Story.

The game incorporated the idea of parallel universes, and was to be set across two vastly different renditions of modern day Paris. In one universe, which shares many aesthetic similarities to our own, Paris has descended into chaos following the collapse of government. In the other, the timeline diverged in 1307; where instead of being disbanded, the Knights Templar seize control of the French crown. The story takes the player across both universes.

Gameplay.

"The Crossing" was to be a first-person shooter which supported a narrative-driven single-player game, but with the player's opponents replaced by human-controlled agents via a multi-player system, an approach called "crossplayer" by Arkane. In this single-player mode, the single player would work through a game level amid the conflict of a team-based deathmatch game, with teams assigned to either protect or assassinate the character controlled by the single player. The game also was to include a team-based multiplayer mode called skirmish, which is also incorporated into the single-player campaign, where the main player might try to avoid the skirmish.

Development.

The idea of "The Crossing" was to try to find a way to fuse a narrative-driven single player game with multiplayer elements, with human-controlled players to take the place of some of the enemies in the single-player campaign. This amalgamation was dubbed "crossplayer" by Arkane. Raphaël Colantonio, Arkane's chief executive officer at the time, said that as a studio they wanted to try a multiplayer game, but felt the standard multiplayer approach in most games was "pointless" and wanted to explore a different formula.  This approach necessitated level designs that had the single player navigating through linear sections of levels until they reached a choke point where they would encounter the team-based multiplayer battles. During the player traversing linear sections, the game would have brought the multiplayer teams to spawn into or near the upcoming choke point, so that these players would always feel close to the core action of the game. According to Colantonio, this approach required them to rethink how they designed levels; they recognized that they needed to continue to drive the single player forward through the level, unable to have them stop to solve puzzles or analyze enemy movements, while also making some of the choke point areas interesting for the other players.  For the game's story and setting, Arkane wanted to create a new intellectual property (IP) for them to build on. Colantonio brought in Viktor Antonov, an artist that had been working for Valve and had helped Arkane with the Source engine during their development of "Dark Messiah of Might and Magic" (2006). As both Colantonio and Antonov had lived in Paris for some time in their lives, they came upon the idea of a "dystopia-utopia" setting in Paris, where part of the city was a "royal utopia" while the other half had fallen into squalor; this reflected on the different experiences that Colantonio and Antonov had from how they came to live in Paris, and recognizing that Paris itself is a "city of contrasts". As a backstory, they envisioned a world where scientists had developed time travel through various portals, and used it to change the past and create alternate dimensions in the present, then taking the best of technology advancements from that to improve the original reality. "The Crossing" would have started when an incident involving misuse of the time travel portal in the center of Paris would have created a cacophony of different versions of Paris. The player discovers that Knights Templar with high-tech weapons have invaded Paris, and would be forced to find the portal to try to set things right.  With some of the gameplay and the narrative down, Arkane began talking about the game with the gaming press, including a cover story on "Games for Windows", generating interest in the title, but had not yet secured a publisher. Colantonio pitched the idea to the core 20 publishers at that time, but none of them expressed interest in the idea as a whole, instead talking about focusing only on parts of "The Crossing" such as using the narrative in another gameplay setting, or having only focus on the single-player. Colantonio stated that these publishers were also concerned about Arkane seeking to focus on the personal computer release over consoles, and the lack of plans for a PlayStation 3 port, at the time, a limitation of the Source engine having yet to be ported to that console. The publishers also expressed concern about the matchmaking capabilities of the game; Arkane brought in Max Hoberman, who developed the "Halo 2" matchmaking system, to try to alleviate publisher fears. A further challenge from publishers according to Colantonio was the high development costs they wanted, looking for between and, which was an expensive budget for a game at that time particularly from a studio that had yet to establish its own identity.  Eventually, Arkane found one unnamed publisher that was interested in the entire concept of "The Crossing". They spent about six months negotiating with this publisher, but Colantonio said as time progressed, the negotiations worsened, with a smaller proposed budget and requiring them to do a PlayStation 3 version. Colantonio decided after six months that they were not going to be able to achieve the vision they wanted with "The Crossing", and ceased negotiations with the publisher, effectively shelving the game. Arkane switched over to continue contract work with Valve, and started work with Electronic Arts on a Steven Spielberg-backed game, "LMNO", itself which was ultimately cancelled.  While "The Crossing" never came to fruition, Colantonio said that it was an important foundation of Arkane Studio as it helped with team-building, establishing a vision for their own IP, and the processes needed to carry that out, which they used in building the "Dishonored" series. During the 2018 QuakeCon, Arkane's lead designer Ricardo Bare stated that their future projects were looking at multiplayer functionality that they had been envisioning in "The Crossing" as to provide seamless multiplayer functionality alongside single-player content.

The Crossing was set to be a first-person shooter video game by Arkane Studios, which attempted to fuse single-player and multiplayer by threading its single-player campaign through live multiplayer games.


Background.

In 1988, Spoon Inc. was founded by Tatsuru Ichishima, who previously worked for Honda as a race car and test driver. His decision to setup the company had the backing of Honda and Mugen. Honda's support came in exchange for racing data. The startup originated from the Honda Civic E-AT, which Ichishima owned and modified. This vehicle became the basis of Spoon's racing concept and philosophy that guide the company until today. The company caters to car owners who seek higher performance lacking in their vehicles amid Honda's shift towards eco-friendly technology.  Spoon Inc. is known for its tuning parts, which - like those produced by Toda Racing - are popular for their naturally aspirated performance. This type of tuner is noted for its aggressive side and the requirement for valvetrain upgrades. The company is also known for producing aftermarket parts such as powertrain, suspension, aero-parts (supplemental pieces added to the body to improve aesthetics or aerodynamics), wheels, drivetrain, braking system, and cooling system.

Notable modifications.

Race cars.

Spoon has been credited for making Honda a contender in motorsports through its racing modifications. In Japan, Spoon Sports is particularly recognized as a leader in time attack and performance using Honda vehicles such as the Integra Type R, NSX, the S2000, and the Civic. The very first racing car attributed to Spoon Sports was Ichisima's own Honda Civic E-AT. The vehicle, which became the basis of Spoon, participated in the Japan Touring Car Championship. It held the distinction of the first Honda Civic to join the race.  In 2008, Spoon launched the Spoon Honda NSX-R GT, which is based on the second-generation, 2002 Honda NSX-R. This vehicle was modified to meet the requirements of the Japanese Super GT racing regulations. In 2017, Spoon Sports fielded the Unlimited Class FD2 Honda Civic Type R, which set a record lap during the Global Time Attack at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park. The company modified this vehicle as a front-wheel-drive racing car with Formula 1-style center-seating position.In the course of its 20-year racing history, Spoon has distinguished itself in endurance racing, excelling in events like the 24-hour Nuremberg, the 25-hour Thunderhill, and Super Taikyu.  Spoon-themed race cars are distinguished by a combination of blue and yellow livery while road cars are typically in white. The race car color scheme, however, is increasingly getting more diversified after Spoon raced the S2000 in 2012.

Aftermarket parts.

Spoon has also produced iconic aftermarket parts such as the Spoon SW388, a lightweight aluminum forged wheel. This wheel is comparable to the Volk Racing TE37 in terms of popularity, and is noted for its five-spoke design. The company is also known for its more radical synchronized gear kits for vehicle transmission, noted for its extremely close ratio. The Momo steering wheel, which it developed with the Italian car accessories company Momo, is another popular Spoon product around the world.

Racing.

Spoon has been racing Honda cars throughout their history. Their achievements include winning the Super Taikyu ST-4 class championship, class wins at the 24 Hours Nürburgring, Tokachi 24 Hours, 25 Hours of Thunderhill, Tsukuba 9 Hours, and class podiums at the Macau Grand Prix.

Type One.

Spoon's headquarters is mainly used as the main office, stocking of parts, and distribution. The company opened Type One in 2001 according to a differentiation strategy where Spoon functions as a research and development of parts and tuning while Type One serves as a tuning shop for servicing and tuning cars. All of Spoon's products are on display at the Type One showroom and factory as well as the race cars that it has fielded through the years. Engines are modified in this facility to be beyond factory specifications.  Spoon also buys and resells Honda vehicles at Type One, turning these into bespoke cars such as the left-hand-drive NSX Type Rs. The company provides maintenance and repair services at Type One.

Spoon Inc. is a Japanese company specializing in engine tuning and aftermarket parts designed to make Honda cars high performing vehicles. The company's Type One showroom has helped Honda vehicles become major contenders in motorsports competitions. These included the models that participated in the Tsukuba 9 Hours Endurance Race, the Super Taikyu, and 24 Hours Nürburgring.


Early life.

Gibbons was born in Great Falls, Montana, and raised in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended Douglas MacArthur High School. The son of United States Air Force colonel William Gibbons, he had his first Little League Baseball at-bat while playing in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, where the family lived temporarily.

Playing career.

After being selected by the New York Mets with the 24th overall pick of the 1980 amateur draft, Gibbons had a very brief 18-game major league playing career as a catcher with the Mets in 1984 and 1986. In 1984 he was considered to be the Mets' top catching prospect but he batted only.220, with one home run and 2 RBIs (but 16 strikeouts) in 50 at-bats. Injuries also took a toll on him so he retired as a player in 1990. Gibbons served as the Mets' bullpen catcher during the 1986 postseason, in which the Mets won the World Series.

Coaching and managerial career.

Minor leagues.

Gibbons began his coaching career with the Mets in 1990 as a minor league roving catching instructor. In 1994, he joined the Mets' South Atlantic League franchise, the Capital City Bombers, as a hitting coach.  Gibbons began his minor-league managing career in the Mets' organization with the Kingsport Mets, guiding them to the Appalachian League championship in 1995. He followed that by guiding the St. Lucie Mets to the Florida State League title the next season. In 1998, he led the Eastern League's Binghamton Mets to the playoffs, and then followed that with three seasons as manager of the Norfolk Tides. He led the Tides to the International League playoffs in 2001.

Toronto Blue Jays (2002–2008).

Hired by the Toronto Blue Jays' former general manager J. P. Ricciardi in 2002, as a bullpen catcher, Gibbons worked his way up to first base coach in June 2002. Ricciardi was his former roommate in the minor leagues.  After Ricciardi fired manager Carlos Tosca in 2004, Gibbons was promoted to the manager position. The Blue Jays went 20–30 with Gibbons at the helm.  At the end of the 2004 regular season, Gibbons signed a one-year contract as the manager for the 2005 season. This contract was extended for three seasons just a week into the 2005 season. Gibbons went on to lead the Jays to an 80–82 record in his first full season as a big league manager.  Expectations were higher in 2006, after the Blue Jays acquired A. J. Burnett, Troy Glaus, Lyle Overbay, B. J. Ryan, and Bengie Molina. Toronto ended the season in second place in the American League East division with an 87–75 record, one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox. Although they finished 10 games out of first, it was the first time the Jays had finished higher than third since 1993, when they won their second of two consecutive World Series titles.  With the Blue Jays mired in a slump that put them five games below.500, Gibbons was fired on June 20, 2008. He was replaced by former Jays manager Cito Gaston. He finished with a record of 305 wins and 305 losses.

Kansas City Royals and San Antonio Missions (2009–2012).

On October 10, 2008, Gibbons was hired as the bench coach by the Kansas City Royals, replacing Dave Owen who became the third base coach.  Gibbons was hired at the end of the 2011 season to manage the San Diego Padres' Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions.

Second stint with Toronto (2013–2018).

On November 20, 2012, it was announced that Gibbons was re-hired as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays on a two–year rolling contract. Gibbons was named to the 2013 American League All-Star coaching staff by Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland. The Blue Jays finished the 2013 season with a 74–88 record, putting them last in the AL East.  The Blue Jays were six games up in the AL East title race on June 6, 2014, but posted a 45–54 record from that point on, including a 9–17 record in August. They would finish the season with a record of 83–79, good enough for third place in the AL East, and five games back of a wild card spot.  On June 22, 2015, the Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 8–5 for Gibbons' 500th managerial win. On August 2, Gibbons was ejected for the third time in the 2015 season, for arguing with umpire Jim Wolf. Gibbons returned to the field later in the game during a bench-clearing incident, and was subsequently suspended for one game. On September 25, Gibbons and the Blue Jays ended the team's 22-year playoff drought by clinching a playoff berth. Five days later, the Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 15–2, and clinched the American League East. On October 14, 2015 the Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers to win the American League Division Series after losing the first two games of the series. The Blue Jays moved on to play in their first American League Championship Series since 1993. They were defeated by the eventual World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals, in six games.  On April 5, 2016, after a 3–2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays ended on a questionable slide by José Bautista which was ruled as a double play, Gibbons stated, "Maybe we'll come out and wear dresses tomorrow. Maybe that's what everybody's looking for." A day later, after he received criticism for his initial comment, he said that "the world needs to lighten up a little bit". On May 17, Gibbons was suspended three games by Major League Baseball for his role in a benches-clearing incident between the Blue Jays and Texas Rangers on May 15 involving Rangers infielder Rougned Odor and Blue Jays outfielder José Bautista. On September 11, Gibbons was ejected for the eighth time in the 2016 season, tying the team's single-season record set by Bobby Cox; he led the major leagues in 2016. In 2016 he was successful on a lower percentage of replay challenges than any other MLB manager with 10 or more challenges, at 38.8%. The Blue Jays made the playoffs for the second consecutive season, and defeated Baltimore in the Wild Card Game to advance. In the Division Series, the Blue Jays swept the Texas Rangers in three games. Toronto was eliminated by the Cleveland Indians in the Championship Series, four games to one.  On April 1, 2017, Gibbons signed a two-year extension with the Blue Jays, that also included an option for the 2020 season. In 2017 he was again successful on a lower percentage of replay challenges than any other MLB manager with 10 or more challenges, at 26.7%.  On September 26, 2018 it was confirmed by the Blue Jays that Gibbons would not return for the 2019 season. Toronto mayor John Tory proclaimed the 26th as "John Gibbons Day" in Toronto, noting Gibbons' "tremendous contributions to the Toronto Blue Jays franchise." His final game was a 9–4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Blue Jays finished the 2018 season with a 73–89 record. In 2018 he was ejected seven times, more than any other manager in the major leagues. During his second stint as Blue Jays manager, he finished with a record of 488 wins and 484 losses. Overall, Gibbons has a 793–789 record from both stints as Blue Jays manager.

John Michael Gibbons (born June 8, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Gibbons briefly played in the Major Leagues as a catcher with the New York Mets, in the mid-1980s. On September 26, 2018 it was confirmed by the Blue Jays that Gibbons would not return as the manager for the 2019 season.


Plot.

The plot is based on an actual homicide case from Victorian England. Blanche Fury (Valerie Hobson) is a beautiful and genteel woman, forced into menial domestic service after the death of her parents. After a succession of failed positions, she receives an invitation to become governess for Lavinia, granddaughter of her rich uncle Simon, whom she has never previously met due to an unspecified dispute between him and her father.  On arriving at the impressive country estate, she first encounters Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger), whom she mistakes for her cousin Laurence. In fact, he is the illegitimate and only son of the former owner of the estate, Adam Fury. Thorn tells her the legend of the founder of the Fury family, killed in battle, his body defended by the ghost of his pet Barbary ape. The ape of the Furies is said to protect the family and wreak vengeance on anyone who crosses them.  Desiring position and security she marries her weak and insipid cousin Laurence. Dissatisfied with the marriage, she and Thorn begin a love affair. They conceive a plan for him to murder her husband and uncle, leaving evidence to blame local gypsies, whom her uncle had antagonised in the past.  After the inquest Thorn becomes increasingly possessive, and she fears he will murder Lavinia, heir to the estate and final obstacle to his ambition, by encouraging the child to make a lethal jump with her pony. Blanche intervenes, and, fearing for the child's life, goes to the police, implicating Thorn in the murder. She confesses to their love in court, and he is executed for the double murder. As the day of his execution arrives, Lavinia goes out alone to try the jump she'd been denied, and is killed.  Months later, Blanche gives birth to a son, whom she names Philip Fury, after his father, Thorn. She dies, leaving her infant son, a true-blooded Fury, as sole heir to the estate. So the curse of the Furys is fulfilled.

Original novel.

The original novel was published in 1939. Cineguild bought the film rights before the book had even been written.

Real-life inspiration.

In 1848, Isaac Jermy, and his son, Isaac Jermy Jermy, were shot and killed on the porch and in the hallway, respectively, of their mansion, Stanfield Hall, Norwich, by James Blomfield Rush, a tenant farmer of theirs. Rush had been their tenant for nearly a decade, and he had mortgaged and remortgaged his farm to raise money for improvements (so he said), but without improving the farm's output. The deadline to pay off the mortgages was approaching; otherwise foreclosure and eviction would follow (adversely affecting both his children and his pregnant mistress, their governess Emily Sandford).  The Jermys had problems with the title to their estate, with relatives who claimed it was theirs. However, Isaac Jermy was the Recorder of Norwich, a prominent local man with legal connections, and it was therefore unlikely that he would lose the property. Rush's plan was to kill both Jermys, their servant, and the younger Jermy's pregnant wife while disguised, and blame the massacre on the rival claimants to the estate.  Rush planned that Emily Sandford would provide an alibi, by stating that he was at the farm during the hour or so that the crime was committed. Rush wore a false wig and whiskers, but failed to hide his body sufficiently so that the wounded Mrs Jermy and the servant Elizabeth Chestney survived to identify him. Emily Sandford refused to support his alibi. Tried in 1849, Rush defended himself (badly) and was convicted. He was subsequently hanged.

Production.

Star Valerie Hobson was married to producer Anthony Havelock-Allan. She later recalled "I had just had our son, who was born mentally handicapped, and he meant the film as a sort of 'loving gift', making me back into a leading lady, which was a wonderful idea. The film didn't work completely."  The film was announced in September 1946. (Shortly afterwards 20th Century Fox announced they would make a film from another Shearing novel, "Moss Rose".) Stewart Granger, then one of the biggest stars in British films, signed to co-star and Marc Allegret was to direct.

Shooting.

Filming started in January 1947 at Pinewood Studios.  The courtroom scenes were filmed in the Shire Hall at Stafford. The location scenes for the film were shot at Wootton Lodge (which stood in for the Clare Hall of the story), a magnificent three-storey Georgian mansion at Upper Ellastone on the Derbyshire–Staffordshire border and on the surrounding Weaver Hills, as well as on Dunstable Downs, Bedfordshire.  Granger later said the film "was a silly story, too grim and melodramatic, but it’s a wonderful looking film... I enjoyed working with Valerie Hobson, but the film didn't work."  Havelock-Allan later said he felt the most exciting aspect of the story was the murder being committed by a "gypsy woman" who was actually a man. However, he says: "Stewart Granger refused to play it dressed as a woman, even though you would only have seen a flash of him, so it lost that high point scene."  This film marks the first film appearance of Gough, probably best known for portraying Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman", "Batman Returns", "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin". The stately home used in the exterior shots is Wootton Lodge in Staffordshire.

Reception.

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1948.  Havelock-Allan later acknowledged the film was a disappointment:We took far too long over "Blanche Fury", it cost too much money and it didn't 'work' and never attracted any great audience. David and Ronnie didn't like what I was trying to do with "Blanche Fury", which was along the lines of the very successful costume films from Gainsborough. I wanted to make a serious one with a better story and I thought it would make a lot of money. I found out what I was making was a 'hard' film, not a'soft' film which the others were. There was a real hatred in it as well as love, and the public didn't want it. Cineguild more or less broke up over that.

Blanche Fury is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Marc Allégret and starring Valerie Hobson, Stewart Granger and Michael Gough. It was adapted from a novel by Joseph Shearing. In Victorian era England, two schemers will stop at nothing to acquire the Fury estate, even murder.


Karl Rahner.

Karl Rahner accepted the notion that without Christ it was impossible to achieve salvation, but he could not accept the notion that people who have never heard of Jesus would be condemned. "Anonymous Christianity" means that a person lives in the grace of God and attains salvation outside of explicitly constituted Christianity. A Protestant Christian is, of course, "no anonymous Christian"; that is perfectly clear. But, let us say, a Buddhist monk (or anyone else I might suppose) who, because he follows his conscience, attains salvation and lives in the grace of God; of him I must say that he is an anonymous Christian; if not, I would have to presuppose that there is a genuine path to salvation that really attains that goal, but that simply has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I cannot do that. And so if I hold if everyone depends upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and if at the same time I hold that many live in the world who have not expressly recognized Jesus Christ, then there remains in my opinion nothing else but to take up this postulate of an anonymous Christianity. According to Rahner, a person could "intellectually profess disbelief but [be] existentially... committed to those values which for the Christian are concretized in God."

Vatican II and Catholicism.

Karl Rahner's concept of Anonymous Christian was one of the most influential theological ideals to affect the Second Vatican Council.  In "Lumen gentium", the council fathers stated: "Those also can attain to everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience." They went on to write, in "Gaudium et spes", "Since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery."  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches,  However, "Lumen gentium" states that those who know "that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved."

Pope Benedict XVI.

Before becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this role, he issued, with the approval of Pope John Paul II, a document called "Dominus Iesus". This document asserts the supremacy of the Catholic Church, while reiterating the Catholic Church's acceptance of a modified form of "anonymous Christianity". "Nevertheless, God, who desires to call all peoples to himself in Christ and to communicate to them the fullness of his revelation and love, "does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expression even when they contain ‘gaps, insufficiencies and errors'". Therefore, the sacred books of other religions, which in actual fact direct and nourish the existence of their followers, receive from the mystery of Christ the elements of goodness and grace which they contain." (I, 8)  "Theology today, in its reflection on the existence of other religious experiences and on their meaning in God's salvific plan, is invited to explore if and in what way the historical figures and positive elements of these religions may fall within the divine plan of salvation. In this undertaking, theological research has a vast field of work under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium. The Second Vatican Council, in fact, has stated that: "the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude, but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a participation in this one source"." (III, 14)  "With respect to the way in which the salvific grace of God — which is always given by means of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious relationship to the Church — comes to individual non-Christians, the Second Vatican Council limited itself to the statement that God bestows it "in ways known to himself"." (VI, 21)

Criticism.

The notion of Anonymous Christian has been criticized.  After becoming Pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger corrected his own position on the theory:  "Lately several attempts have been formulated in order to reconcile the universal necessity of the Christian faith with the opportunity to save oneself without it.... the well-known thesis of the anonymous Christians of Karl Rahner... sustains that the basic, essential act at the basis of Christian existence, decisive for salvation, in the transcendental structure of our consciousness, consists in the opening to the entirely Other, toward unity with God. The Christian faith would in this view cause to rise to consciousness what is structural in man as such. So when a man accepts himself in his essential being, he fulfills the essence of being a Christian without knowing what it is in a conceptual way. The Christian, therefore, coincides with the human and, in this sense, every man who accepts himself is a Christian even if he does not know it. It is true that this theory is fascinating, but it reduces Christianity itself to a pure conscious presentation of what a human being is in himself and therefore overlooks the drama of change and renewal that is central to Christianity. Even less acceptable is the solution proposed by the pluralistic theories of religion, for which all religions, each in their own way, would be ways of salvation and in this sense, in their effects must be considered equivalent. The critique of religion of the kind exercised in the Old Testament, in the New Testament and in the early Church is essentially more realistic, more concrete and true in its examination of the various religions. Such a simplistic reception is not proportional to the magnitude of the issue."  Conservative Protestant Christians generally believe that the notion of Anonymous Christian explicitly contradicts the teachings of Saint Peter, Paul the Apostle, and other apostles. For example, Acts 4:12, "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." This group of Christians believes in "Christian exclusivism—the view that biblical Christianity is true, and that other religious systems are false." Some Catholic groups, such as the Society of St. Pius X, have long battled against the rise of liberalism, modernism, and attitudes of inclusiveness in the Catholic Church, particularly since the Second Vatican Council. Anonymous Christianity, the society writes, "is a very grave doctrinal error because it declares personal justification as being already realized for every man without any participation of his will or free choice and, so, without any need of his conversion, faith, baptism or works. Redemption is guaranteed to all, as if sanctifying grace were ontologically present in each man just because he is man."  Liberal Christians condemn the notion because, as Hans Küng put it, "It would be impossible to find anywhere in the world a sincere Jew, Muslim or atheist who would not regard the assertion that he is an 'anonymous Christian' as presumptuous". John Hick states that this notion is paternalistic because it is "honorary status granted unilaterally to people who have not expressed any desire for it." Hick further rejects the notion because the majority of people are born into non-Christian families. Anonymous Christianity, per this group, denigrates the beliefs of others by supposing that they are really Christians without realizing it.

Anonymous Christian is the controversial notion introduced by the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner (1904–1984) that declares that people who have never heard the Christian Gospel might be saved through Christ. Non-Christians could have "in [their] basic orientation and fundamental decision," Rahner wrote, "accepted the salvific grace of God, through Christ, although [they] may never have heard of the Christian revelation."


Early years and family.

Munk was born in Budapest, into a prosperous Hungarian-Jewish family, the son of Katharina Adler Munk and Lajos "Louis" Munk (1898–1977). His grandfather, Gábor "Gabriel" Munk, had descended from a family of rabbis, was a brother of the noted linguist and ethnologist (né Munk), and uncle of the Hungarian jurist and writer Erno Munkacsi. Gábor became wealthy via Austro-Hungarian distribution rights for the popular Viennese chocolate brand, Manner, invested in real estate, then, during World War II, used what remained of his fortune to buy safe passage out of Hungary to neutral Switzerland for members of his immediate family, including his grandson Peter.  Hungary was occupied by Nazi Germany in March 1944, when Munk was aged 16; along with 14 members of his family, he escaped on the Kastner train, which carried 1,684 Jews to safety in Switzerland. The journey had been arranged by Rudolf Kastner of the Zionist Aid and Rescue Committee, as a result of secret negotiations with Adolf Eichmann—the high-ranking Nazi had allowed some Jews to leave in exchange for money, gold, and diamonds, part of a series of so-called "blood for goods" deals. Munk's mother, who divorced his father when he was four, was deported from Budapest to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. She survived, but later died by suicide.  Munk arrived in Canada in 1948, via Switzerland, initially on a student visa, then graduated from the University of Toronto, in 1952, with a degree in electrical engineering. Decades later, he praised Canada: "I arrived in this place not speaking the language, not knowing a dog... This is a country that does not ask about your origins; it only concerns itself with your destiny."

Career.

Clairtone.

In 1958, with $2,800 from his father-in-law, Webber Pharmaceuticals (now Webber Naturals) founder William Jay Gutterson, he co-founded Clairtone with Scandinavian furniture importer David Gilmour. Clairtone manufactured high-end console stereos, and later televisions, which were recognizable icons of their day. The most celebrated Clairtone designs were the striking "Project G" series, introduced in 1964, composed of sleek rosewood cabinets with cantilevered black aluminum "sound globes" (speakers). The Project G and G2 were seen in the films "Marriage on the Rocks" and "The Graduate," awarded a silver medal for excellence at the Milan Triennial design exhibition, and endorsed by Frank Sinatra and Oscar Peterson. Fans of the Project G included Hugh Hefner.  Clairtone's downfall began with "an ill-advised plan to build a plant in Nova Scotia." The plant, built in Stellarton, opened in 1966 with funding from the province's Industrial Estates Limited (IEL). According to William Mingo, chief counsel for IEL, as quoted in his daughter Nina Munk's book about Clairtone, "Munk was too good a salesman for his own good. He could sell anything to anyone, including himself. My, he was a promoter. My, he had energy. My, he had charm. My, he had imagination." In 1967, as a result of mounting losses and in order to try to recoup its multi-million dollar investments, the Government of Nova Scotia took over Clairtone and fired Munk and Gilmour. Munk faced accusations of insider trading "that were eventually settled out of court." A report commissioned by Clairtone in the aftermath of the factory's failure found that one of the main issues was the local workforce. "The general population is basically not geared to the manufacturing frenzy and especially the five-day workweek... The welfare situation is such that it has created conditions similar to Appalachia in the United States where the third generation is already on relief."

Hospitality and real estate.

After the collapse of Clairtone, Munk and Gilmour invested in a plot of ocean-front land in Fiji which they soon developed into a hotel and resort. This venture grew into the Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation, which at its peak consisted of 54 resorts in Australia and the South Pacific. In 1978, the firm signed a deal with the President of Egypt to build a resort near the Great Pyramids. When Anwar Sadat cancelled the project, Munk sued the Egyptian government, eventually winning the arbitration case at the International Criminal Court.  In 1979, Munk returned to Canada to start a new venture called Barrick, which he would eventually build into the world's largest gold company. At the time, bankers and the establishment viewed him as "a fugitive and a loser," according to Munk.  Munk was also founder, chairman, and CEO of Trizec Properties (formerly TrizecHahn Corporation), one of the largest American real estate investment trusts. In 2006, Trizec Properties was sold to Brookfield Properties in a transaction valued at approximately $9 billion.  In 2007, Munk invested with partners in Porto Montenegro, a former naval base on the Adriatic Sea, turning it into a superyacht destination to rival Cannes and Monte Carlo. He was the majority shareholder of Montport Capital, which owned the centrepieces of the complex, Porto Montenegro Marina and Resort. He developed the site on the Bay of Kotor, putting Montenegro on the map for high-end tourism. In 2016 Munk sold the marina and hotel to Investment Corporation of Dubai, a sovereign wealth fund, for an undisclosed amount, believed to be about 200 million euros.

Barrick Gold.

In 1980, Munk created Barrick Petroleum to invest in the oil sector, but he quickly realized that investments in this sector were ruinous. After the acquisition of a small company, Camflo Mines, Barrick left the oil sector and became overnight a mining company. In 2011, Munk planned to merge with Glencore, Ivan Glasenberg's company, to create one of the world's largest commodities giants on par with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The gold market was not aligned with Glencore's other activities, however, and the deal did not go through.  By 2016, Barrick had proven and probable reserves of two billion tons (1.33 grams of gold per tonne of ore). It is the world's largest gold mining company and the largest Canadian company by capitalization. Munk retired from the day-to-day management but he remained the founder and President Emeritus. "Barrick is my legacy," Munk said.

Charitable contributions.

In 1992, the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation was founded. It has disbursed more than $300 million to a variety of organizations that work to improve the health, education and international reputation of Canadians. In a speech he delivered in September 2017, on announcing a $100 million donation to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the Toronto General Hospital, Munk spoke of his philanthropy in the context of his gratitude to the country that saved his life: "You opened the door. You gave us everything," he added, referring to Canada as "paradise."

Education.

Munk was a major donor to the University of Toronto, his "alma mater". Beginning with a gift of $35 million in 2010, the Munk Foundation enabled the establishment of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. In total, Munk gave $51 million to his alma mater. The "Peter Munk Professor of Entrepreneurship" at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management is named after him.  Peter Munk also made a substantial donation of $43 million to Technion – Israel Institute of Technology to establish that university's Peter Munk Research Institute.

Public policy.

In 2016, Munk made a $5 million donation to the Fraser Institute, a think tank, to launch the Peter Munk Centre for Free Enterprise Education. As well, with a $12 million donation from Aurea Foundation, a sub-division of his primary charitable foundation, Peter Munk established the semi-annual Munk Debates in 2008.

Health.

In 1997, Munk helped create the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the Toronto General Hospital with an initial donation of $6 million. In May 2006, he announced that he would donate another $37 million, at the time the largest gift ever made to a Canadian medical institution. In September 2017, he donated another $100 million. As well, Peter and Melanie Munk established University Health Network’s first endowed chair for the cardiac program: the Melanie Munk Chair in Cardiovascular Surgery.

Controversy.

A contract between the Munk Foundation and the University of Toronto came under criticism due to the secrecy that shrouded its approval, and the fact that Munk's contribution of $35 million were conditional on $25 million contributions each by the federal government and the university. Coming at a time of downsizing and threats to the funding of other academic units, critics charge that these decisions are emblematic of the government's and the University's ceding of academic resource allocation decisions to the corporate sector.  According to Linda McQuaig's book, "The Trouble with Billionaires", Munk's donation to the University of Toronto came with strings attached to ensure that the school would "fit with the political views and sensitivities of Peter Munk." McQuaig writes that "according to Munk's written agreement with the university, the Munk donations will be paid over an extended time period, with much of the money to be paid years from now – and subject to the Munk family's approval of the school. For that matter, the school's director will be required to report annually to a board appointed by Munk 'to discuss the programs, activities and initiatives of the School in greater detail.'"  University president David Naylor rejected personal attacks on donors as "a deplorable affront to the values of rational and respectful discourse that are supposed to characterize a university" and stated "I later served on the board of the University Health Network, in the years when Dr. Munk made two gifts exceeding $40 million to support the cardiovascular program at that hospital. There was not a single instance where Peter Munk interfered with the educational, research or clinical priorities of the institution."

Personal life.

On September 3, 1956, Munk married Linda Joy Gutterson, the daughter of a Forest Hill pharmaceutical entrepreneur who gave Munk the start-up capital to fund his first company. Linda was 19, not long out of Havergal College; he was 10 years older. "'Linda tracked me down with a laser beam,' said Munk. 'I was a curiosity; I was different. Not because I was so great, let me tell you, I was fat, bald, poor, a boring engineering student.'" The couple separated and reunited more than once in the 1960s, having three children and divorcing in 1970 but staying on very good terms. After the marriage was over, she pursued an academic career, becoming a professor of English at the University of Toronto.  On June 26, 1973, Munk married his second wife, Melanie Jane Bosanquet, in London with whom he had two more children. She is the cousin of Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, a British land-owner and Olympic skier. Munk skied for 71 years, and built with his wife in 1972 a ski chalet called Viti Levu in Klosters, which they consider home. It overlooks the mountain of Gotschnagrat.  His children are: Anthony Munk, a senior managing director at Onex private equity; Nina Munk, a journalist and contributing editor for "Vanity Fair"; Marc-David Munk, a physician and healthcare executive; Natalie; and Cheyne. In his late 70s Munk was fitted with a pacemaker.

Death.

Munk died in Toronto on March 28, 2018, at the age of 90. The cause of death was not disclosed, but Munk had been dealing with heart problems for several years and wore a pacemaker.  "The Financial Post" posthumously lauded him as "An entrepreneur with a Midas touch, he was one of Canada's most high-flying, international deal makers, with friends ranging from Brian Mulroney and Prince Charles to the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and French billionaire Bernard Arnault, as well as one its most generous benefactors."

Honours.

He received several honorary degrees:  He became Officer of The Order of Canada (the country's highest civilian honour) in 1993 and was promoted to Companion in 2008; received The Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2002 (the first time awarded outside the U.S.); was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. In 2012 Munk was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. His homeland awarded him the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2016.

Peter Munk (November 8, 1927 – March 28, 2018) was a Hungarian-born Canadian businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of a number of high-profile business ventures, including the hi-fi electronics company Clairtone, real estate company Trizec Properties, and Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining corporation. The Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the Toronto General Hospital are named for him.


History.

Following an election on May 22, 1909, Harmon County was created by proclamation of Governor Lee Cruce on June 2. Carved from adjacent Greer County, the new county was named in honor of Judson Harmon, who was Governor of Ohio at the time. The area now covered by Harmon County had been a part of Texas until the U. S. Supreme Court awarded it to Oklahoma Territory in 1896.  Another election held September 1, 1909, confirmed Hollis as the county seat. There were two other contestants: the towns of Harmon and Rosser. County offices operated in rented space until a courthouse was built in Hollis in 1926. In 1930, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma was actually farther east than originally believed. It returned the disputed land to Texas, reducing the county's area to its present size.  A railroad built from Altus, Oklahoma to the Texas state line came to Hollis and Gould in 1910. The line was built by the Altus, Wichita Falls and Hollis Railway (later acquired by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad).

Geography.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of, of which is land and (0.3%) is water. It lies in the Gypsum Hills physiographic region, and is drained by the Red River and its tributaries, the Salt and Elm forks of the Red River and Lebos and Turkey creeks.

Demographics.

Common to many rural counties in the Great Plains the population of Harmon county has declined steadily since 1930. Between 1930 and 2010, Harmon County lost a greater percentage of its population than any other Oklahoma county, from 13,834 in 1930 to 2,922 in 2010, a decrease of 78.8%.  As of the census of 2000, there were 3,283 people, 1,266 households, and 863 families residing in the county. The population density was six persons per square mile (2 km). There were 1,647 housing units at an average density of three per square mile (1/km). The racial makeup of the county was 72.65% White, 9.78% Black or African American, 1.13% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 14.32% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. The population was 22.78% Hispanic or Latino.  There were 1,266 households out of which 30.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 29.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.03.  In the county, the population was spread out with 25.90% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 24.10% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 21.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.80 males.  The median income for a household in the county was $22,365, and the median income for a family was $29,063. Males had a median income of $21,530 versus $16,658 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,464. About 23.50% of families and 29.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.20% of those under age 18 and 19.90% of those age 65 or over.

Economy.

Agriculture has been the main component of the county economy. Cotton, wheat and sorghum have been the principal crops. By 1930, farmers had sizable holdings of cattle, poultry, horses, mules, swine, sheep and goats.

Hughes County is a county located in south central U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,003. Its county seat is Holdenville. The county was named for W. C. Hughes, an Oklahoma City lawyer who was a member of the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention.


Defining the Rocky Mountain Front.

Although the Rocky Mountain Front is clearly distinct from both plains and mountains, in places like the Wyoming Basin, Montana, and New Mexico it is more ambiguous. One definition of the front is that it is a "transition zone between the Rocky Mountains and the mixed grass prairie... [that] encompasses a wide variety of wetland, riparian, grassland, and forested habitats". By one estimate there are more than of Rocky Mountain Front land in Montana and Canada.  The Rocky Mountain Front is such an important geologic feature that it affects the weather in North America. Warm air masses moving from the Gulf of Mexico are blocked by the front from moving west, causing hail, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other kinds of violent weather which then move east. "Tornado Alley", that part of the Great Plains where tornadoes are most frequent, is a direct outcome of the front's effect on weather.

Areas of the Rocky Mountain Front.

British Columbia and Alberta.

In Alberta, the Rocky Mountain Front is about wide.  As early as 1935, it was well-recognized that significant coal resources underlay the Rocky Mountain Front in Alberta. As of 2013, about 60 percent of all Canadian coal reserves are believed to be beneath the front in Alberta. Natural gas is also very plentiful. Royal Dutch Shell began producing natural gas there in the Pincher Creek Gas Field in the 1950s, and built a sweetening plant there in 1957. The Pincher Creek Gas Field can produce up to 150 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, and in the 1960s Shell Oil built a second sweetening plant near Waterton Lakes National Park.  The Rocky Mountain Front in British Columbia and Alberta has long been inhabited by Plains Indians, and the area contains widely scattered but not uncommon Native American rock art sites.  Development along the front is somewhat limited. In the 1940s, planners considered building the Alaska Highway along the Rocky Mountain Front in British Columbia and Alberta but ultimately decided on a coastal route. In the early 2000s, the Nature Conservancy was working to secure environmental easements along the front in Alberta to protect grizzly bear habitat.

Montana.

The Rocky Mountain Front in Montana from the Canada–US border south to about Helena is heavily deformed by faulting, folding, and overthrusting. During the Sevier orogeny mountain-building event about 115 and 55 million years ago, what is known as the Cordilleran foreland thrust-and-fold event occurred along the east side of the Rocky Mountains in northwest Montana. The thrust-and-fold belt does not extend all the way south through Montana. Instead, it cuts west above Three Forks continues south—crossing the Snake River Plain and skirting the west side of the Colorado Plateau before cutting west again to enter California. Although most of this mountain-building has since been obliterated by additional orogeny and volcanic activity, most of it still exists in northwestern Montana. The Rocky Mountain Front in this area represents some of the highest changes of elevation within a short distance anywhere in North America. Much of this part of the front, including the Lewis Range and Livingston Range, have suffered heavy glaciation.  According to a definition used by the "Christian Science Monitor", the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana extends only about south of the state's northern border. But professors Tony Prato and Dan Fagre define the front in Montana as being wide and long.  Ranches cover much of the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana. The spectacular scenery also led to the creation of a number of guest ranches in the area, and some of the state's best-known guest ranches are near Choteau and Augusta.  The Rocky Mountain Front in Montana contains some of the last relatively untouched native prairies in the northern Great Plains. The front forms the eastern boundary of what is called the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem". This area of Montana is prime habitat for wildlife, including the black bear, cougar, deer, elk, grizzly bear, lynx, moose, wolf, and wolverine. It is one of the few places in North America where grizzly bear habitat still extends onto the prairie. Extensive numbers of prairie rattlesnake are also found there.  Heavy coal, oil, and natural gas development along the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana began in the 1970s. By the early 2000s, there were estimates of as much as 2.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas below the front in Montana, although only 200 billion cubic feet was available on leasable land. By 2003, much of the Rocky Mountain Front in the state consisted of land owned by the U.S. federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). By one count, BLM alone managed of land on the Rocky Mountain Front in the state. Beginning in 2001, petroleum exploration was banned for a six-year period on Forest Service land in the front. In the fall of 2002, BLM issued new regulations making it easier to engage in oil and gas production along the Montana front. Conservationists have actively worked to protect the region from energy exploration.

Wyoming.

Southwest Wyoming, where the borders of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming come together, is another area where the Cordilleran foreland thrust-and-fold remains largely intact. (The other is northwest Montana, as noted above.)  The Rocky Mountain Front in Wyoming is believed to have extensive oil and natural gas reserves. In the late 1970s, the U.S Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management attempted to open these lands to energy exploration. This led to extensive litigation and changes in federal land use regulations.

Colorado.

In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Front extends from the west-northcentral part of the border with Wyoming south to the city Pueblo and the Arkansas River. Peaks within the front include Pikes Peak, Mount Evans, and Longs Peak. Just east of the Rocky Mountain Front is the Colorado Piedmont, and within the Piedmont is the most heavily urbanized part of the United States between Chicago and the West Coast. The only pass through the Rocky Mountains in the area is the Tennessee Pass.  The Rocky Mountain Front forms the eastern boundary of a triangular area of volcanic activity centered on western Colorado. Several sandstone horizons underlie the Colorado Rocky Mountain Front as well, and decline steeply to the east.

In popular culture.

"The Rocky Mountain Front" is the title of an essay by noted Montana author A. B. Guthrie, Jr. It first appeared in "Montana, The Magazine of Western History" in 1987.

The Rocky Mountain Front is a somewhat unified geologic and ecosystem area in North America where the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains meet the plains. In 1983, the Bureau of Land Management called the Rocky Mountain Front "a nationally significant area because of its high wildlife, recreation, and scenic values". Conservationists Gregory Neudecker, Alison Duvall, and James Stutzman have described the Rocky Mountain Front as an area that warrants "the highest of conservation priorities" because it is largely unaltered by development and contains "unparalleled" numbers of wildlife.


Definition.

Scholars of Paganism like Joanne Pearson and Ethan Doyle White have characterised Feri as a Wiccan tradition. The latter noted however that some practitioners of modern Pagan Witchcraft restrict the term "Wicca" to British Traditional Wicca, in which case Feri would not be classified as Wicca; he deemed this exclusionary definition of the term to be "unsuitable for academic purposes". Instead, he characterised Feri as one form of Wicca which is nevertheless distinct from others, such as British Traditional Wicca, Dianic Wicca, and Stregheria.

History.

Anderson met Cora Ann Cremeans in Bend, Oregon, in 1944; they married three days later, on 3 May, claiming that they had encountered each other before in the astral realm. Born in Nyota, Alabama, in January 1915, Cora had been exposed to folk magical practices from childhood; reputedly, her Irish grandfather was a "root doctor" who was known among locals as the "druid". The Andersons claimed that one of their first acts after their marriage was the erection of an altar. The following year, a son was born, and they named him Victor Elon, with the latter being the Hebrew word for oak; Cora claimed that she had received the name in a dream. After the birth, a ritual was held to dedicate the infant to the Goddess. In 1948, the family moved to Niles, California, later that year purchasing a home in San Leandro. There, Anderson became a member of the Alameda Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and he subsequently remained so for forty years. Victor earned his living as a musician, playing the accordion at events, while Cora worked as a hospital cook. It has been claimed that Anderson could speak Hawaiian, Spanish, Creole, Greek, Italian, and Gothic.  In the mid-1950s Victor and Cora read "Witchcraft Today", a 1954 book by English Wiccan Gerald Gardner, with Cora claiming that Victor corresponded with Gardner for a time. The Pagan studies scholar Chas S. Clifton has suggested that the Andersons used Gardner's work as a "style guide" for the development of their own tradition of modern Pagan witchcraft. Similarly, Kelly stated that the Andersons' tradition "began to more and more resemble that of the Gardnerians" as the couple learned more about the latter, adopting elements from it. Anderson was in correspondence with the Italian-American Wiccan Leo Martello, who encouraged Anderson to found his own coven. Circa 1960, the Andersons founded a coven, naming it Mahealani, after the Hawaiian word for the full moon. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Andersons initiated a number of individuals into the coven. One of these was Gwydion Pendderwen, a friend of their son who shared their interest in the esoteric. Pendderwen contributed to the development of what came to be known as the Feri tradition, with some members of the lineage viewing him as its co-founder. Pendderwen noted that he had first met the family when, aged thirteen, he got into a fight with Victor Elon, although the two later became friends. Pendderwen was particularly influenced by Welsh mythology, and on a visit to Britain he spent time with the Alexandrian Wiccans Alex Sanders and Stewart Farrar, subsequently introducing various Alexandrian elements into Feri Wicca. In the early 1970s, the Andersons established a new coven with Pendderwen and his initiate, Alison Harlow. After Pendderwen married, his wife also joined this coven, although it disbanded in 1974.

Anderson's teaching.

Over the next four decades, the Andersons would initiate between twenty-five and thirty people into their tradition. Anderson has been described as one of the "founding teachers" and the "seminal voice" of the Feri tradition, although – according to Feri initiate Storm Faerywolf – he preferred to refer to himself as "Grand Master and a fairy chief". The original word that the Andersons used for their tradition was "Vicia", which Cora claimed was Italian. She added that "the name Fairy became accidentally attached to our tradition because Victor so often mentioned that word in speaking of nature spirits and Celtic magic". Early initiates alternately spelled the name of the tradition as "Fairy", "Faery", or "Faerie", although Anderson began using the spelling "Feri" during the 1990s to differentiate it from other witchcraft traditions of the same name; not all practitioners followed his example. Cora claimed that "Feri" was the word's original spelling, adding that it meant "the things of magic". Anderson also referred to his form of Wicca as the "Pictish" tradition. In their writing, the Andersons mixed terminology adopted from Huna, Gardnerian Wicca, and Voodoo, believing that all reflected the same underlying magico-religious tradition. It drew heavily upon the huna system developed by Max Freedom Long. According to one Feri initiate, Corvia Blackthorn:  According to Kelly:  According to one initiate, Jim Schuette, Anderson was "a taskmaster. He took pride in testing his students." One of those initiated into the Anderson's Feri tradition was Starhawk, who incorporated ideas from the Feri tradition when creating Reclaiming. She also included aspects from it in her 1979 book, "The Spiral Dance", including mention of the Iron and Pearl Pentagram and the three souls, all of which originated within Feri. Another prominent initiate was Gabriel Carillo (Caradoc ap Cador), who in the late 1970s developed a written body of Feri teachings, and began offering paid classes in the tradition in the 1980s, generating the Bloodrose lineage; doing so generated controversy among Feri initiates, with critics believing that it was morally wrong to charge for teaching.

The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern Pagan Witchcraft. It was founded in California in the 1960s by the Americans Victor Henry Anderson and his wife Cora Anderson.


Calendars.

If the preceding year is a common year starting on Friday, then the year begins in ISO week 52; if the preceding year is a leap year starting on Thursday, then the year begins in ISO week 53.

Applicable years.

Gregorian Calendar.

In the (currently used) Gregorian calendar, alongside Sunday, Monday, Wednesday or Friday, the fourteen types of year (seven common, seven leap) repeat in a 400-year cycle (20871 weeks). Forty-three common years per cycle or exactly 10.75% start on a Saturday. The 28-year sub-cycle will break at a century year which is not divisible by 400 (e.g. it broke at the year 1900 but not at the year 2000).

Julian Calendar.

In the now-obsolete Julian calendar, the fourteen types of year (seven common, seven leap) repeat in a 28-year cycle (1461 weeks). A leap year has two adjoining dominical letters, (one for January and February and the other for March to December in the Church of England, as 29 February has no letter). Each of the seven two-letter sequences occurs once within a cycle, and every common letter thrice.  As the Julian calendar repeats after 28 years that means it will also repeat after 700 years, i.e. 25 cycles. The year's position in the cycle is given by the formula ((year + 8) mod 28) + 1). Years 10, 16 and 27 of the cycle are common years beginning on Saturday. 2017 is year 10 of the cycle. Approximately 10.71% of all years are common years beginning on Saturday.

A common year starting on Saturday is any non-leap year (i.e. a year with 365 days) that begins on Saturday, 1 January, and ends on Saturday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is B. The most recent year of such kind was 2011 and the next one will be 2022 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise, 2017 and 2023 in the obsolete Julian calendar, see below for more. Any common year that starts on Wednesday, Friday or Saturday has only one Friday the 13th; The only Friday the 13th in this common year occurs in May. Leap years starting on Friday share this characteristic.


Electromagnetic.

LIM / LSM.

Linear induction motor (LIM) and linear synchronous motor (LSM) coasters use propulsion via electromagnets, which utilize large amounts of electricity to propel the coaster train along its track into the ride elements (e.g. inversions, twists, turns and short drops). Nine design companies managing these types of rides are Vekoma, Intamin, Gerstlauer, Premier Rides, Maurer, Zierer, Mack Rides, Bolliger & Mabillard, Rocky Mountain Construction and S&S Worldwide. Both Rocky Mountain Construction and Bolliger & Mabillard established their first LSM launched coasters recently with the RMC Topper Track Coaster, Lightning Rod, at Dollywood, and B&M's wingrider, Thunderbird, at HolidayWorld.  An example of an LSM launched roller coaster is Maverick at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.  These launch systems transfer electricity through a motor on the roller coaster's track so that it controls the speed at which it will urge the cars and train either forward or backward on a segment. LIMs are mainly used in Premier Rides roller coasters and Intamin impulse and blitz coasters. However, LIMs can also be used for general transport, such as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in Magic Kingdom or monorail and maglev trains.

Fluid pressure.

Hydraulic Fluid.

Hydraulic-launched roller coasters give the riders high acceleration, yet with improved smoothness, over the electromagnetic and catapult launch mechanisms. The Swiss manufacturer Intamin pioneered this new style.  The heart of the system is several (usually eight) powerful hydraulic pumps, each capable of producing around 500 horsepower (373 kW). Hydraulic fluid is pumped into several different hydraulic accumulators (energy storing devices) containing two compartments separated by a piston. As the incompressible hydraulic fluid is pumped into one compartment, nitrogen in the other compartment is compressed.  At launch, the fluid under pressure from the accumulators is used to drive a number (typically 16 or 32) of hydraulic motors, which spin a large winch drum that rewinds a cable attached to a catch-car under the train in a matter of seconds. The catch-car moves in a groove in the center of the launch track with the motor at one end, and the waiting train at the other.  While the train inches forward, the pusher moves back from the motor towards the train. Once the pusher connects, the anti-rollback braking system drops beneath the track, giving the train the green light to be launched. In the "Kingda Ka" roller coaster, the system as a whole can produce a peak power of up to 20,800 hp (15.5 MW) for each launch.  These launches are considered capable of giving a far greater and smoother acceleration than the LIM/LSM styles. The acceleration from a LIM/LSM launch is greatest at the beginning and dies off rapidly towards the end of the launch, but the acceleration from a hydraulic launch remains nearly constant throughout the launch.  The first hydraulic launch coaster was "Xcelerator" reaching in 2.3 seconds. The world's current tallest and 2nd fastest coaster "Kingda Ka" at Six Flags Great Adventure, which opened in the spring of 2005 is capable of reaching 128 mph (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. The fastest roller coaster in the world Formula Rossa, which reaches in 4 seconds, is also launched using this method.  Hydraulic launched rides usually have a tower after the launch, with differing layouts afterwards depending on the park's financial resources. "Top Thrill Dragster" brakes after the tower and "Kingda Ka" features a single hill after the tower, while "Storm Runner" at Hersheypark offers a series of overbanked turns and inversions after its 180 foot (55 m) tower drop. "Rita" at Alton Towers does not have a tower, only airtime hills and banked turns. "Stealth" at "Thorpe Park" has a large tower that travels to the left over the top hat, and then slows on an airtime hill with magnetic brakes. "Xcelerator" at Knotts Berry Farm offers two overbanked turns after the tower. Along with the height and speed, these coasters, named "Rocket Coasters" in the industry, are considered more comfortable because of a smoother launch than LIM-style launches.  A recent newcomer to the hydraulic launch industry is Vekoma, who opened a coaster in 2004 called "Booster Bike" at Toverland in the Netherlands, said to give riders a sensation of racing on high performance motorcycles over a low twisted layout, at speeds up to 47 mph (75 km/h). The cars imitate real motorcycles, and the riders sit in the same posture as real bikers.

Pneumatic (Compressed Air).

Using the same type of system as a Hydraulic launch, a pneumatic launch uses compressed air to launch the vehicle. The technology was developed by S&S as the "Thrust Air 2000" model. The first coaster of this type was the "Hypersonic XLC", opened at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, USA in 2001. This coaster closed in 2007. Another incarnation, the Ring Racer was open for only 4 days. Compressed air launches are able to provide more acceleration than traditional pneumatic launches, with Do-Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan holding the acceleration record since it opened as Dodonpa in 2001, launching passengers from 0 to 112 mph (180 km/h) in 1.56 seconds.

Other styles.

Catapult.

In the catapult launch, a dropped weight winds a cable to pull the train until it accelerates to its full speed. Dropped weights were used in early installations of Shuttle Loop.  These rides are often not very tall, and usually achieve speeds of 60 mph (96 km/h).

Flywheel.

Flywheel launches are used on some Anton Schwarzkopf designed shuttle loop coasters and Zamperla Motocoasters. A large flywheel is spun at high speeds and is attached to a cable that propels the train forward.

Electric motor and spring tension.

Arrow Dynamics' Launched Loop coasters, which were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, use a powerful electric motor and tensioned springs to propel a launch car forward. The launch car pushes the train outward to a drop, and then returns to its position. After the train reaches the opposite platform, another catch car works the same way. An example of this is Irn Bru Revolution.

Friction wheels.

Another type of launch is by friction wheels. The launch track consists of a series of horizontal tires that pinch the brake fins on the underside of the train. One example of this is the "Incredible Hulk Coaster" at Universal's Islands of Adventure.

Examples.

Belgium.

Brazil

The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. In place of a traditional chain lift, the launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest rollercoasters in the world.


Life and career.

François was born on 22 May 1664 in Rouen, Normandy, France, the son of Augustin Blouet, Seigneur de Camilly, du Fresne, de Cainet et d'Yquelon, a counselor of King Louis XIV and a member of the Parliament of Normandy, and of Catherine Grossin. Although two of his brothers went into the military, François's choice of a career in the Catholic Church was influenced by the examples of his father's brothers and sisters. One of the brothers became a "théologal" [a teacher of theology at a Cathedral chapter] in Bayeux and another was an archdeacon in Coutances. The third brother, Jean-Jacques Blouet de Camilly (1632–1711), C.J.M., was the 2nd Superior General of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary ("Eudists"), succeeding the founder, St. John Eudes, C.J.M. Two of their sisters both became nuns. So did three of François's own sisters.  With his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, François graduated with a M. A. in August 1682 and a theological licentiate and a doctorate on 30 September 1692. When he was still at the Sorbonne, he was posted to the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, for two years, beginning in November 1683, and then lived at the Missions Etrangères seminary, also in Paris. He became the "abbé commendataire" [honorary abbot] and "Comte" (Count) de Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives in Normandy on 4 November 1690 but he was not ordained as a priest until 1692. The next year, in 1693, he became the "abbé commendataire" of the Val Richer Abbey in Saint-Ouen-le-Pin, also in Normandy, with the Cistercian Order, in 1693; and the Grand Vicar of Strasbourg with the Order of Saint Benedict in 1694.

The Bishop of Toul.

On 11 May 1704, by letters patent, Blouet de Camilly was promoted to the ranks of the Bishop and "Comte" of Toul but he did not assume his authority until 7 September 1705. He was ordained as the Bishop on 12 November 1705 and installed on 13 December 1705.  As the Bishop and Count of Toul, Blouet de Camilly found himself in the controversy over Jansenism, which threatened to send the Catholic Church of France into a schism. Personally a Molinist, he tried to stay in the middle throughout the furore. He favoured the Jansenists in his diocese but he also corresponded with the Archbishop of Cambrai, François Fénelon, who was against the Jansenists. When Pope Clement XI issued his Apostolic constitution, "Vineam Domini", in 1705 against Jansenism, the Bishop published it for his diocese as a mild command. In 1713, he was one of the forty bishops who received "Unigenitus", the Papal Bull against Jansenism from Pope Clement XI, but he was also the first to withdraw his support.

The Archbishop of Tours.

Nevertheless, on 9 January 1721, again by letters patent, Blouet de Camilly became the Archbishop of Tours. He was the 117th Archbishop of Tours, with the added rank of the Primate of the Catholic Church for the province of Touraine. When Matthieu Marais heard the news, he commented, ""grand théologien, mais moliniste, et qui trouve, à Tours, à qui parler" [great théologian but a Molinist, and that, in Tours, is the one to talk]".  Saint-Simon added, ""Fin Normand de beaucoup d'esprit et d'adresse" [ thin Norman of great wit and charm ]".  The promotion might have been engineered by the Duke of Lorraine, Leopold. When François was still the Bishop of Toul, Leopold made several attempts to remove his duchy from the Bishop's authority. He tried to have the Diocese dismembered and its parts given to its neighboring dioceses but the Parliament of Metz would not allow him. Neither would the Bishop and he did not wish to speak to him, either. The Duke then tried to get the help from his brother-in-law, the Regent of France, Philippe II, the Duke of Orléans, but the Regent refused. Then François was given the transfer to Tours.  Blouet de Camilly held his new office from 1721 to 1723. His appointment was finally confirmed on 20 January 1723 and his consecration was performed on 1 May 1723. But his pinnacle was short-lived. He died on 17 October 1723 in Ligueil, Touraine, France, while he was on the tour of his Archdiocese. When his body was brought to Saint-Gatien, his heart and entrails were removed from it and buried in the choir of the St. Martin's Church in Ligueil. His death was blamed by his contemporaries on "the work of his ministry, and indeed he fell ill after he preached and confirmed."  The Archbishop's body was brought to Tours for burial. He left behind his personal library of over 2,211 books. He left behind a house in Liverdun, 9.6 miles (15.5 kilometers) northeast of Toul. As the Bishop of Toul, he had it built to be the official residence of the Bishops of Toul. It is still standing today with the name of ""Hôtel de Camilly"".

François Blouet de Camilly, Count de Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, D.D., (22 May 1664, Rouen, Normandy, France – 17 October 1723, Ligueil, Touraine, France), a French Catholic clergyman of the 17th and 18th Centuries, was the 88th Bishop of Toul from 1706 to 1721 and, briefly, the 117th Archbishop of Tours from 1721 to 1723.


Career.

"Discovery" expedition.

The son of a farm worker, Lashly was born in Hambledon, Hampshire, a village near Portsmouth, England. At the time he joined Scott's "Discovery" expedition in 1901, he was a 33-year-old leading stoker in the Royal Navy, serving on. On this expedition, Lashly proved a success and was a member of Scott's "Farthest West" party exploring Victoria Land in 1903.  A teetotaller and non-smoker, he was quiet and strong, good-natured, dependable and acknowledged by Reginald Skelton as 'the best man far and away in the ship'. Before joining Scott's next Antarctic expedition in 1910, he served as an instructor at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, on the Isle of Wight.

"Terra Nova" expedition.

On Scott's second expedition in 1911–1913, Lashly was initially in charge of one of the expedition's two motor sledges which were to haul supplies southward in support of the polar party. However, the sledges quickly broke down, and the motor party had to switch to man-hauling the supplies.  On 4 January 1912, along with Lieutenant Edward Evans and Tom Crean, he was a member of the last support party to be sent back by Scott on his way to the pole. During the return journey, Evans became seriously ill with scurvy, and on 11 February, collapsed, unable to walk any further. Still from Hut Point camp and safety, he tried to persuade Lashly and Crean to leave him to save themselves, but they refused.  Strapping him onto the sledge, they pulled him for days until with only one to two days' food rations left, but still four or five days' sledge pulling to do, they had to stop. Lashly then stayed with Evans in the tent to nurse him while Crean walked the remaining alone in 18 hours to reach Hut Point camp, where he was able to fetch help. Extracts from Lashly's polar journals, chronicling his tribulations with the motor sledges and the return journey with Evans, were included in Apsley Cherry-Garrard's book, "The Worst Journey in the World". Both Lashly and Crean received the Albert Medal for saving Evans' life.

Royal Navy.

After returning from the Antarctic, Lashly retired from the Royal Navy with a pension, but promptly joined the reserves and served in World War I on and. Later he served as a customs officer in Cardiff. Upon his retirement in 1932, he returned to Hambledon where he lived in a house he called "Minna Bluff", after one of the landmarks on the road to the South Pole. Lashly died on 12 June 1940.

Antarctic diaries.

In 1969, Lashly's diaries were edited and published by A. R. Ellis as "Under Scott's Command: Lashly's Antarctic Diaries". It provides insight into both the "Discovery" and "Terra Nova" expeditions from the perspective of one of the men rather than the more common accounts published by officers.

William Lashly (25 December 1867 – 12 June 1940) was a Royal Navy seaman who served as lead stoker on both the "Discovery" expedition and the "Terra Nova" expedition to Antarctica, for which he was awarded the Polar Medal. Lashly was also recognised with the Albert Medal for playing a key role in saving the life of a comrade on the second of the two expeditions.


Structural barriers to power.

Third parties face an uphill battle in terms of electoral success due to incentives placed on voters by election algorithms. Even in instances where the potential supporter may align themselves most with a certain third party, in the face of overwhelming odds against impacting the election it makes more sense to just stay home or back a coalition party in compromise. These disincentives exist primarily in the United States perpetuating two-party rule and can be alleviated through adopting electoral reform measures in the form of voting system adaptations, which, predictably, are often backed by third parties and opposed by the primary parties.  In some countries like the United States, parties with low win probability also face frequent exclusion from major debates and media coverage and denial of ballot access as well as hamstrung campaign budgets.

Canada.

In Canada politics are similar to United Kingdom politics but it does instead have either one or occasionally two and three national and provincial third parties since last few decades in Canadian politics like the national New Democratic Party and most its provincial chapters, the national Green Party of Canada and some its provincial chapters, Quebec's the Parti Québécois since 2018, New Brunswick's the People's Alliance of New Brunswick since 2018, Ontario's the Ontario Liberal Party since 2018, Alberta's the Alberta Party since 2015, Manitoba's the Manitoba Liberal Party since 2016, and the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party since 2019.

United States.

In U.S. politics, a third party is a political party other than the Democrats or Republicans, such as the Libertarians and Greens. The term "minor party" is also used in a similar manner. Such third political parties rarely win elections, as proportional representation is not used in federal or state elections, but only in some municipal elections. But however since 2018, Maine as become first state for adopted Majoritarian favor ranked-choice voting system to deduced spoiler effect nor vote splitting made under First-Past-The-Post system for both federal and primary elections, but not state elections due of their state's constitution only favor plural voting systems.  A similar situation occurs with the presidential Electoral College, where Electoral College votes are often given the candidate who receives a plurality of the vote, thus bringing up accusations that certain third party presidential candidates are "spoiling" the election or splitting up segments of voters.

Parliamentary two-party systems.

Third parties usually have little chance of forming a government or winning the position of head of government. Nevertheless, there are many reasons for third parties to compete. The opportunity of a national election means that attention will be paid to the positions of third parties. The larger parties might be forced to respond and adapt to their challenges, and often the larger parties copy ideas from them. Most third parties try to build their support to become one of the dominant parties, as the Labour Party in Britain and New Democratic Party in Canada did.  In the Westminster system there is also the possibility of minority governments, which can give smaller parties strength disproportional to their support. Examples include the Irish Parliamentary Party which pushed for Home Rule in Ireland in the late 19th century.  Challenging parties also usually appeal for votes on the basis that they will try to change the voting system to make it more competitive for all parties.

In electoral politics, a third party is "any" party contending for votes that failed to outpoll either of its two strongest rivals (or, in the context of an impending election, is considered highly unlikely to do so). The distinction is particularly significant in two-party systems. In any case "third" is often used figuratively, as in "the third parties", where the intent, literally stated, is "the third and succeeding parties".


Conceptual history.

Medieval migrations.

By the mid-14th century, when the Black Death brought an end to the 500-year-long process, populations from Western Europe had moved into the "Wendish" Central European areas of far beyond the Elbe and Saale rivers. They had moved along the Baltic coast from Holstein to Farther Pomerania, up the Oder river to the Moravian Gate, down the Danube into the Kingdom of Hungary and into the Slovene lands of Carniola. From the mouth of the Vistula river and the Prussian region, the Teutonic Knights by force continued the migration up to Estonian Reval (Tallinn). They had also settled the mountainous border regions of Bohemia and Moravia and formed a distinct social class of citizens in towns like Prague, Havlíčkův Brod (German Brod), Olomouc (Olmütz) and Brno (Brünn). They had moved into the Polish Kraków Voivodeship, the Western Carpathians and Transylvania (Siebenbürgen), introducing the practice of crop rotation and German town law.

Different visions of.

In the first half of the 19th century, ideas of a Central-European federation between the Russian Empire and the West European great powers arose, based on geographical, ethnic and economic considerations.  The term was formally introduced by Karl Ludwig von Bruck and Lorenz von Stein, a first theorization of the term attempted in 1848, with the aim of a series of interlocking economic confederations. However, plans advocated by the Austrian minister-president, Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, foundered on the resistance of the German states. After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Prussian-led unification of Germany under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1871, Austria had to abandon its claim to leadership and thereafter used to refer to the lands of Austria-Hungary in the Danube basin. In Austria, the concept evolved as an alternative to the German question, equivalent to an amalgamation of the states of the German Confederation and the multi-ethnic Austrian Empire under the firm leadership of the Habsburg dynasty.  Political and ethnic visions of a began to dominate in Germany. After the Revolutions of 1848 liberal theorists like Friedrich List and Heinrich von Gagern, socialists and then later groups like the German National Liberal Party would adopt the idea. However, a distinct Pan-German notion accompanied by the concept of a renewed settler colonialism would become associated with the idea. In the German Empire, the concentrated on the achievements by ethnic Germans in Central Europe on the basis of ethnocentrism with significant anti-Slavic, especially anti-Polish notions, as propagated by the Pan-German League. By 1914 and the,, meaning central Europe under the control of Germany, had become a part of Germany hegemonic policy.

The Prussian Plan.

The plan was to achieve an economic and cultural hegemony over Central Europe by the German Empire and subsequent economic and financial exploitation of this region combined with direct annexations, making of puppet states, and the creation of puppet states for a buffer between Germany and Russia. The issue of Central Europe was taken by German thinker Friedrich Naumann in 1915 in his work. According to his thought, this part of Europe was to become a politically and economically integrated block subjected to German rule. In his program, Naumann also supported programs of Germanization and Hungarization as well. In his book, Naumann used imperialist rhetoric combined with praises to nature, and imperial condescension towards non-German people, while advising politicians to show some "flexibility" towards non-German languages to achieve "harmony". Naumann wrote that it would stabilize the whole Central-European region. Some parts of the planning included designs on creating a new state in Crimea and have the Baltic states to be client states.  The ruling political elites of Germany accepted the plan during World War I while drawing out German war aims and plans for the new order of Europe. was to be created by establishing a series of puppet states whose political, economic and military aspects would be under the control of the German Reich. The entire region was to serve as an economic backyard of Germany, whose exploitation would enable the German sphere of influence to better compete against strategic rivals like Britain, the United States. Political, military and economic organization was to be based on German domination, with commercial treaties imposed on countries like Poland and Ukraine. It was believed that the German working classes could be appeased by German politicians through the economic benefits of territorial annexation, a new economic sphere of influence, and exploitation of conquered countries for the material benefit of Germany. Partial realization of these plans was reflected in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, where guarantees of economic and military domination over Ukraine by Germany were laid out. The plan was viewed as a threat by the British Empire, which concluded it would destroy British continental trade, and, as a consequence, the source of its military power.

Other visions of.

While describes a geographical location, it also is the word denoting a political concept of a German-dominated and exploited Central European union that was put into motion during the First World War. The historian Jörg Brechtefeld describes as the following: Mitteleuropean literature of the period between the end of 19th century and World War II, has been the subject of renewed interest, starting in the 1960s. Pioneers in this revival have been Claudio Magris, Roberto Calasso and the Italian publishing house Adelphi. In the 1920s French scholar Pierre Renouvin published eleven volumes of documents explaining that Germany decided to bail out Austria which they believed was threatened with economic disintegration by Serbian and other nationalist movements. J Keiger maintained in the debate on the Fischer Controversy that confirmed this opinion rebutting revisionist arguments that Germany was looking for an excuse to occupy Austro-Hungary.  German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg's plan prepared for a Central European Economic Union. Published in September 1914, the program for interdependent development was designed to include France in a Central European Customs Federation. The German occupation of Belgium was the first phase in this process, which ultimately failed to come to fruition. There was a plan to create a Duchy of Flanders, and they discussed the possibility of a Grand Duchy of Warsaw, as political units of "localized" administration. The original economic plan was conceived pre-1914 by Walther Rathenau and Alfred von Gwinner with the legal support of Hans Delbrück. It was a Customs Union consistent with a history of the and German Confederation of 19th century, in which German philosophers believed in the wider sustainability of a Greater Europe. There were concerns from Schoenbeck and others that it would make Germany too inward-looking, but gained the support of von Hertling, later a Chancellor and Kurt Kuhlmann, the diplomat. The major sticking-point was continued and exclusive German access to Austrian markets, while in the mind of others, like von Falkenhausen, mastery of competition was not possible before military mastery of Europe.  An extension of was the Longwy-Briey basin. Capturing this mining area west of Alsace-Lorraine, already annexed since 1871, was a major part of the Plan and Germany's war aims. The high plateau dominated the French interior, giving the German army a wide range of fire. But the area also contained immensely prized deposits of iron. These were essential to both France and German war efforts. The development of heavy industry was a central feature of economic policy "under Imperial Protective Administration." Initially Roedern, the Treasurer, was deeply sceptical that a plan to "incorporate" French assets into a customs union and federation would succeed, but civilian doubts were overcome by January 1915, and by 26 August 1916, it was official German policy.  The first port of was Antwerp: Belgium's occupation in August 1914 was suggestive of partition. Anglophile Albert Ballin therefore set up a "German–Belgian trading company" to transfer assets and people from the occupied territories back to the Reich. The Post Office was to become German, so too the railways, and the banks, all overseen by an Economics Committee, which would be a liaison group between private enterprise and the public sector. Belgian capital markets were absorbed into Karl von Lumm's Report, and all currency issued was backed by the. German obsession with the "Race to the Sea" and right to Belgian seaports continued to be a major policy initiative in the Memorandum of "Attachement" maritime security persisted in the German-Luxembourg Customs Association finally completed on 25 November 1915. Much of the theoretical work would be carried out by Six Economic Associations discussed in memoranda from Spring 1915 designated so as to set Germany free from British tutelage.

Mitteleuropean culture.

Mitteleuropa is also used in a cultural sense, to denote a fertile region whose thought has brought many fruits, artistic and cultural. It is also sometimes denote with the expression "Habsburg thought and culture." The rich Mitteleuropean literary and cultural traditions include Polish philosophy, Czech avantgarde literature, Hungarian social theory and science, Austrian lyric poetry, and the common capacity for irony and linguistic prowess.  According to the Hungarian writer György Konrád, the Mitteleuropean spirit is "an aesthetic sensibility that allows for complexity and multilingualism, a strategy that rests on understanding even one's deadly enemy," a spirit that "consist of accepting plurality as a value in and of itself." In Prague, in 1984, the journal Střední Evropa () was founded, albeit characterized by a Catholic revisionist view nostalgic of the pre-1918 Habsburg Empire. Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert wrote the poem, included in his 1992 book "Rovigo" (Wrocław).  Among the main writers of the literary are Joseph Roth (1894–1939), Stefan Zweig (1881–1942), Arnold Zweig (1887–1968) and Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958).<ref name="Chamberlain1933">Chamberlain, John (1933) "Books of The Times", "The New York Times", October 17, 1933, quotation:

The Prussian vision of was a pan-Germanist state-centric imperium, an idea that was later adopted in a modified form by National Socialist geopoliticians.


Club career.

He played for the two teams in his country, Alajuelense and Saprissa, becoming a star and an idol for both teams' fans. He made his debut for "Liga" on 13 November 1983 against Ramonense and scored his first goal a week later against Municipal San José. With Alajuelense he won four national championships during the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as a CONCACAF Champions Cup in 1986.  During 1993's season, "El Macho" switched to Alajuela's arch-rival team Saprissa, causing a commotion on Liga's fans. With Saprissa, he won a total of three more national championships and two CONCACAF Champions Cup titles. In 1995, he moved to hometown club Belén but returned to Saprissa in 1997.  He retired in March 2000 when at second division Guanacasteca.

International career.

Ramírez made his debut for Costa Rica in a February 1985 friendly match against El Salvador and earned a total of 75 caps, scoring 6 goals. He represented his country in 21 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played at the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy. He also played at the 1991 and 1997 UNCAF Nations Cups as well as at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 1997 Copa América in Bolivia.  He collected his final cap in an August 1997 World Cup qualifier against El Salvador.

Managerial career.

After his retirement, Ramírez began working as Hernán Medford's assistant coach in Saprissa, winning in less than three years, a national championship, a UNCAF Cup title, and a CONCACAF Champions Cup title, thus earning a berth at the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup.  As of 28 October 2006, the Costa Rican Football Federation announced that Medford and his coaching staff would take charge of the Costa Rica national football team. Thus making him the new assistant coach for the Costa Rica national football team.  In May 2010, Ramírez took charge of Alajuelense, assisted by his former World Cup teammate Mauricio Montero. He was voted Costa Rican manager of the year 2012, but resigned in January 2013 only to return at the helm in May 2013.  On August 2015, Ramírez was appointed as Paulo Wanchope's assistant coach for the Costa Rica national team. However, a week after his appointment, Wanchope was involved in a fight in Panama and announced his departure from the national team. Ramírez was then appointed as head coach a week after. He led the team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Honours.

Alajuelense.

Ramirez is the most successful manager in the club's history winning five consecutive league titles and being Costa Rican manager of the year 2012.

Others.

At the beginning of his managerial career, Ramírez worked as Hernán Medford's assistant coach in Deportivo Saprissa, winning in less than three years, a national championship, a UNCAF Cup title, and a CONCACAF Champions Cup title, thus earned a berth at the FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup.

Personal life.

Ramírez is married to Jeannette Delgado and they have four children.

Óscar Antonio Ramírez Hernández (; born 8 December 1964), is a Costa Rican former footballer who played as a midfielder, and was most recently the manager of the Costa Rica national team.