Biography.

Irmgard Keun was born on 6 February 1905 in Charlottenburg (at the time an independent town, now part of Berlin) to Eduard and Elsa Keun. Her father was an agent for a company that imported petrol, her mother a housewife. Keun later recalled her mother as "stark hausfraulich eingestellt, auf eine sehr schauerliche Weise" (quite domestically inclined, in a very horrible way).[1] She and her family, including her brother Gerd, born in 1910, lived in the city until 1913, when they moved to Cologne. There Keun attended a Lutheran girls' school, from which she graduated in 1921. She worked as a stenotypist, but also attended acting school in Cologne from 1925-1927. Although she had stage roles in Greifswald and Hamburg, these were only somewhat successful, and she decided to abandon her acting career in 1929. Encouraged by Alfred Döblin, she turned to writing.  In 1931 Keun's first novel " Gilgi, eine von uns" was published and became a success. In 1932 a second novel "Das Kunstseidene Mädchen" (The Artificial Silk Girl) came out. Although there were allegations that she had plagiarised a novel by Robert Neumann (a claim endorsed by her erstwhile promoter Kurt Tucholsky - and disproven only much later), this novel also became a success.  In 1932, Keun married the writer and director. They divorced in 1937, as she claimed after 1945, because he was a Nazi sympathizer. However, there is evidence that she stayed in close touch with him well after 1933, and that the reasons may have been much more personal in nature.  In 1933/34, her books were confiscated and banned by the Nazis. In the spring of 1933 she met and fell in love with the Arnold Strauss, a Jewish doctor who wanted to treat her for her alcoholism. Strauss, as a Jew, lost his position at the Berlin hospital that employed him and went to the USA in 1935; however they stayed in touch (and many of their letters survive). Keun continued to publish in Germany after 1935, occasionally using pseudonyms, but after she was finally banned from publishing by the authorities - and after she had tried to sue the government for loss of income, and her final appeal to be admitted to the "Reichsschrifttumskammer" (the official author's association of Nazi Germany) was refused - she went into exile to Belgium and later the Netherlands in 1936. Between sometime in 1936 and 1938 she lived with writer Joseph Roth, while, at the same time pursuing her relationship with Strauss in the US. Invited by Strauss, she even visited him in Norfolk in 1938, yet returned to Europe that same year. In 1940 she returned to Cologne from the Netherlands, where she lived through the war years using an alias. How she managed to do this remains unclear. Keun claimed she seduced a Nazi official in the Netherlands and, however that may be, her cover back in Germany may have been helped by the fact that the British "Daily Telegraph" (among others) reported her suicide in Amsterdam on 16 August 1940. There is not a lot known of the late Weimar author Irmgard Keun but what we do know is from bits and pieces of history scattered about. In an interview, Keun's daughter, Martina Keun-Geburtig, answers the question if her mother was a happy woman, “Well, she always said that the Nazis took her best years. Starting in 1933 her success was abruptly ended through the book-burning up until ‘45, ‘46. It’s a pretty long time...”.  Keun received great acclaim for her sharp-witted books, most notably from such well-known authors as Alfred Döblin and Kurt Tucholsky, who said about her, "A woman writer with humor, check this out!". Keun utilizes her characters from her novels to highlight and critique the social problems of the early 1930s. Keun's biggest criticisms of consumerism and the complexity of a feminine identity are displayed through the female protagonists' relationships with men. Breaking the archetypal mold, Keun's characters offer depth to the feminine identity and challenge the idea that a woman must be placed into a category. For example, "Keun’s representative novels of the New Woman’s experience during the Weimar Republic, Gilgi—eine von uns (1931) and Das kunstseidene Ma ̈dchen (1932), feature two such young stylized New Women, Gilgi and Doris, who try to shape their lives in the aforementioned image by taking their cues from the popular media". In the case of "Das Kunstseidene Mädchen" (The Artificial Silk Girl), Keun tells the story from Doris' perspective, which she does to give the reader "insights into the social injustice of Weimar Berlin's class and gender hierarchy". Keun's novel reflects critically on these discourses by casting its heroine's sentimental journey in terms of an education in vision.  She counted among her friends such literary notables as Egon Erwin Kisch, Hermann Kesten, Stefan Zweig, Ernst Toller, Ernst Weiss, and Heinrich Mann. From 1936 to 1938, she had a romantic relationship with Joseph Roth, a relationship that at first had a positive effect on her literary output. She worked together with Roth, traveling with him to various cities such as Paris, Wilna, Lemberg, Warsaw, Vienna, Salzburg, Brussels and Amsterdam. After the German invasion of the Netherlands, she returned in 1940 to Nazi Germany. Protected by false reports of her own suicide, she lived there undercover until 1945.  In the 1960s, her life was overshadowed by alcoholism and homelessness in spite of help from the literary community. In 1966, she was put under tutelage and committed to the psychiatric ward at the Bonn State Hospital, where she remained until 1972. In 1977, she was re-discovered after an article in "Stern" magazine. From 1979 onwards, her financial situation recovered thanks to new editions of her work. She died in Cologne in 1982 of lung cancer.

Irmgard Keun (6 February 1905 – 5 May 1982) was a German novelist. She is noted for her portrayals of the life of women and is “...often reduced to the bold sexuality of her writing, Keun was a significant author of the late Weimar period and "die Neue Sachlichkeit."" She was born into an affluent family and was given the autonomy to explore her passions. After her attempts at acting ended at the age of 16, Keun began working as a writer after years of working in Hamburg and Greifswald. Her books were banned by Nazi authorities but gained recognition during the final years of her life.


Characteristics.

Skid marks are divided into "acceleration marks" created on acceleration, if the engine provides more power than the tire can transmit; "braking marks," if the brakes "lock up" and cause the tire to slide; or "yaw marks", if the tire slides sideways. Each skid mark has a characteristic appearance, and an experienced accident reconstructor or forensic engineer can often determine what the vehicle was doing by examining the marks left by the tire.  Different road surfaces produce different kinds of skid marks, sometimes also referred to as scuff marks or tire marks. On asphalt road surfaces, skid marks are usually the result of bituminous oils in the asphalt that are heated because of the friction of braking or accelerating and rise to the surface, leaving dark marks. This kind of mark Tire marks on asphalt can last for months or even a year or two if they are particularly dark and the roadway is not well traveled. On other road surfaces, such as concrete, the marks result from the deposition of tire compounds onto the surface of the roadway. This kind of skid mark is typical of airport runways, which need to be periodically cleaned to remove deposited debris that reduce the frictional coefficient of the runway The durability of these marks depends on a number of factors, including road use, tire compounds, weather, and frequency of road cleaning.  Braking marks will vary depending on whether the car uses ABS or not. If not, there will be two lines. The darker marks on the outside are from the front wheels, while the back tires leave thinner marks. This is because the force exerted makes the wheels take on a conical shape. If the car uses ABS, the marks will be much fainter as less heat is produced by the release-stop mechanism of ABS. Scuff marks may be visible however with ABS.

Ladder accidents.

Skid marks can also be formed where a ladder suddenly slips and the user falls to the ground, especially if the ladder feet are faulty or absent. Loss of the rubber feet or foot causes the aluminum stile to make contact with the ground, and if a hard surface like concrete or tiling, a skid mark shows how and why the ladder slipped. Unless fixed to the wall upon which they are leaning, ladders can slip down easily, especially if the ladder is leaned at an angle lower than about 75 degrees. Such slip accidents tend to happen when the user is near the top of the ladder, increasing his or her chances of serious personal injury.

Accident reconstruction.

Such marks are important evidence for vehicular accident reconstruction, when their size and shape can reveal much about vehicle speed and forces of acceleration or deceleration. They are one form of trace evidence. They represent a form of contact evidence produced according to Locard's exchange principle. The length of the skid mark is usually closely related to the vehicle speed at the instant of braking, so measuring the marks yields an estimate of original speed.

Other uses.

In modern slang, the term "skid mark" means a fecal stain or smear on the back of one's underwear.

A skid mark is the visible mark left by any solid which moves against another, and is an important aspect of trace evidence analysis in forensic science and forensic engineering. Skid marks caused by tires on roads occur when a vehicle wheel stops rolling and slides or spins on the surface of the road. Skid marks can be analyzed to find the maximum and minimum vehicle speed prior to an impact or incident. Skidding can also occur on black ice or diesel deposits on the road and may not leave a mark at all.


History.

Zierfandler is probably a cross between Roter Veltliner and something like Traminer. A "weiss" (white) form is found in Hungary.  Zierfandler may be the inadvertent origin of the name Zinfandel, which has its roots in a Croatian grape collected by the Habsburg monarchy in Vienna. George Gibbs, a horticulturist on Long Island, received several shipments of vines from the Imperial nursery in the 1820s, one of which he called "Black Zinfardel of Hungary". This doesn't correspond to any known grape, but Webster suggests that Zinfandel is a corruption of "tzinifándli" ("czirifandli"), a Hungarian word derived from the German word Zierfandler. Since Zierfandler is very different from Zinfandel, someone would have had to have mixed up labels along the way.

Distribution and wines.

There were 98.24ha in Austria in 2005, less than 0.3% of Austria vineyards, of which 85.03ha were in Thermenregion. It is traditionally blended with Rotgipfler in that region. These wines, known as Spätrot-Rotgipfler, are a particular speciality of Gumpoldskirchen, south of Vienna.  It is grown in Hungary under the name Cirfandli and in Slovenia as Zerjavina.

Vine and viticulture.

The characteristic of the grapes is the way the sides exposed to the sun turns red as they ripen. Zierfandler ripens late, and is prone to noble rot. The leaves are large and 3-5 lobed. The bunches are large, conical and sometimes winged.

Synonyms.

Cilifai, Cilifan, Cirfandli, Cirifai, Cirifai Piros, Cirifan, Gumpoldskirchener, Gumpoldskirchener Spätrot, Gumpoldskirchener Spätroth, Kesoei Piros, Kirmizi Zierfahndler, Nemes Cirfandli, Piros Cirfandli, Piroscirfandli, Raifler, Reifler Rot, Roter Raifler, Roter Reifler, Roter Zierfandler, Roth Hensch, Rother Raifler, Rother Zierfahndler, Rothhinschen, Rothreifler, Rotreifler, Rubiner, Spätrot, Zerjavina and Zierfandler Rot.

Zierfandler is a grape variety used to make white wine in the Thermenregion of Austria. It is also known as Spätrot ("late red") because it turns red just before harvest time. It is traditionally blended with Rotgipfler but is increasingly being sold as a single varietal wine. Zierfandler wines are typically elegant and quite sweet, but with much balancing acidity and a nutty bouquet of pistachios and almonds. They are capable of ageing well.


Hamiltonian.

The jellium model treats the electron-electron coupling rigorously. The artificial and structureless background charge interacts electrostatically with itself and the electrons. The jellium Hamiltonian for "N" electrons confined within a volume of space Ω, and with electronic density "ρ"(r) and (constant) background charge density "n"(R) = "N"/Ω is  where  "H" is a constant and, in the limit of an infinite volume, divergent along with "H". The divergence is canceled by a term from the electron-electron coupling: the background interactions cancel and the system is dominated by the kinetic energy and coupling of the electrons. Such analysis is done in Fourier space; the interaction terms of the Hamiltonian which remain correspond to the Fourier expansion of the electron coupling for which q ≠ 0.

Contributions to the total energy.

The traditional way to study the electron gas is to start with non-interacting electrons which are governed only by the kinetic energy part of the Hamiltonian, also called a Fermi gas. The kinetic energy per electron is given by where formula_6 is the Fermi energy, formula_7 is the Fermi wave vector, and the last expression shows the dependence on the Wigner–Seitz radius formula_8 where energy is measured in Rydbergs.  Without doing much work, one can guess that the electron-electron interactions will scale like the inverse of the average electron-electron separation and hence as formula_9 (since the Coulomb interaction goes like one over distance between charges) so that if we view the interactions as a small correction to the kinetic energy, we are describing the limit of small formula_8 (i.e. formula_11 being larger than formula_12) and hence high electron density. Unfortunately, real metals typically have formula_13 between 2-5 which means this picture needs serious revision.  The first correction to the free electron model for jellium is from the Fock exchange contribution to electron-electron interactions. Adding this in, one has a total energy of  where the negative term is due to exchange: exchange interactions lower the total energy. Higher order corrections to the total energy are due to electron correlation and if one decides to work in a series for small formula_13, one finds The series is quite accurate for small formula_13 but of dubious value for formula_13 values found in actual metals.  For the full range of formula_13, Chachiyo's correlation energy density can be used as the higher order correction. In this case,

Zero-temperature phase diagram of jellium in three and two dimensions.

The physics of the zero-temperature phase behavior of jellium is driven by competition between the kinetic energy of the electrons and the electron-electron interaction energy. The kinetic-energy operator in the Hamiltonian scales as formula_11, where formula_13 is the Wigner–Seitz radius, whereas the interaction energy operator scales as formula_12. Hence the kinetic energy dominates at high density (small formula_13), while the interaction energy dominates at low density (large formula_13).  The limit of high density is where jellium most resembles a noninteracting free electron gas. To minimize the kinetic energy, the single-electron states are delocalized, in a state very close to the Slater determinant (non-interacting state) constructed from plane waves. Here the lowest-momentum plane-wave states are doubly occupied by spin-up and spin-down electrons, giving a paramagnetic Fermi fluid.  At lower densities, where the interaction energy is more important, it is energetically advantageous for the electron gas to spin-polarize (i.e., to have an imbalance in the number of spin-up and spin-down electrons), resulting in a ferromagnetic Fermi fluid. This phenomenon is known as "itinerant ferromagnetism". At sufficiently low density, the kinetic-energy penalty resulting from the need to occupy higher-momentum plane-wave states is more than offset by the reduction in the interaction energy due to the fact that exchange effects keep indistinguishable electrons away from one another.  A further reduction in the interaction energy (at the expense of kinetic energy) can be achieved by localizing the electron orbitals. As a result, jellium at zero temperature at a sufficiently low density will form a so-called Wigner crystal, in which the single-particle orbitals are of approximately Gaussian form centered on crystal lattice sites. Once a Wigner crystal has formed, there may in principle be further phase transitions between different crystal structures and between different magnetic states for the Wigner crystals (e.g., antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic spin configurations) as the density is lowered. When Wigner crystallization occurs, jellium acquires a band gap.  Within Hartree–Fock theory, the ferromagnetic fluid abruptly becomes more stable than the paramagnetic fluid at a density parameter of formula_26 in three dimensions (3D) and formula_27 in two dimensions (2D). However, according to Hartree–Fock theory, Wigner crystallization occurs at formula_28 in 3D and formula_29 in 2D, so that jellium would crystallise before itinerant ferromagnetism occurs. Furthermore, Hartree–Fock theory predicts exotic magnetic behavior, with the paramagnetic fluid being unstable to the formation of a spiral spin-density wave. Unfortunately, Hartree–Fock theory does not include any description of correlation effects, which are energetically important at all but the very highest densities, and so a more accurate level of theory is required to make quantitative statements about the phase diagram of jellium.  Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods, which provide an explicit treatment of electron correlation effects, are generally agreed to provide the most accurate quantitative approach for determining the zero-temperature phase diagram of jellium. The first application of the diffusion Monte Carlo method was Ceperley and Alder's famous 1980 calculation of the zero-temperature phase diagram of 3D jellium. They calculated the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic fluid transition to occur at formula_30 and Wigner crystallization (to a body-centered cubic crystal) to occur at formula_31. Subsequent QMC calculations have refined their phase diagram: there is a second-order transition from a paramagnetic fluid state to a partially spin-polarized fluid from formula_32 to about formula_33; and Wigner crystallization occurs at formula_34.  In 2D, QMC calculations indicate that the paramagnetic fluid to ferromagnetic fluid transition and Wigner crystallization occur at similar density parameters, in the range formula_35. The most recent QMC calculations indicate that there is no region of stability for a ferromagnetic fluid. Instead there is a transition from a paramagnetic fluid to a hexagonal Wigner crystal at formula_36. There is possibly a small region of stability for a (frustrated) antiferromagnetic Wigner crystal, before a further transition to a ferromagnetic crystal. The crystallization transition in 2D is not first order, so there must be a continuous series of transitions from fluid to crystal, perhaps involving striped crystal/fluid phases. Experimental results for a 2D hole gas in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure (which, despite being clean, may not correspond exactly to the idealized jellium model) indicate a Wigner crystallization density of formula_37.

Applications.

Jellium is the simplest model of interacting electrons. It is employed in the calculation of properties of metals, where the core electrons and the nuclei are modeled as the uniform positive background and the valence electrons are treated with full rigor. Semi-infinite jellium slabs are used to investigate surface properties such as work function and surface effects such as adsorption; near surfaces the electronic density varies in an oscillatory manner, decaying to a constant value in the bulk.  Within density functional theory, jellium is used in the construction of the local-density approximation, which in turn is a component of more sophisticated exchange-correlation energy functionals. From quantum Monte Carlo calculations of jellium, accurate values of the correlation energy density have been obtained for several values of the electronic density, which have been used to construct semi-empirical correlation functionals.  The jellium model has been applied to superatoms, and used in nuclear physics.

Jellium, also known as the uniform electron gas (UEG) or homogeneous electron gas (HEG), is a quantum mechanical model of interacting electrons in a solid where the positive charges (i.e. atomic nuclei) are assumed to be uniformly distributed in space; the electron density is a uniform quantity as well in space. This model allows one to focus on the effects in solids that occur due to the quantum nature of electrons and their mutual repulsive interactions (due to like charge) without explicit introduction of the atomic lattice and structure making up a real material. Jellium is often used in solid-state physics as a simple model of delocalized electrons in a metal, where it can qualitatively reproduce features of real metals such as screening, plasmons, Wigner crystallization and Friedel oscillations.


History.

On 1 January 1999, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) was formed through the merger of SüdwestLB, Landesgirokasse, and the commercial banking business of L-Bank.  On 1 August 2005, Baden Württembergische Bank (BW-Bank) was incorporated into LBBW as a legally dependent institution under public law. Also as a legally dependent institution under public law, the former Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz was integrated in the LBBW Group on 1 July 2008 under the new name Rheinland-Pfalz Bank. In 2007, the state governor of Baden-Württemberg, Günther Oettinger, announced that LBBW would pay an initial 250 million euros, or $342 million, for its competitor Sachsen LB; on 1 April 2008, LBBW re-organized its activities in Central Germany (Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony) under the umbrella of Sachsen Bank.  By the time of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, LBBW had already grown to become the biggest and strongest of Germany’s seven remaining independent public Landesbanken. It nonetheless had to take a state bailout of 5 billion eurosand reduced its portfolio of toxic assets to 3 billion euros by 2014 from 95 billion in 2008. Similar to other public lenders, it opted for support from its regional state owner instead of drawing on help from SoFFin, the federal government's bail-out scheme. By 2009, the European Commission approved a restructuring plan which had the institution focus on its core regional banking businesses, curtail capital market and proprietary trading activities and shrink its balance sheet.  In 2019, LBBW became one of six banks to be mandated by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to raise $1.5 billion in five-year sukuk.

Assets.

LBBW holds shares in various subsidiaries, including the following:

Controversy.

In late 2009, state prosecutors raided the Stuttgart headquarters of LBBW as part of an investigation into alleged breaches of trust in connection with the bank’s subprime investments. Several managers were later tried on accounting charges.  In 2015, an LBBW subsidiary in Switzerland agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay a penalty of $34,000 to avoid possible prosecution for helping U.S. account holders conceal assets from the Internal Revenue Service and evade taxes. The subsidiary, LBBW (Schweiz) in Zurich, had previously held 35 U.S.-related accounts with $128 million in assets under management since August 2008.  Another LBBW subsidiary, LBBW Luxemburg S.A., is engaged in litigation against the American bank Wells Fargo as of 2012.

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) is a universal bank and the Landesbank for some Federal States of Germany (Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Sachsen). As of 2018, it is Germany's biggest state-backed landesbank lender.


T sedan.

The Goggomobil T250 was introduced by Glas at the 1954 IFMA international bicycle and motorcycle show. The T250 was a conventional-looking two door sedan with a rear-mounted 245 cc air-cooled two-stroke straight twin engine.  Design changes were made to the T250 in 1957. Two windshield wipers were used instead of the earlier single wiper, and the sliding windows in the doors were changed to wind-up windows. Also at this time the T300 and T400 became available; these had larger engines of 300 cc and 400 cc capacity respectively.  The last design change for the T sedan came in 1964, when the rear-hinged suicide doors were replaced by conventional front-hinged doors.  214,313 sedans had been built before production ended on 30 June 1969.

TS coupe.

The Goggomobil TS 2+2 coupe was introduced at the 1957 IFMA show alongside the improved T sedan. It was available as the TS250, the TS300, and the TS400, the number reflecting the approximate engine size in cubic centimeters.  The only major design change to the TS coupe was the change from rear-hinged suicide doors to front-hinged conventional doors in 1964.  The TS coupe was always ten to twenty percent more expensive than the T sedan. Total production of TS coupes was 66,511.

TS 300 specifications and performance.

The specifications of a 1957 Goggomobil TS 300 Coupe are:  A TS300 coupé tested by the British magazine "The Motor" in 1957 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0 to in 27.9 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £625 including taxes of £209 on the UK market.

TS 250 specifications.

The specifications of a 1958 Goggomobil TS 250 Coupe are:

Goggomobil Transporter TL van.

The Goggomobil Transporter, or Goggomobil TL, was introduced at the 1956 IFMA show. The Transporter was built largely at the request of the German Federal Postal Service, which procured more than 2,000 Transporters between October 1957 and November 1965.  The Transporter had sliding front doors. It was available as an enclosed van with double back doors or as a pickup with a tailgate to the open bed. Transporter pickups were often used by municipal services as snow plows or street sweepers.  3,667 Transporter vans and pickups were produced.

US export editions.

Goggomobils were exported to the United States. These were special export versions, with the 400 cc engine, an automatic gasoline-oil mixer, and sealed-beam headlights as required by US regulations.

Goggomobil Dart.

Between 1957 and 1961 some 700 sports cars called Goggomobil Darts were produced by Buckle Motors Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia. Other Goggomobil models were also produced under licence, including saloon, coupe, coupe-convertible and light van variants. These were fitted with Australian produced fibreglass bodies in place of the steel bodies of their German counterparts. Australian production totalled approximately 5,000 units. In 2019 an Australian documentary featuring the Dart Car was released called "D'art by Karl von Möller"

Goggomobil was a series of microcars produced by Hans Glas GmbH in the Bavarian town Dingolfing between 1955 and 1969.


As a process for designing.

Social design thinking.

Social design thinking, is a five-phase systematic approach to problem solving of social issues. Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d school) and IDEO collaboratively created interdisciplinary research in 1991 in order to better the design process, and from that, design thinking as a process emerged. Social design thinking is the application of design thinking to human need(s), and it joins developing both human and social capital with new products and processes that can be profitable.

Margolin and social model.

Victor Margolin and Sylvia Margolin wrote in 2002 about the "social model" as a design practice and research methodology, primarily focused on social services but the ideas could be expanded in to educational systems, healthcare systems and for civic technology design. The social model involves a focus on human needs by taking inspiration from core social work literature and has an ecological perspective (that is less commonly seen in modes of design). Margolin suggests a multifaceted approach to solving problems, first accessing the situation by answering a few core questions, followed by survey research and interviews, content analysis of archival data, and/or participant observation.

IDEO.

The design firm, IDEO defines social design as a process that encourages community facilitation including the sharing of conversation and ideas, beliefs and rituals. The process should be supportive and empowering for those involved and offer an innovative and feasible process. The designer(s) should not try to change people's behavior and they draws on the differences in cultural traditions and cultural beliefs in order to frame the problems within society. Additionally there is importance of the wider influence including the environmental awareness of the design, since the environment effects everyone and is interconnected.

History.

Within the design world, social design is defined as a design process that contributes to improving human well-being and livelihood.  The ideas behind social design has been inspired by Victor Papanek’s writings, he was one of the first to address issues of social design in the 1960s. He was focused on creating change within the design field and no longer tolerating "misdesign," any design that does not account for the needs of all people and disregards its own environmental consequences. To be a positive force in society, design and designers need to be socially and morally responsible, designers carry a serious responsibility for the consequences their designs have on society. These consequences include environmental impact and designers can contribute to designing more considerate and ecological products by carefully selecting the materials they use. Papanek also remarks on designing for people's needs (rather than their wants) and designers have responsibility over the choices they make in design processes. Often design is detached from the real world and is focused on the commercial market by designing for luxury items or for just a few people based on aesthetics, or disposable items. Papanek emphasizes designers should have a keen eye for where the need is and often that is found by looking at marginalized populations.  Another author who contributes to the development of social design is Victor Margolin. He writes in the 2002 book, "The Politics of the Artificial: Essays on Design and Design Studies" the "designer's ability to envision and give form on material and immaterial products that can address human problems on broad scale and contribute to social well-being." This ideology is something that social design is built on. In this view social design is an activity that should not be framed with connotations of charity, aid donations, help, etc. It is not voluntary work, but it should be seen as professional contribution that plays a part in local economic development or livelihood. At the same time Social Design also challenges the conventional market model of designing. While traditionally, Design has been approached as a profession that remains strictly answerable to market forces, social design envisages the possibility of a more distributive conception of surpluses, by ensuring that the benefits of services and systems reach a wider range of user groups who may often fall outside the market system. Margolin writes, "The primary purpose of design for the market is creating products for sale. Conversely, the foremost intent of social design is the satisfaction of human needs."  Designer George Aye writes about the importance of acknowledging the role of power when designing for complex social sector issues, as one may do for social design projects. Depending on the project, designing for user engagement in a project can be more important than designing for solutions, and it encourages the use of human-centered design methodologies.  Engineer Chris Cox of Facebook used the term "social design" in 2010 and 2011 as, "[social design] defines the concept as improving how people build human-to-human, versus human-to-interface, connections online".  Outside the design world social design appears in a number of professional environments, there are many artists that use the term social design or social practice to describe their work, though the work is exhibited within the contexts of the art world and have a different dialog when compared to design.

Social design is the application of design methodologies in order to tackle complex human issues, placing the social issues as the priority. Historically social design has been mindful of the designer's role and responsibility in society, and of the use of the design process to bring about social change. Social design is a critical discipline that challenges the pure market-orientedness of conventional design practice, and attempts to see past this into a more inclusive conception of design. Often this means social design will prioritize for user groups and people who are marginalized.


Summary.

In the introduction to the complete works, which is the beginning of the first volume, Deschner explains his intention by starting with what is not to be found in his work: an answer to the question "What is Christianity good for?". According to the sentence "Audiatur et altera pars" ("one should listen to the other side, too") he wants to counterbalance the gigantic ascendence of the existing glorification of Christianity. Also, he does not want to write about the alleged or - exceptionally - really positive effects of Christianity. Instead, he wants to demonstrate that the advocates of a primary moral instance not only partially but permanently failed their own ideals.  Deschner anticipates the main criticism at his work, namely the one-sidedness of selection of facts, and responds with a clear counter. His aim was not a history of churches, but an illustration of all (including non-churchy) phenomena of Christianity. These would be measured up to not only generic terms, like crime or humanity, but also to the central ethical ideas of the synoptics, as well as to the Christian self-conception as the religion of glad tidings, love, peace, etc., and also the ignored demands of the later church, like prohibition of military service (first for all Christians, then for the clergy, only), ban on simony, interest-taking, usury and many more.

List of volumes with abstracts.

In the following, all volumes are listed with an abstract for each of them. The English titles were taken from the author's English web-site where available. Where not available, they are marked as "(translation)".

Vol. 1: Die Frühzeit (The Early Period).

This first volume was published after 16 years of preparatory work. It illustrates the genesis of Christianity and its ascension to the Roman state religion.  It starts with a look into the Old Testament. Deschner describes the land seizure of the Israelites after the crumbling Egyptian power in Palestine in the 14th and 13th century B.C.E. and the destruction of the Canaan city-state system. This beginning, which does not directly concern Christianity, but ancient Judaism, demonstrates the relation between religious rhetoric and violent political reality: This is where Deschner sees the origin of a tradition of holy wars, following which Christians later commit numerous mass murders in the name of Israel's God, too. He describes the many death penalties the Torah stipulates for religious offences, King David's policy of conquest, the ruling and corruption of the priests, and finally the decline of the state of Israel in Roman times.  Only this decline made the ascension of Christianity in the Roman empire possible, because Christians could see themselves as the true "Israel of God". Christian Anti-Judaism begins with the New Testament (see Antisemitism and the New Testament) and continues with the Church being interpreted as new Israel. Based on selected quotations, Deschner demonstrates the antisemitism of the Doctors of the Church Ephrem, John Chrysostom, Jerome and Hilary of Poitiers.  Likewise, the Church Fathers - according to Deschner - agitated against "heretics" and "misbelievers". Deschner defends only Origen, whom he numbers among "the most noble Christians at all". One whole chapter is dedicated to the "attacks against paganism". He then analyses the persecution of Christians in the mirror of partially exaggerating martyr legends from Christian historiography as well as the retrospective Christian view of pagan emperors. Furthermore, Deschner looks at the "first significant adversaries of Christianity", Celsus and Porphyrios.  According to Deschner, emperor Constantine I turned ""the church of pacifists into a church of battlefield-shavelings"". In Deschner's eyes, giving up the central pacifist values of pre-Constantine Christianity means ""a bankruptcy of Jesus' teachings"". Furthermore, Deschner describes Constantine's actions in the "battle against Jews, "heretics" and Pagans". He also does not spare the kingdom of Armenia, the first state in the world to make Christianity a state religion (in 301), by asserting that ""this immediately began with massive persecution of Pagans"".  About emperor Julian Deschner writes that he ""towers over his Christian antecessors in all aspects: in character, ethical and intellectual."". Julian's attempt to re-legitimate Pagan religions is commented as follows:  The volume closes with an evaluation of the Church Fathers Athanasius, Ambrose and Augustine. Deschner accuses Athanasius of ""unscrupulousness"" as well as ""striving for prestige and power"". Ambrose is in Deschner's words a ""fanatic antisemite"". Thanks to his church policies, ""adamant and intolerant, but not so direct; versed, smoother"", he set an ""example for the Church until today"" (page 400 and passim). And finally, Augustine, who positioned ""patriotism above the love of a father for his son"" (page 520) and sanctioned ""just war"" as well as ""holy war"".

Vol. 2: Die Spätantike (Late Antiquity).

Deschner writes, the ""conditions as in ancient Rome"" (German ""Zustände wie im alten Rom"" is a proverb meaning decadent, chaotic, irresponsible, violent etc. - a civilisation in decline) were characteristic for the conditions of the Roman Church. The atrocities committed by Christian leaders in late antiquity are mostly euphemised and concealed by Church-historians until today.

Vol. 3: Die Alte Kirche (The Ancient Church).

Unlike the other volumes, which used a chronological approach, Deschner organised this volume according to so-called crime key aspects, which he identifies in the following areas:

Vol. 4: Frühmittelalter (Early Middle Ages).

In the early Middle Ages, the split-off from Byzantium happened, the war against the Islam began and the popes in Rome became powerful rulers. Deschner considers pope Gregor I as a man of double morale, who consistently called to repentance and preached the close apocalypse, but himself pursued the extension of his power at any cost, recommending dungeon, torture, hostage-taking and pillaging, and also knew using bribery well. Deschner calls the Donation of Constantine ""the biggest forgery of documents in world history"". In the end of the volume, Charlemagne is accused of opportunistic relations to the popes, as well as blamed for his excessively bloody "sword mission" with the Saxons and his annihilation of the kingdoms of the Lombards and of the Avars.

Vol. 5: 9. und 10. Jahrhundert (9th and 10th Centuries).

Before the volume's actual beginning, a reply to the anthology "Criminalisation of Christianity?" and an editorial written by Hermann Gieselbusch (lector with Rowohlt publishing house) has been put.  In the then following description of the 9th and 10th century, Deschner illustrates the deep entanglement of secular and church power. Clerical principalities came into existence and the military service of the high clergy prospered. Under the Ottonian dynasty, the Church in the Holy Roman Empire was completely militarised; dioceses and abbeys controlled a major military potential. Even popes entered wars: Leo IV in the naval Battle of Ostia (849) and John X in the Battle of Garigliano (915). Popes excommunicated each other, some were thrown in prison, strangled, mutilated, poisoned. Sergius III had even two other popes murdered. Chapter 3 discusses the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, which are the most important forgery in Carolingian times (Dawson).

Vol. 6: Das 11. und 12. Jahrhundert (11th and 12th Centuries).

This volume covers emperor Henry II the Holy, who, in alliance with Pagans, fought three wars against Catholic Poland, the momentous pontificate of Gregory VII, an "aggressive Satan", who lead the Holy See to victory over the emperor's throne in the Investiture Controversy (Canossa), the East-West Schism, the First Crusade with the massacre of Jerusalem's inhabitants as well as the Second and Third Crusade.

Vol. 7: Das 13. und 14. Jahrhundert (13th and 14th Centuries).

Deschner writes about the Staufer-emperor Henry VI, who aimed for global dominance even without papal blessing, and about the most powerful pope of history, Innocent III. During the time covered by this volume, crusades to all directions happened, including the Fourth Crusade, the crusade of Frederick II, the crusades of Louis IX to Egypt and Tunis, the grotesque Children's Crusade, the crusades of Christians against Christians, the Sicilian Vespers, the extermination of the Templars, the annihilation of the Pagans in the northeast, the Christian murders of Jews and last but not least the totalitarian Inquisition, which aimed for the repression of any liberal mind.

Vol. 8: Das 15. und 16. Jahrhundert (The 15th and 16th century).

Deschner describes the beginning witch-hunt, the Western Schism, the Renaissance popes, the fight against intra-Christian opposition (Wycliffe, Hus and the Council of Constance, Luther and the German Peasants' War).

Vol. 9: Mitte des 16. bis Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts (Middle of 16th century till beginning of 18th century).

Volume 9 covers the following topics:

Vol. 10: 18. Jahrhundert und Ausblick auf die Folgezeit (18th century and outlook onto the aftermath).

More than a quarter century after the first volume's publication, Deschner completed this work: The 10th and last volume of the Criminal History is going to be published in March 2013. This volume covers:

Reception.

The reactions to this book series have been mixed. While some praised Deschner's writings as a contribution to the Enlightenment as important as the works of Pierre Bayle, Claude Helvetius, Voltaire and Heinrich Heine, others condemned his "Christianity's Criminal History" as "criminalisation of Christianity". , from 1970 til 1975 professor of church law at the Catholic theological faculty of Münster University, who left the Catholic church in 1981, praised Deschner in 1989 in an article in Der Spiegel as a moralist asking the question:  A three-day-symposium organized by Hans Reinhard Seeliger in the Catholic Academy in Schwerte was dedicated to the first three volumes in the beginning of October 1992. Besides Seeliger, 22 other specialists in Christian history, patrology, old history, archaeology, jurisprudence, and other fields participated. The symposium's papers were published in 1993 as an anthology. Deschner refused the invitation arguing that he already answered all basic questions sufficiently in the preface of his first volume. He decided to exemplarily confront the paper "Emperor Konstantin, one of the Greats in history?" in a reply which was put in front of the fifth volume. The other papers were skipped. Hermann Gieselbusch, lector with the Rowohlt publishing house, noted at the same place (preface of vol. 5), that only few symposium participants "abstained at least from personal revilement", mentioning four speakers by name - Ulrich Faust, Theofried Baumeister, Erich Feldmann und Gert Haendler - and thanking them for their fairness in Deschner's name.  When Deschner's "Criminal History" (volumes 1 to 8) was published digitally as CD ROM in 2005, Giesbert Damaschke wrote in his recension:  In 2008, after the publication of volume 9, Arno Widmann wrote in the Frankfurter Rundschau, ""Kette der Grausamkeiten"" (""Chain of atrocities""):

Kriminalgeschichte des Christentums (In English "Criminal History of Christianity") is the main work of the author and church critic Karlheinz Deschner. It describes the misconduct attributed to various Christian churches, denominations, sects, and leagues, as well as its representatives and Christian sovereigns during Christian history. The work covers the entire history of Christianity from its biblical beginnings until the present. It was published in ten volumes beginning in 1986, with the final volume appearing in March 2013.


Weathering process.

Spheroidal weathering is the result of chemical weathering of systematically jointed, massive rocks, including granite, dolerite, basalt and sedimentary rocks such as silicified sandstone. It occurs as the result of the chemical alteration of such rocks along intersecting joints. The chemical alteration of the rock results in the formation of abundant secondary minerals such as kaolinite, sericite, serpentine, montmorillonite, and chlorite and a corresponding increase in the volume of the altered rock. When the joints within bedrock form a 3-dimensional network, they subdivided it into separated blocks, often in the form of cubes or rectangles, that are bounded by these joints. Because water can penetrate the bedrock along these joints, the near-surface bedrock will be altered by weathering progressively inward along the faces of these blocks. The alteration by weathering of the bedrock will be greatest along the corners of each block, followed by the edges, and finally the faces of the cube. The differences in weathering rates between the corners, edges, and faces of a bedrock block will result in the formation of spheroidal layers of altered rock that surround an unaltered rounded boulder-size core of relatively unaltered rock known as a "corestone" or "woolsack". Spheroidal weathering has often been incorrectly attributed solely to various types of physical weathering.  Frequently, erosion has removed the layers of altered rock and other saprolite surrounding corestones that were produced by spheroidal weathering. This leaves many corestones as freestanding boulders on the ground's surface. Often the spheroidal weathering, which created these corestones and the enclosing saprolite occurred in the prehistoric past during periods of humid, even tropical climates. Frequently, the removal of the saprolite by erosion and exposure of corestones as freestanding residual boulders, tors, or other landforms occurs many thousands of years later and during vastly different climatic conditions.  Depending on local environmental conditions, spheroidal weathering of bedrock blocks defined by tectonically induced joints and fractures may result in the formation of prominent and well-defined Liesegang rings within these blocks. These blocks typically consist of bedrock blocks ("Liesegang blocks"), which are bounded on their periphery by joints and fractures, and, in sedimentary rocks, bedding planes above and below. Each Liesegang block consists of a relatively unaltered core surrounded by concentric, alternating shells of iron-poor (intermediate shells) and iron-rich ('iron' shells) composition which make up the Liesegang rings. These iron-poor and iron-rich shells follow the configuration of the outer shape of the block and are sub-parallel to its sides. The iron-rich and iron-poor shells vary in degree of cementation and, as a result, can produce "box work" weathering structures during subsequent erosion. The degree of development of Liesegang rings as the result of weathering depends upon the spacing of the joint systems, groundwater flow, local topography, bedrock composition, and bed thickness.

Spheroidal weathering is a form of chemical weathering that affects jointed bedrock and results in the formation of concentric or spherical layers of highly decayed rock within weathered bedrock that is known as "saprolite." When saprolite is exposed by physical erosion, these concentric layers peel (spall) off as concentric shells much like the layers of a peeled onion. Within saprolite, spheroidal weathering often creates rounded boulders, known as "corestones" or "woolsack", of relatively unweathered rock. Spheroidal weathering is also called onion skin weathering, concentric weathering, spherical weathering, or woolsack weathering.


History.

"Harper's Magazine" began as Harper's New Monthly Magazine in New York City on June 1850, by the New York City publisher Harper & Brothers. The company also founded the magazines "Harper's Weekly" and "Harper's Bazaar", and grew to become HarperCollins Publishing. The first press run of "Harper's Magazine"—7,500 copies—sold out almost immediately. Circulation was some 50,000 issues six months later.  The early issues reprinted material pirated from English authors such as Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, and the Brontë sisters. The magazine soon was publishing the work of American artists and writers, and in time commentary by the likes of Winston Churchill and Woodrow Wilson. Portions of Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" were first published in the October 1851 issue of "Harper's" under the title, "The Town-Ho's Story" (titled after Chapter 54 of "Moby Dick").  In 1962, Harper & Brothers merged with Row, Peterson & Company, becoming Harper & Row (now HarperCollins). In 1965, the magazine was separately incorporated, and became a division of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company, owned by the Cowles Media Company.  In the 1970s, "Harper's Magazine" published Seymour Hersh's reporting of the My Lai Massacre by United States forces in Vietnam. In 1971 editor Willie Morris resigned under pressure from owner John Cowles, Jr., prompting resignations from many of the magazine's star contributors and staffers, including Norman Mailer, David Halberstam, Robert Kotlowitz, Marshall Frady and Larry L. King:  Robert Shnayerson, a senior editor at "Time" magazine, was hired to replace Morris as "Harper's" ninth editor, serving in that position from 1971 until 1976.  Lewis H. Lapham served as managing editor from 1976 until 1981; he returned to the position again from 1983 until 2006. On June 17, 1980, the Star Tribune announced it would cease publishing "Harper's Magazine" after the August 1980 issue. But, on July 9, 1980, John R. MacArthur (who goes by the name Rick) and his father, Roderick, obtained pledges from the directorial boards of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Atlantic Richfield Company, and CEO Robert Orville Anderson to amass the $1.5 million needed to establish the Harper's Magazine Foundation. It now publishes the magazine.  In 1984, Lapham and MacArthur—now publisher and president of the foundation—along with new executive editor Michael Pollan, redesigned "Harper's" and introduced the "Harper's Index" (statistics arranged for thoughtful effect), "Readings", and the "Annotation" departments to complement its fiction, essays, reportage, and reviews. As of the December 2019 issue, Julian Lucas writes the print edition's "New Books" column.  Under the Lapham-MacArthur leadership, "Harper's Magazine" continued publishing literary fiction by John Updike, George Saunders, and others. Politically, "Harper's" was an especially vocal critic of U.S. domestic and foreign policies. Editor Lapham's monthly "Notebook" columns have lambasted the Clinton and the George W. Bush administrations. Since 2003, the magazine has concentrated on reportage about U.S. war in Iraq, with long articles about the battle for Fallujah, and the cronyism of the American reconstruction of Iraq. Other reporting has covered abortion issues, cloning, and global warming.  In 2007, "Harper's" added the "No Comment" blog, by attorney Scott Horton, about legal controversies, Central Asian politics, and German studies. In April 2006, "Harper's" began publishing the "Washington Babylon" blog on its website, written by Washington Editor Ken Silverstein about American politics; and in 2008, "Harper's" added the "Sentences" blog, by contributing editor Wyatt Mason, about literature and "belles lettres." Since that time these two blogs have ceased publication. Another website feature, composed by a rotating set of authors, is the "Weekly Review", single-sentence summaries of political, scientific, and bizarre news; like the "Harper's Index" and "Findings" in the print edition of the magazine, the "Weekly Review" items are arranged for ironic contrast.

Controversies.

Editor Lewis H. Lapham was criticized for his reportage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, which had yet to occur, in his essay "Tentacles of Rage: The Republican Propaganda Mill, a Brief History," published in the September 2004 issue which implied that he had attended the convention. He apologized in a note. Lapham left two years later, after 28 years as "Harper's" editor in chief, and launched "Lapham's Quarterly".  The August 2004 issue contained a photo essay by noted photojournalist Peter Turnley, who had been hired to do a series of photo essays for the magazine. The eight-page spread in August 2004 showed images of death, grieving and funerals from both sides of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. On the U.S. side, Turnley visited the funeral of an Oklahoma National Guard member, Spc. Kyle Brinlee, 21, who was killed when his vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan. During his funeral, Turnley shot the open casket as it lay in the back of the high school auditorium where the funeral was held to accommodate 1,200 mourners, and this photo was used in the photo essay. Subsequently, the family sued the magazine in federal court. The case ended in 2007 when the U.S. Supreme Court, although saying the unauthorized publication was in "poor taste," upheld the ruling of the Tenth Circuit that the magazine had not violated the privacy rights of the family, as the family had invited the press, and thus "opened up the funeral scene to the public eye."  The March 2006 issue contained Celia Farber's article, "Out of Control: AIDS and the Corruption of Medical Science," presenting Peter Duesberg's theory that HIV does not cause AIDS. It was strongly criticized by AIDS activists, scientists and physicians, the "Columbia Journalism Review", and others as inaccurate and promoting a scientifically discredited theory. The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African organization working for greater popular access to HIV treatments, posted a response by eight researchers documenting more than fifty errors in the article.  Lewis Lapham was succeeded as "Harper's" editor by Roger Hodge in 2006. Since that time, the magazine has had a number of shorter-termed editors in chief, several of whom were fired amid various controversies. On January 25, 2010, the abrupt firing of the magazine's well-liked editor, Roger Hodge, by publisher John R. MacArthur was met with widespread and well-publicized criticism among the magazine's subscribers and staff. MacArthur initially claimed Hodge was stepping down for "personal reasons," but later disclosed that he fired Hodge.  Ellen Rosenbush served from 2010 to 2015. She returned in January 2016, when MacArthur fired Christopher Cox, who had been named editor only three months prior in October 2015. According to "Gawker", Cox's termination was reportedly opposed by the magazine's entire staff, none of whom were consulted about MacArthur's decision.  James Marcus assumed the post of editor in 2016. In March 2018, an essay by Katie Roiphe on the #MeToo movement excited controversy both online and inside "Harper's". Marcus had complained about the piece, suggesting the critique of #MeToo was inappropriate in light of "Harper's" "longtime reputation as a gentleman's smoking club"; he attributed this disagreement as a primary cause of his firing in 2018. In April 2018, Ellen Rosenbush assumed the title of editorial director. In October 2019, the magazine announced that novelist and essayist Christopher Beha would be taking over as editor, with Rosenbush remaining as editor-at-large.

Gallery.

Posters by Edward Penfield

Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City on June 1850, it is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. ("Scientific American" is the oldest, although it did not become monthly until 1921). "Harper's Magazine" has won 22 National Magazine Awards.


Purpose.

The dam was built to provide flood protection and its reservoir collects the waters of the Harz flowing into the southern Harz Foreland via the River Helme and its tributaries. The reservoir lake stores water for irrigation and is used for angling and recreation. Both dam and lake are operated jointly and cooperatively by the Thuringian Long Distance Water Supply ("Thüringer Fernwasserversorgung") and the Saxony-Anhalt Dam Company ("Talsperrenbetrieb von Sachsen-Anhalt").

Dam.

The Kelbra Dam was built from 1962 to 1966 between Berga and Kelbra in the region known as the Goldene Aue between Nordhausen in the west and Sangerhausen in the east. It is located in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz (Saxony-Anhalt) on the northwestern end of the Kyffhäuser hills. It is only a few kilometres from the border with the state of Thuringia and impounds the river system of the Helme into the Kelbra Reservoir.  Its main and auxiliary barriers are earth-fill dams made of gravel and binding material ("Erdstoffen"). Both have a sloping internal grout curtain of clay on the water side.  The crest of the main dam is 4,066 m long and 7 m above the valley floor; the acute-angled auxiliary dam is 3,379 m long.  On the southern shore of the lake is the Numburg Cave.

Reservoir.

The Kelbra Reservoir lies on the river Helme behind the Kelbra Dam at the northwestern foot of the Kyffhäuser hills. It is located within the Goldene Aue, mainly in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz (Saxony-Anhalt); only a small area in its extreme southwestern sector, which is on the border of the Kyffhäuserkreis and Nordhausen districts, lies in Thuringia, which touches its southwestern shore.  Initially only a green - i.e. normally dry - flood retention basin was planned. In the event, however, a full dam was built in order to create a permanent reservoir, and an auxiliary dam, in order to provide a basin that absorbed the bulk of the Helme river system in the event of high water. As a result, there are two adjacent basins, the lower one being permanently impounded – i.e. as a permanent lake – a gauge on the lake indicating a height of, a storage volume of 12.3 million m3 and a surface area of about 600 ha. The upper basin, which is bordered on its western and northwestern shores by arable and pasture land, is only impounded during times of high water. Together, both basins have a volume of 35.6 million m3, of which 23 million m3 is exclusive flood control capacity.  Following the completion of the trial impounding of the Kelbra Reservoir, which lasted until 1969, it was officially taken into service.  The lake is used extensively for tourist purposes and has facilities for sailing and windsurfing, a beach for swimming, a campsite, boat and bicycle hire, a petting zoo a waterslide and, near the lake, various inns and other facilities.

Internationally important bird habitat.

The reservoir is of international importance as a result of the variety of birds found on and around its waters, which, in terms of species as well as sheer numbers exceeds those settling on comparable stretches of water. For example, the following birds can regularly be observed here: duck (e.g. mallard, teal, pochard), waders (peewit, snipe, redshank, curlew), divers (great crested grebe, little grebe, black-necked grebe), rails (water rail, coot), mute swan, black-headed gull and bittern (little bittern and Eurasian bittern). In addition white-tailed eagle, osprey, peregrine and cormorant may also be spotted here. The variety of birds occurring during migration is particularly impressive. Up to 10,000 crane stop over on the reservoir and large flocks of larks and finches may be seen passing through. Since 1978 the reservoirs has been placed under the protection of the Ramsar Convention as an internationally important retreat for birds.

The Kelbra Dam () is a dam on the River Helme in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Behind the dam is the lake known as the Kelbra Reservoir ("Stausee Kelbra") or Kelbra Flood Retention Basin ("Hochwasserrückhaltebecken Kelbra").


Geography.

Location.

The municipality lies in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration and is a winegrowing centre in the Palatinate near the north end of the German Wine Route. It belongs to the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Leiningerland, whose seat is in Grünstadt, although that town is itself not in the "Verbandsgemeinde".

History.

In 817, Kindenheim had its first documentary mention as "Cunerono". Later it was called "Cunnenheim" or "Kinnenheim". Until 1969 it belonged to the now abolished Frankenthal district, and in 1972 it was assigned to the newly formed "Verbandsgemeinde" of Grünstadt-Land

Religion.

In 2007, 59.8% of the inhabitants were Evangelical and 12.5% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.

Politics.

Municipal council.

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.  The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:

Coat of arms.

The German blazon reads: "In Silber auf grünem Grund zwei unbekleidete naturfarbene Kinder, von denen das rechte in der Rechten geschultert eine goldene Hacke, das linke in der Linken ein goldenes Rebmesser (Sesel) hält, während beide mit der anderen Hand zwischen sich eine aufrecht stehende grüne Traube halten."  The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Argent on a mount vert two naked children proper crined Or, the one in dexter holding in his dexter hand a two-pronged hoe resting on his shoulder of the third, the one in sinister holding in his sinister hand a billhook of the third, both supporting with their free hands a bunch of grapes palewise reversed with leaves of the second.  The arms were approved by the Mainz Ministry of the Interior in 1967 and go back to a court seal from 1544, albeit in modified form. The two children are canting for the municipality’s name, "Kind" being the German word for “child” and "Kinder" the word for “children”.

Culture and sightseeing.

Buildings.

The Kreutzenberger winery can be considered a monument in building form. The Bauhaus architect Otto Prott built the house in the economically hardship-stricken 1920s in the style of Modernity. In 2005, the house was carefully expanded in the style of those times with the addition of a winepress house with a wine tasting parlour on the rooftop terrace. The architect Heribert Hamann earned the "Architekturpreis Wein" for this.

Families of Kindenheim.

There are a number of families whose history spans nearly 500 years in Kindenheim. They include:  Keller - The Keller Family trace their descent from Martin and Anne Keller, and their children - Hanns Keller (b. 1605, Kindenheim) and his sister Appolonnia Keller (b. c. 1614). Today Kellergasse commemorates the family.  Seyb - Deobaldt Seyb (born c. 1610) arrived in Kindenheim during the time of the Thirty Years War. It is said that he originated from the Palatine, and served as an officer in the army. Deobaldt Seyb married Appolonnia Keller (b. c. 1614 - 1658), of Kindenheim, in 1630. He died before 1652, and was buried in Kindenheim. The Seyb family traces their descent from their three surviving children - Hans Caspar Seyb, Johannes Seyb and Anna Katherina Seyb  Gudex - The Gudex Family are said to have arrived in Kindenheim, via Morstadt, from France, following the Edict of Fontainebleau, in 1685.  Kippenberger  Voght  Kissell  Neiss

Diaspora.

New Zealand  Johann Georg Seyb. Arrived in New Zealand in 1865 on the "Tudor". Left Kindenheim to avoid being drafted into the army and travelled to New Zealand via Hamburg and London. Married Christina Gudex, of Kindenheim, in 1873 at Christchurch, New Zealand. Their daughter Caroline Philobena Seyb was an amateur painter. Descendants include clothes designer Marilyn Seyb; artist Wayne Seyb; political scientist Brian Roper;  Michael Seyb. Arrived in New Zealand in Dec 1870 on the "Zealandia". Married Sylvia Louise Morgan, of Timaru, in 1883.  Katharina Seyb. Arrived in New Zealand in 1863 on the "Sebastapol". Married Henry Aker, of Wurttenburg, in 1864 at Christchurch.  Johann Georg/Peter Gudex and Anna Elizabetha Gudex (nee Blasius). Arrived in New Zealand in 1873 on the "Crusader" with their children Christian Gudex, Christina Gudex and Georg Gudex.  Michael George Gudex. Arrived in New Zealand in 1866 on the "Mermaid". Married Jane McCully, of Ireland, in 1884 at Geraldine.  Maria Magdalena Gudex. Arrived in New Zealand in 1870 on the "Zelandia". Married James Lewis, of Wales, in 1872 at Christchurch.  Kippenburger. Descendants include Major-General Sir Howard Karl Kippenberger, KBE, CB, DSO, ED, (28 January 1897 - 5 May 1957);  United States of America Brazil Russia Australia

Kindenheim is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a municipality belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde", a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.


Logistics.

Calendars.

The convention cycle begins with the "Call to Convention". Usually issued about 18 months in advance, the Call is an invitation from the national party to the state and territory parties to convene to select a presidential nominee. It also sets out the number of delegates to be awarded to each, as well as the rules for the nomination process. The conventions are usually scheduled for four days of business, with the exception of the 1972 Republican and 2012 Democratic conventions, which were three days each. (The 2008 and 2012 Republican conventions were also three days each, but in each case was shortened from the scheduled four days due to weather issues.)  There is no statute dictating the order of the conventions, but since 1956 the party to which the incumbent president belongs has held its convention second. Between 1864 and 1952, the Democrats went second every year (except for 1888). In 1956, when Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower was the incumbent, the Democrats went first, and the party out of power has gone first ever since. (Between 1936 and 1952, during administrations led by Democratic presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, the Democrats had their convention after the Republicans, but it is unclear whether they went second because they held the White House or because they had almost always gone second.) Since 1952, all major party conventions have been held in the months of July, August or (for the first time in 2004), early September. (Election laws in some states would likely prevent conventions from moving into mid-September.) Between the middle of the 20th century and 2004, the two major party conventions were primarily scheduled about one month apart, often with the Summer Olympics in between so they did not have to compete for viewers. In 1996, both were held in August to accommodate the Atlanta Olympics in July, the last Summer Olympics to date to be played in the U.S. In 2000, both conventions preceded the Sydney Olympics in late September.  In 2008 and 2012, the Democratic and Republican conventions were moved to back-to-back weeks following the conclusion of the Beijing and London Olympics, respectively. One reason for these late conventions had to do with campaign finance laws, which allow the candidates to spend an unlimited amount of money before the convention, but forbid fundraising after the convention, in order for the parties to receive federal campaign funds. However, if Barack Obama's choice not to receive federal campaign funds for the 2008 general election is repeated in future elections, this reason for the late scheduling of conventions will no longer be valid. Another reason for the lateness of the conventions is due to the primary calendar, which ends in early June, and the political party's desire to turn the convention into a four-day tightly scripted political rally for their nominee, which coincidentally happens to have a roll call vote for president. This includes such logistics as where each delegation sits on the convention floor, the order of speeches, how the nominee wants to present him or herself, and allows time for any negotiations in regards to the running mate. Finally, the parties also did not want to schedule their conventions around the Olympics. One reason why the Democratic Party held its 2008 convention after the two-week-long Beijing Olympics was, according to them, to "maximize momentum for our Democratic ticket in the final months of the Presidential election". But moving the conventions later into early September led to conflicts with the National Football League's season kickoff game, which opens the season on the first Thursday of September. However, the NFL accommodated the conventions and moved its games to an earlier start time in 2008, and an earlier date in 2012.  In 2016, both the Republican and Democratic conventions moved to July, before the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August. One reason why the Republican Party wanted a July convention was to help avoid a drawn-out primary battle similar to what happened in 2012 that left the party fractured heading into the general election. The Democrats then followed suit so they could provide a quicker response to the Republicans, rather than wait for more than two weeks until after the Olympics are over.  The 2020 Democratic National Convention was originally scheduled to take place July 13–16, but was postponed to August 17–20, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 Republican National Convention is planned for August 24–27. The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to open on July 24, have also been postponed because of the pandemic, to July 2021. This will be the first time that nominating conventions have not coincided with the Olympics since 1944, when the games were cancelled due to World War II.

Participation.

Each party sets its own rules for the participation and format of the convention. Broadly speaking, each U.S. state and territory party is apportioned a select number of voting representatives, individually known as "delegates" and collectively as the "delegation". Each party uses its own formula for determining the size of each delegation, factoring in such considerations as population, proportion of that state's Congressional representatives or state government officials who are members of the party, and the state's voting patterns in previous presidential elections. The selection of individual delegates and their alternates, too, is governed by the bylaws of each state party, or in some cases by state law.  The 2004 Democratic National Convention counted 4,353 delegates and 611 alternates. The 2004 Republican National Convention had 2,509 delegates and 2,344 alternates. However, other attendees who do not participate in the formal business of the convention dwarf these individuals numerically. These include non-delegate party officials and activists, invited guests and companions, and international observers, not to mention numerous members of the news media, volunteers, protesters, and local business proprietors and promoters hoping to capitalize on the quadrennial event.

Host city.

The convention is typically held in a major city selected by the national party organization 18–24 months before the election is to be held. As the two major conventions have grown into large, publicized affairs with significant economic impact, cities today compete vigorously to be awarded host responsibilities, citing their meeting venues, lodging facilities, and entertainment as well as offering economic incentives.  The location of early conventions was dictated by the difficulty of transporting delegates from far-flung parts of the country; early Democratic and Whig Conventions were frequently held in the central Eastern Seaboard port of Baltimore, Maryland. As the U.S. expanded westward and railroads connected cities, Midwestern locations such as Chicago, Illinois—which since 1860 has held 25 Republican and Democratic Conventions combined, more than any other city—became the favored hosts. In present times, political symbolism affects the selection of the host city as much as economic or logistical considerations do. A particular city might be selected to enhance the standing of a favorite son, or in an effort to curry favor with residents of that state. For example, in 2011, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina noted: "We put the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in part because we believe so deeply in" a "New South map." Likewise, New York City was selected as the host of the 2004 Republican National Convention to evoke memories of George W. Bush's leadership during the September 11 attacks.  The conventions have historically been held inside convention centers, but in recent decades the two major parties have favored sports arenas and stadiums to accommodate the increasing capacity, the former because indoor arenas are usually off-season outside of WNBA sites, allowing plenty of time for preparation (the major political parties have avoided baseball stadiums ever since the 1992 Republican National Convention at the Houston Astrodome forced the Houston Astros to play 26 consecutive road games). Bids for the 2008 Republican National Convention, for example, were required to have a facility with a seating capacity of at least 20,500 people, including a convention floor of about 5,500 delegates and alternates; the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota was eventually selected. Meanwhile, approximately 84,000 people attended the last day of the 2008 Democratic National Convention at Denver's Invesco Field at Mile High. The last day of the 2012 Democratic Convention was originally also scheduled for an outdoor football stadium, but was moved indoors due to weather concerns. The last non-sporting venue to host the Democratic National Convention was San Francisco's Moscone Center in 1984. In 1996, the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego became the last non-sporting venue to host the Republican National Convention.

Delegate selection process.

Every year of a presidential election, the United States' political parties have national conventions that result in presidential candidates. However, selected delegates from each state choose candidates rather than members of the public.  Including delegates in the nomination process began after the Presidential election year of 1968, when there was widespread dissatisfaction of the presidential nominating process. Minor-party movements also threatened the chances of Democratic and Republican candidates to win majorities of the electoral votes, which resulted in the reformation of the presidential election process.

Democratic selection process.

Each party and state has its own process to selecting delegates.  Generally speaking, delegates of both major parties usually pledge their votes to a specific candidate, and those who are associated with the Democratic Party and are unpledged are considered super delegates. These super delegates may include governors who identify with the party, members of the U.S. Congress, as well as members of the Democratic National Committee. Super Delegates aren't pledged to a particular candidate, and can vote for who they please. Any registered Democrat may run to be a delegate, and wins are based on congressional votes. Once Democrats choose their delegates, they distribute delegates to each candidate evenly, according to the number of congressional district votes they get (must be at least 15%).

Republican selection process.

Rule 14 of the Republican Party's national rules determines the size of delegates for each state, territory, or political subdivision. Delegate selection for the Republican Party must take place prior to March 1 or after the second Saturday in June in the year that the convention is held. The Republican Party uses a "Proportional Allocation" rule, which states that delegates should be based on the statewide votes or the number of congressional district votes in proportion to the number of votes received by each candidate. Also, each state must advocate to have an equal number of men and women in its delegation.  Delegates and alternate delegates for the Republican National Convention may be selected or bound by only "one" of the following:

Proceedings.

During the day, party activists hold meetings and rallies, and work on the platform. Voting and important convention-wide addresses usually take place in the evening hours.  In recent conventions, routine business such as examining the credentials of delegations, ratifying rules and procedures, election of convention officers, and adoption of the platform usually take up the bus siness of the first two days of the convention. Balloting was usually held on the third day, with the nomination and acceptance made on the last day, but even some of these traditions have fallen away in 21st century conventions. The only constant is that the convention ends with the nominee's acceptance speech.

Platform.

Each convention produces a statement of principles known as its "platform", containing goals and proposals known as "planks". Relatively little of a party platform is even proposed as public policy. Much of the language is generic, while other sections are narrowly written to appeal to factions or interest groups within the party. Unlike electoral manifestos in many European countries, the platform is not binding on either the party or the candidate.  Because it is ideological rather than pragmatic, however, the platform is sometimes itself politicized. For example, defenders of abortion rights lobbied heavily to remove the Human Life Amendment plank from the 1996 Republican National Convention platform, a move fiercely resisted by conservatives despite the fact that no such amendment had ever come up for debate.

Voting.

Since the 1970s, voting has for the most part been perfunctory; the selection of the major parties' nominees have rarely been in doubt, so a single ballot has always been sufficient. Each delegation announces its vote tallies, usually accompanied with some boosterism of their state or territory. The delegation may pass, nominally to retally their delegates' preferences, but often to allow a different delegation to give the leading candidate the honor of casting the majority-making vote.  Before the presidential nomination season actually begins, there is often speculation about whether a single front runner would emerge. If there is no single candidate receiving a majority of delegates at the end of the primary season, a scenario called a brokered convention would result, where a candidate would be selected either at or near the convention, through political horse-trading and lesser candidates compelling their delegates to vote for one of the front runners. The best example was the 1924 Democratic Convention, which took 103 ballots. The situation is more likely to occur in the Democratic Party, because of its proportional representation system, but such a scenario has been the subject of speculation with regard to most contested nominations of both parties without actually coming to pass in recent years. It is a common scenario in fiction, most recently in an episode of "The West Wing". The closest to a brokered convention in recent years was at the 1976 Republican National Convention, when neither Gerald Ford nor Ronald Reagan received enough votes in the primary to lock up the nomination. Since then, candidates have received enough momentum to reach a majority through pledged and bound delegates before the date of the convention.  More recently, a customary practice has been for the losing candidates in the primary season to release their delegates and exhort them to vote for the winning nominee as a sign of party unity. Thus, the vote tallied on the floor is unanimous or nearly so. Some delegates may nevertheless choose to vote for their candidate. And in 2008 both happened: Hillary Clinton received over 1,000 votes before she herself moved to nominate Barack Obama by acclamation, officially making it a unanimous vote.  The voting method at the conventions is a "roll call of the states", which include territories such as Washington D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a catch-all "delegates abroad" category. The states are called in alphabetical order (beginning with Alabama and ending with Wyoming). The state's spokesperson (who generally begins his or her speech with glowing comments about the state's history, geography, and notable party elected officials) can either choose to announce its delegate count or pass. Once all states have either declared or passed, those states which passed are called upon again to announce their delegate count. (Generally, a decision is made beforehand that some states will pass in the first round, in order to allow a particular state—generally either the presidential or vice-presidential nominee's home state—to be the one whose delegate count pushes the candidate "over the top", thus securing the nomination.)  Vice-presidential voting has been problematic since the beginning, as the delegates generally don't really want to deal with it, and it provides for mischief, as was the case at the 1972 Democratic National Convention where the vote was scattered between 50 "candidates" and the 1976 Republican National Convention, where the vote was also scattered widely. In 1988, both parties decided to have their designated candidates nominated by "suspending the rules" and declaring them nominated by "acclamation." The most recent vice-presidential roll call vote was at the 1984 Republican National Convention.  If, after the first round of voting, there is no candidate with a majority of votes, subsequent roll calls are held. In between, candidates can make "backroom deals", swapping delegates in exchange for positions in the administration or other favors, or candidates can release their delegates to vote for whoever they personally prefer. Roll calls continue until one candidate has a majority. The 1924 Democratic National Convention holds the record, where divisions within the party concerning Prohibition led to 102 ballots between Alfred E. Smith and William G. McAdoo before the relatively unknown John W. Davis was chosen as a compromise candidate on the 103rd ballot.

Speeches.

Minor figures in the party are given the opportunity to address the floor of the convention during the daytime, when only the small audiences of C-SPAN and other cable television outlets are watching. The evening's speeches—designed for broadcast to a large national audience—are reserved for major speeches by notable, respected public figures; the speakers at the 2004 Democratic Convention included Ted Kennedy, a forty-two-year veteran of the United States Senate, and Jimmy Carter, a former Democratic President, while speakers at the Republican Convention included Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Governor George Pataki of New York, two of the largest states in the nation.  The organizers of the convention may designate one of these speeches as the keynote address, one which above all others is stated to underscore the convention's themes or political goals. For instance, the 1992 Democratic National Convention keynote address was delivered by Georgia Governor Zell Miller, whose stories of an impoverished childhood echoed the economic themes of the nominee, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. The 1996 Republican National Convention was keynoted by U.S. Representative Susan Molinari of New York, intended to reassure political moderates about the centrism of the nominee, former Senator Bob Dole. And the 2004 Democratic National Convention featured Senator Barack Obama, whose speech brought the future President national recognition for the first time.  Uniquely, Miller, by then a Senator, would also be the keynote speaker at the 2004 Republican Convention, despite still maintaining his Democratic registration.  The final day of the convention usually features the formal acceptance speeches from the nominees for president and vice president. Despite recent controversy maintaining that recent conventions were scripted from beginning to end, and that very little news (if any) comes out of the convention, the acceptance speech has always been televised by the networks, because it receives the highest ratings of the convention. In addition, the halls of the convention are packed at this time, with many party loyalists sneaking in. Afterwards, balloons are usually dropped and the delegates celebrate the nomination.

History.

In the early 19th century, members of Congress met within their party caucuses to select their party's nominee. Conflicts between the interests of the Eastern Congressional class and citizens in newer Western states led to the hotly contested 1824 election, in which factions of the Democratic-Republican Party rejected the caucus nominee, William H. Crawford of Georgia, and backed John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and Andrew Jackson of Tennessee (all of whom carried more states than Crawford in the election) instead.  In 1831 the Anti-Masonic Party convened in Baltimore, Maryland to select a single presidential candidate agreeable to the whole party leadership in the 1832 presidential election. The National Republican and Democratic Parties soon followed suit.  Conventions were often heated affairs, playing a vital role in deciding each party's nominee. The process remained far from democratic or transparent, however. The party convention was a scene of intrigue among political bosses, who appointed and otherwise controlled nearly all of the delegates. Winning a nomination involved intensive negotiations and multiple votes; the 1924 Democratic National Convention required a record 103 ballots to nominate John W. Davis. The term "dark horse candidate" was coined at the 1844 Democratic National Convention, at which little-known Tennessee politician James K. Polk emerged as the candidate after the failure of the leading candidates—former President Martin Van Buren and Michigan Senator Lewis Cass—to secure the necessary two-thirds majority.  A few, mostly Western, states adopted primary elections in the late 19th century and during the Progressive Era, but the catalyst for their widespread adoption came during the election of 1968. The Vietnam War energized a large number of supporters of anti-war Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, but they had no say in the matter. Vice President Hubert Humphrey—associated with the increasingly unpopular administration of Lyndon B. Johnson—did not compete in a single primary, yet controlled enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. This proved one of several factors behind rioting which broke out at the Democratic convention in Chicago.  Media images of the event—angry mobs facing down police—damaged the image of the Democratic Party, which appointed a commission headed by South Dakota Senator George McGovern to select a new, less controversial method of choosing nominees. The McGovern–Fraser Commission settled on the primary election, adopted by the Democratic National Committee in 1968. The Republicans adopted the primary as their preferred method in 1972. Henceforth, candidates would be given convention delegates based on their performance in primaries, and these delegates were bound to vote for their candidate.  As a result, the major party presidential nominating convention has lost almost all of its old drama. The last attempt to release delegates from their candidates came at the 1980 Democratic National Convention, when Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts sought votes of delegates held by incumbent President Jimmy Carter. The last major party convention whose outcome was in doubt was the 1976 Republican National Convention, when former California Governor Ronald Reagan nearly won the nomination away from the incumbent president, Gerald Ford.

Television coverage.

While rank and file members had no input in early nominations, they were still drawn by the aura of mystery surrounding the convention, and networks began to broadcast speeches and debates to the general public. NBC affiliate W2XBS in New York City made the first telecast of a national party convention, of the 1940 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the other two of the Big Three television networks soon followed. NBC News anchorman John Chancellor said just before the start of the 1972 Democratic National Convention, "Convention coverage is the most important thing we do. The conventions are not just political theater, but really serious stuff, and that's why all the networks have an obligation to give gavel-to-gavel coverage. It's a time when we all ought to be doing our duty."  The presence of journalists at presidential nominating conventions have increased with the television networks. In 1976, the Democratic Convention consisted of 3,381 delegates and 11,500 reporters, broadcasters, editors and camera operators. This is on par with the increase in the number of televisions in American homes. In 1960, 87 percent of people had a television; by 1976, 98 percent did. By the 1992 conventions, network coverage increased from three networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) to five networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox and PBS). At the 1996 Republican National Convention there were approximately seven journalists per one delegate, or about 15,000 journalists.  The increase of the media at these conventions originally led to a growth in the public's interest in elections. Voter turnout in the primaries increased from fewer than five million voters in 1948 to around thirteen million in 1952. By broadcasting the conventions on the television, people were more connected to the suspense and the decisions being made, therefore making them more politically aware, and more educated voters. When scholars studied the 1976 conventions they determined that by watching nomination conventions, even viewers that were not previously very politically active developed a much stronger interest in the election process and the candidate. With the rise of the direct primary, and in particular with states moving earlier and earlier in the primary calendar since the 1988 election, the nominee has often secured a commanding majority of delegates far in advance of the convention. As such, the convention has become little more than a coronation, a carefully staged campaign event designed to draw public attention and favor to the nominee, with particular attention to television coverage. For instance, speeches by noted and popular party figures are scheduled for the coveted primetime hours, when most people would be watching.  The changing nature of the conventions, as well as overall changes in television viewing habits, have changed how broadcasters cover the conventions. Midway through the 1996 Republican National Convention, Ted Koppel of ABC's "Nightline" concluded the program with an announcement that he would end his broadcasts from San Diego for the convention, nor broadcast coverage from the Democratic convention in Chicago, citing that the events had effectively become an "infomercial" for the party's nominee rather than a news event. Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour was also critical of how the networks covered the convention: in response to the diminishing coverage, the party purchased time-brokered blocks on the cable network The Family Channel to broadcast live coverage of the convention under the branding "GOP-TV."  Bespoke coverage of the conventions on television is now typically relegated to cable news channels and C-SPAN. PBS continues to provide full primetime coverage of the conventions, although it breaks away from minor speakers and mundane business for analysis and discussion. In 2012, the major networks only aired one hour of primetime coverage per-night, while NBC forwent coverage on the second night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention in order to air the NFL Kickoff Game—which the NFL moved to Wednesday night from Thursday to minimize conflict with the convention (to make up for the lack of coverage on Wednesday, NBC aired two hours of coverage on Thursday). There was also a noted increase in coverage via live streaming on digital platforms.

A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purpose of such a convention is to select the party's nominee for President, as well as to adopt a statement of party principles and goals known as the "platform" and adopt the rules for the party's activities, including the presidential nominating process for the next election cycle.