part SQL/PSM. That made SQL an imperative programming language. Most database systems offer proprietary and vendor-specific extensions, exceeding SQL/PSM. A standard specification for Java stored procedures exists as well as SQL/JRT.

Other uses.

In some systems, stored procedures can be used to control transaction management; in others, stored procedures run inside a transaction such that transactions are effectively transparent to them. Stored procedures can also be invoked from a database trigger or a condition handler. For example, a stored procedure may be triggered by an insert on a specific table, or update of a specific field in a table, and the code inside the stored procedure would be executed. Writing stored procedures as condition handlers also allows database administrators to track errors in the system with greater detail by using stored procedures to catch the errors and record some audit information in the database or an external resource like a file.

Comparison with prepared statements.

Prepared statements take an ordinary statement or query and parameterize it so that different literal values can be used at a later time. Like stored procedures, they are stored on the server for efficiency and provide some protection from SQL injection attacks. Although simpler and more declarative, prepared statements are not ordinarily written to use procedural logic and cannot operate on variables. Because of their simple interface and client-side implementations, prepared statements are more widely reusable between DBMS.

Comparison with smart contracts.

Smart contract is a term applied to executable code stored on a blockchain as opposed to an RDBMS. Despite the execution result consensus mechanisms of public blockchain networks differing in principle from traditional private or federated databases, they perform ostensibly the same function as stored procedures, albeit usually with a sense of value transaction.

A stored procedure (also termed proc, storp, sproc, StoPro, StoredProc, StoreProc, sp, or SP) is a subroutine available to applications that access a relational database management system (RDBMS). Such procedures are stored in the database data dictionary.

En informatique, dans la technologie des bases de données, une procédure stockée (ou stored procedure en anglais) est un ensemble d'instructions SQL précompilées, stockées dans une base de données et exécutées sur demande par le SGBD qui manipule la base de données.