Historical background.

From 1919 to 1920 Italy was shocked by a period of intense social conflict following the First World War; this period was named "Biennio Rosso" (Red Biennium). The revolutionary period was followed by the violent reaction of the Fascist blackshirts militia and eventually by the March on Rome of Benito Mussolini in 1922.  The Biennio Rosso took place in a context of economic crisis at the end of the war, with high unemployment and political instability. It was characterized by mass strikes, worker manifestations as well as self-management experiments through land and factories occupations. In Turin and Milan, workers councils were formed and many factory occupations took place under the leadership of anarcho-syndicalists. The agitations also extended to the agricultural areas of the Padan plain and were accompanied by peasant strikes, rural unrests and guerrilla conflicts between left-wing and right-wing militias.  In the general election of 1921, the Liberal governing coalition, strengthened by the joining of Fascist candidates in the National Blocs (33 of whom were elected deputies), came short of a majority. The Italian Socialist Party, weakened by the split of the Communist Party of Italy, lost many votes and seats, while the Italian People's Party was steady around 20%. The Socialists were stronger in Lombardy (41.9%), than in their historical strongholds of Piedmont (28.6%), Emilia-Romagna (33.4%) and Tuscany (31.0%), due to the presence of the Communists (11.9, 5.2 and 10.5%), while the Populars were confirmed the largest party of Veneto (36.5%) and the Liberal parties in most Southern regions.

General elections were held in Italy on 15 May 1921. It was the first election in which the recently acquired regions of Trentino-Alto Adige, Venezia Giulia, Zara and Lagosta island elected deputies, many of whom from Germanic and South Slav ethnicity.


Referees and assistant referees.

On 29 March 2018, FIFA published the list of 36 referees and 63 assistant referees, on the basis of nationality, from all six football confederations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. These were selected from a longlist of 53 trios.  Out of these, one referee and one assistant referee were dropped from the list and were not replaced. The two assistant referees associated with the dropped referee also withdrew, but were replaced in the roster.  On 12 July 2018, FIFA announced that Argentine referee Néstor Pitana would take charge of the final.

Video assistant referees.

On 30 April 2018, FIFA announced 13 video assistant referees (VARs) had been appointed. For each World Cup game, there will be one VAR and three AVARs (Assistant Video Assistant Referees), each responsible for different situations. They will be supporting the main referee from the Video Operation Room based at the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Moscow.

Referees withdrawn and replaced.

Referee Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia) was withdrawn due to attempted match-fixing at the 2018 King Cup Final. His assistant referees were also withdrawn:  No referee was called up to replace Al-Mirdasi, but two assistant referees were called up to complete the referee teams of Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates) and Ryuji Sato (Japan), respectively:  Assistant referee Marwa Range (Kenya) also withdrew after the BBC released an investigation conducted by a Ghanaian journalist which implicated Marwa in a bribery scandal.

The following is a list of match officials (referees, assistant referees, and video assistant referees) who will officiate at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


Life and career.

Dogterom was born 20 November 1967 in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 1990, she graduated from the University of Groningen with a degree in theoretical physics. Two years later, the Fulbright Program granted her a fellowship. Though she found a PhD position at the University of Paris-Sud, she followed her mentor's move to Princeton University, where Dogterom first began to work with biology via collaboration with their biology faculty. In 1994, she graduated cum laude with a doctorate from the University of Paris-Sud, with a thesis on "Physical Aspects of Microtubule Growth and Mitotic Spindle Formation," and worked as a postdoc at Bell Labs in the United States. In 1997, she became a project leader at FOM Institute AMOLF, a physics and biophysics research institute, becoming head of department from 2003 to 2013.  Dogterom holds professional ties to various universities. In 2000, she took an appointment as a professor at Leiden University, becoming a full professor in 2010. Since 2014, she has been the Chair of the Department of Bionanoscience at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. In 2016, she gained the title of "Medical Delta Professor," meaning she had professorships at both Delft and Leiden.  In 2006, Dogterom took a sabbatical for a year to work at Erasmus MC in Anna Akhmanova's research group, which specialized in cell biology and cytoskeletons. In 2013, they received an ERC Synergy grant to collaborate on research on cytoskeleton regulation by the cell.  Dogterom currently leads a team that aims to build the first artificial cell. In her laboratory, her team studies and builds parts of the cytoskeleton outside of the cell, where they can measure the forces they exert on various other cell components. The team also analyses the effects of various forces on the deformation of the cytoskeleton, the interactions of the cytoskeleton polymers as a network, and the spatial structure of the cell itself. Her research group plans to collaborate with various other research groups which focus on other parts of the cell.  In 2018, Dogterom was named as a recipient of the Spinoza Prize, an award that grants a large sum to a team conducting novel research in the Netherlands. Dogterom's former colleague Anna Akhmanova was also named as a recipient that same year.

Awards.

In 2013, Dogterom was elected to the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and in 2015, she was elected to the Academia Europaea. She has been a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2016. Dogterom has been awarded the following grants, fellowships, and prizes:

Marileen Dogterom (born 20 November 1967, in Utrecht) is a Dutch biophysicist and professor at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology. She published in Science, Cell, and Nature and is notable for her research of the cell cytoskeleton. For this research, she was awarded the 2018 Spinoza Prize.


Personal life.

MacMahon was born in Sheffield, where his father, Desmond MacMahon, was a professional violinist. In 1948, he married Heidi Marie Graber from Switzerland (died 2001); the couple had two sons and two daughters. MacMahon also had a brother, Paddy, who was a doctor in the British Army.  MacMahon emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s, and became a U.S. citizen in 1962. He died at Boston, Massachusetts in 2007, aged 84, following a stroke.

Education and early career.

MacMahon studied medicine at the University of Birmingham, gaining the diplomas of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Surgeons in 1946, and the MB BChir in 1948. After working as a locum doctor in impoverished areas of Birmingham, MacMahon served as a ship's doctor in the British Merchant Navy from 1946 to 1948. He later said that these experiences left him "somewhat dispirited about a future in clinical medicine".  Enrolment in a course in public health at the University of Birmingham brought him into contact with epidemiologists Thomas McKeown, Ronald Lowe and Reginald Record, who became his supervisors in a PhD in "social medicine" (as epidemiology was then known) studying infantile pyloric stenosis. After gaining his Ph.D in 1952, he travelled to the USA to obtain a Master's in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health (1953). In 1955, he gained the MD degree at the University of Birmingham.

Career in epidemiology.

MacMahon's early academic positions were at the University of Birmingham, UK, and at the Department of Environmental Medicine and Community Health at the State University of New York in Brooklyn, USA, where he worked with Duncan W. Clark, focusing on the epidemiology of leukemia and breast cancer.  In 1958, he was appointed head of the Harvard School of Public Health, USA, a position he held until his retirement in 1988. In 1967, he co-founded the Society for Epidemiologic Research, a learned society for epidemiologists. In 1976, he was appointed the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Epidemiology at the school, and he also served as the Associate Dean (1977–78). From 1974, he held a professorship in public health at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. MacMahon built the Harvard School of Public Health into a world-class research institution; he particularly prided himself, however, on nurturing students, many of whom went on to become leaders in the field of epidemiology. Well-known former students include Dimitrios Trichopoulos and Walter Willett.  MacMahon co-authored the textbook "Epidemiologic Methods" (1960), later reissued as "Epidemiology: Principles and Methods", with Thomas Pugh. Described by Willett as "the first modern epidemiology textbook", it became a standard text in the subject. He co-edited "Preventive Medicine" (1967), later republished as "Preventive and Community Medicine", with Duncan W. Clark.

Research.

Breast cancer.

MacMahon was unusual in focusing on the epidemiology of chronic diseases, in particular cancer, at a time when most epidemiologists concentrated on infectious diseases. His best-known research relates to breast cancer. An international study, published in 1970, on which MacMahon was the lead author showed for the first time that the age at which a woman first gives birth significantly affects her risk of later developing breast cancer; giving birth at a young age was found to be protective. Subsequent work by MacMahon's group showed that every year a woman delays giving birth after the age of eighteen increases her risk of developing breast cancer by 3.5%. The 1970 study stimulated later research into hormonal causes of breast cancer.  MacMahon's group also studied other factors associated with breast cancer risk, including age at menarche and menopause, lactation, alcohol consumption and diet.

Other cancers.

With Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MacMahon pioneered research into the association of passive smoking with lung cancer. Their study showed that non-smoking women whose husbands smoked heavily (more than a pack per day) had a greater than threefold increased risk of developing lung cancer.  He was also one of the first to study the effect of diet on cancer; this work was continued by his student Walter Willett. This research was not without controversy: a case-control study which unexpectedly linked coffee drinking with increased risk of pancreatic cancer provoked a storm of protest from coffee drinkers and industry groups, with coverage in the "New York Times", "Time" magazine and "Newsweek". Academic criticism focused on the study's choice of controls. Subsequent studies, including one by MacMahon's group, failed to confirm the association. He studied Hodgkin's lymphoma, providing evidence that the disease might be caused by more than one agent.

Other diseases.

MacMahon worked extensively on pyloric stenosis of infants. His work focused attention on the effect of environmental factors on this disease. Despite developing Dupuytren's contracture in his hands, which hindered computer use, MacMahon remained active in research long after his official retirement, for example, contributing a final review on pyloric stenosis in 2006.

Awards.

MacMahon was awarded the National Divisional Distinguished Service Award of the American Cancer Society (1971), the John Snow Award of the American Public Health Association (1980), the Donald Reid Medal of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1987), and the Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for his work on the epidemiology of cancer (1992). He became a member of the Institute of Medicine in 1973, and later received honorary doctorates from the University of Birmingham, University of Athens and the State University of New York.

Brian MacMahon (23 August 1923 – 5 December 2007) was a British-born United States epidemiologist who chaired the Department of Epidemiology of the Harvard School of Public Health from 1958 until 1988. Best known for his work on the epidemiology of breast cancer, he also pioneered research on associations between passive smoking and lung cancer, and between diet and risk of cancer.


Description.

It has a broad, ovoid-shaped mantle and can reach a total length (including arms) of up to. The head is narrower than the rest of the body with a filament over each eye. The octopus's colour is yellowish or reddish-orange to reddish-brown dorsally with diffuse rust-brown patches, and white on the underside. The skin is covered with very fine, closely set granulations, interspersed with larger warts. The relatively short arms have a single series of suckers on them and at rest are held with the tips lightly curled, hence the species's common name. This species maximum weight is in the more southerly parts of its distribution and in the northern part.

Habitat and distribution.

The curled octopus is mainly found at depths between and may occur down to. It lives in the northeast Atlantic Ocean, including the English Channel, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. In recent years the North Sea populations have increased, probably due to overfishing of large predatory fish such as Atlantic cod. This has had a knock on effect on crab and lobster fisheries as the curled octopus readily enters pots to take the bait or the catch. In seas of Scotland, "E. cirrhosa" is infrequently caught when trawling over rocky substrates and are more frequently captured when fishing over sandy or muddy substrates. A survey using different methods found that "Eledone cirrhosa" was common and widespread throughout the Scottish inshore waters covered by fishing activity, from the shoreline down to 140m, on substrates ranging through rocky, stoney, sandy and muddy. Specimens were caught throughout the year but is most common in inshore waters during the summer months and moves further offshore to the trawling grounds in October–December.

Diet.

The curled octopus feeds on crabs and other large crustaceans, as well as fish. Serological analysis of the crop of specimens sampled in the Moray Firth and Sound of Jura revealed the main prey to be "Liocarcinus spp", "Nephrops norvegicus", "Cancer pagurus", "Crangon crangon" and "Carcinus maenas", although a large proportion of the samples analysed did not react in the tests suggesting they had consumed alternative prey. It is cited as a significant predator of such commercially important species as "Homarus gammarus" (European lobster), "Nephrops norvegicus" (Norway lobster), and "Cancer pagurus" (edible crab) from traps. When preying on crabs, it immobilises the crab by injecting toxins into the body of the crab through a hole created in its shell using the octopus's radula. The octopus then injects saliva into the crab and the digestive enzymes contained in that saliva break down the crab's internal attachments to its shell, allowing the octopus to easily remove the carapace.

Biology.

The growth rate of the curled octopus is quite rapid and its life span is generally short at 1–5 years, although there may be some variation between warmer and colder areas. The curled octopus matures at around 1 year (on reaching a total length of for females, slightly smaller for males) and with 1,000–5,000 eggs laid on average. The females normally attain sexual maturity when they reach a body size of between 400–1000 g but some females weighing up to 1000–1200 g show no evidence of enlargement of the ovaries. The males reach just over 600g and typically have well-developed reproductive organs from around 200g. It breeds at a lower rate than the partially sympatric "Octopus vulgaris" (common octopus). Populations are apparently at their lowest density in the autumn, probably due to post-spawning die off as reproduction involves females laying eggs, guarding them and dying once the eggs hatch. Curled octopuses are solitary animals, generally inhabiting depths of less than, and more common in shallow water, but they have been found down to.  Breeding activity of the curled octopus peaks between July and September and there are many juveniles present in October. In 2017 Storm Brian was followed by reports of many curled octopus on beaches and rock pools around the island of Anglesey and the Llyn Peninsula in north Wales. These were mostly juveniles which with their weaker suction than the adults were more affected by waves created by the storm, swept away from their hiding places among the rocks and stranded.  Analysis carried out on the stomach contents of stranded Risso’s dolphins demonstrates that the most important species fed on in Scottish waters is the curled octopus.

Fisheries.

The curled octopus is taken as bycatch in trawl fisheries for other species. It is also captured in earthenware pots in the Mediterranean, although the fishery for curled octopuses is less important than that of the common octopus. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) catch data for both the curled octopus and common octopus, from all ICES regions (NE Atlantic) in 2006, indicated around 8,999 tonnes, but more recent estimates indicate a substantial increase to around 19,000 tonnes in 2008 (ICES WGCEPH, 2010). Nearly all landings of both species within these regions are taken by Portugal and Spain, with Spain taking the vast majority, although most of these will be of the common octopus. Neither species is subject to either stock assessment or quota controls in Europe and in the case of the curled octopus there is no minimum size for landing. In the Adriatic this species is caught and sold alongside "Eledone moschata" but is the less numerous of the two. It is not regarded as a commercially viable species in Scotland and any caught are normally discarded.

The curled octopus ("Eledone cirrhosa"), also known as the horned octopus, lesser octopus or northern octopus, is a species of cephalopod found in the northeast Atlantic, ranging from Norway to the Mediterranean, including the British Isles. It is of minor importance to fisheries, being mainly bycatch in the north eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean where the common octopus is the preferred catch.


Use in taxonomy and identification.

The ultrastructure of chaetae is fundamentally similar for all taxa but there is vast diversity in chaetal morphology. Moreover, chaetae bear precise characters for determination of species and taxonomic assessment. The shape, absolute and relative size, number, position, ornamentation and type are important taxonomic characters and specific types are often associated with families or genera. They are sometimes also species-specific and in some cases can be used to differentiate otherwise identical-looking species.

Types of chaetae.

A wide range of chaetal shapes and arrangements exists:  Basic forms are capillaries and spines. Capillaries are the most common form of chaetae and are very thin and tapering. Spines are also common but are thicker and stouter than capillaries and may be curved or straight and can be distally dentate (e.g. unidentate or bidentate).  Furcate (also called comb, forked or brush) cheatae are similar to capillaries for most of their length but expand distally into a flattened comb- or fork-like tip.  Hooks are stout cheatae that curve distally and may be dentate or strongly curved (falcate). These chaetae may also be capped with a translucent hyaline hood.  Compound chaetae possess a joint or hinge toward the distal end that allows a distal blade or appendage to articulate around it.  Uncini are highly modified chaetae in which the shaft is reduced (or virtually absent) and the tip is broadened to create short, stout structures. These are often present in sedentary taxa.

A chaeta or cheta (from Greek χαίτη “crest, mane, flowing hair"; plural: chaetae) is a chitinous bristle or seta found in annelid worms, insects or arthropods, although the term is also frequently used to describe similar structures in other invertebrates. Polychaete annelids, ('polychaeta' literally meaning "many bristles") are named for their chaetae. In Polychaeta, chaetae are found as bundles on the parapodia, paired appendages on the side of the body. The chaetae are epidermal extracellular structures, and clearly visible in most polychaetes. They are probably the best studied structures in these animals.


Life and career.

Born in Leningrad, Avrorin graduated from the Physics faculty of Moscow State University and was directed to KB-11 ('Design Bureau-11), now called All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (RFNC-VNIIEF)) in the closed city of Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod region. There he worked on the Soviet hydrogen bomb programme. In 1955, he joined the new NII-1011 (Research Institute-1011, presently the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Of Technical Physics (RFNC-VNIITF)) at another closed city, Snezhinsk (or Chelyabinsk-70). In 1956 and 1957, he performed unique experiments to find out why the RDS-37 exploded fractionally before modelled expectations, a result which implied a lack of knowledge of materials and conditions. During remainder of his career there, he became Head of the Theoretical Physics Department in 1964, the Head of Theoretical Physics Division in 1974 and the Scientific Director in 1985, a role he retained until 2007. From 1996 to 1998, he was also the overall Director.  In addition to his work on many nuclear weapons, he was also known for investigating nuclear charges for civilian usage (e.g. potentially for mining copper), charge designs with very low radiation output and deuterium power engineering. He has written about the modern challenges to the closed cities whose industries are (largely) no longer required since the break-up of the U.S.S.R. He became the chair of the Snezhinsk branch of the Russian Pugwash committee and has been involved in international discussions about science diplomacy and confidence-building for international security.  He died after a long illness.

Yevgeny Nikolayevich Avrorin (also Evgeniy) (1932 - 9 January 2018) was a theoretical physicist and nuclear engineer, and Scientific Director at the Russian Federal Nuclear Centre (RFNC). He was a co-developer of the RDS-37, the first Soviet two-stage thermonuclear bomb, and many other nuclear devices.


Career.

Youth and College.

Born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Martin joined the D.C. United Academy during the 2009–10 season as a 14-year-old in the under-16 category. In his second season with the u16s, Martin led the team in scoring with 13 goals while leading the side to finish top of its group in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Then, the next season, Martin was promoted to the under-18s where he led the team in scoring with 11 goals. He impressed the coaching staff enough that season to earn playing time with the D.C. United Reserves in MLS Reserve League action.  Martin then choose to attend Wake Forest University where he would play for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons soccer team for the 2012 season in which he scored one goal and registered six assists. At the end of the season, Martin earned All-ACC Freshman Team honors.

D.C. United.

On July 10, 2013 it was announced that Martin had signed-on as a homegrown player with D.C. United of Major League Soccer, thus becoming the team's sixth homegrown signing. After a short loan spell at the Richmond Kickers in the USL Pro, Martin made his debut for D.C. United on August 3, 2013 against the Montreal Impact in which he came on in the 76th minute for Nick DeLeon as United won the game 3–1. He finished the 2013 season with seven league appearances.

Richmond Kickers (loan).

On July 17, 2013 it was announced that D.C. United had sent Martin out on loan to their USL Pro affiliate, the Richmond Kickers. He made his one and only appearance for the Kickers on July 23 against the Vancouver Whitecaps Reserves in which he started and played 85 minutes as the Kickers won the match 2–1.  On September 13, 2014 he scored his first professional goal to open a 2–1 win over the Charleston Battery in the playoff quarter-finals.

Minnesota United FC.

In January 2017, Martin was traded by D.C. to MLS expansion side Minnesota United FC in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft. He made his debut on March 25 in a 5–2 loss at the New England Revolution, as a 63rd-minute substitute for Mohammed Saeid.  Martin played 12 matches in his first season in Minnesota, five as a starter. Having taken no part in the 2019 season, he was loaned in late April to USL Championship team Hartford Athletic.  In October 2019, at the end of Minnesota's season, Martin was one of five players released.

San Diego Loyal SC.

In February 2020, Martin was signed by San Diego Loyal for its inaugural season.

International.

Martin has represented the United States at U-14, U-15, U-17, and U-20 levels.

Personal life.

Martin was raised in an observant Episcopalian family.  On June 29, 2018, Martin came out publicly as gay. He was reported at the time to be the only active male professional soccer player to be openly gay.  Martin transferred his credits from Wake Forest University to George Washington University after joining D.C. United. He attended part-time for four years, and online for a fifth from Minnesota, before graduating in 2019 with a degree in history. His thesis was on the Battle of Vicksburg in the American Civil War.

Collin Martin (born November 9, 1994) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship. He has played for D.C. United and Minnesota United FC in Major League Soccer, and for Richmond Kickers and Hartford Athletic in the United Soccer League. He came out as gay in June 2018, making him at the time the only out man in any of the big five American sports leagues or any top-division professional men's national soccer league.


History.

Stirling was first connected to the Scottish Central Railway in 1848. Lines were subsequently opened by the Stirling and Dunfermline Railway in 1853, and by the Forth and Clyde Junction Railway to three years later. Through services to/from the Callander and Oban Railway also served the station from 1870. The current station buildings were opened in 1916 following a major rebuild by the Caledonian Railway. They have undergone several refurbishments (with minor layout changes), the most recent change being the installation of lifts to enable better access to the footbridge linking Platform 2 with Platforms 3 to 8. The line to Balloch lost its passenger services in 1934 and closed as a through route in 1942, although the section from Stirling to Port of Menteith remained open for freight until 1959. The main line from Stirling to Dunfermline was not scheduled for closure under the Beeching Axe, but it was nevertheless closed in 1968. It has since been partly reopened as far as Alloa (see below). Oban services via the C&O line ended with the Beeching cuts in 1965, and the main terminus in Glasgow for services from Stirling changed from the former C.R. station at to Queen Street the following year.  A Motorail service ran between London and Stirling until 1989.

Description.

The station building was constructed in 1915 by James Miller, and is listed by Historic Environment Scotland as a Category A listed building. His design continues the circular spaces and flowing curves of his celebrated Wemyss Bay station.  In 2008, the travel centre was refurbished to improve disabled access, including power-assisted entrance doors, a wheelchair-accessible counter, and improved customer information systems. In 2009, a shelter was erected on Platforms 9 and 10, and LED display boards replaced the CRT screens, including new displays for Platforms 9 and 10 and the bay Platforms 7 and 8. (Up to c.1988, a large flip-dot display was located above the main concourse; this was removed and the space filled in with a large "Welcome to Stirling Station" sign.) From December 2009, automated announcements were provided, replacing the manual announcements made from the supervisor's office on Platform 3. In 2013, a new public address system was installed.  The station houses a Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) from the British Transport Police. Currently two officers work from Stirling and cover Stirling,,,,,, and.  The Stirling Area Command of the Forth Valley Division of Police Scotland cover the territorial area the Stirling NPT cover and will assist when the BTP officers are not available.

Services.

Trains operate north to (three trains per hour), to, and (hourly), (four trains per day), south west to (three trains per hour), and east to Edinburgh Waverley (half-hourly). The service to Alloa and Dunfermine was withdrawn in October 1968, but the reopening of the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine rail link partially restored that service with an hourly service from Glasgow to as an extension of the Croy Line services. This utilises the existing DMU from Glasgow, which previously spent considerable time in one of the bay platforms at Stirling with engines idling, but now utilises the layover time to make the return trip to & from Alloa.  Most services are operated by Abellio ScotRail; with two trains per day southbound to London Kings Cross and one train per day northbound to Inverness operated by London North Eastern Railway (a second northbound service terminates at Stirling); and one train per day Sunday – Friday southbound to London Euston and northbound to Inverness operated by Caledonian Sleeper. The station has nine platforms, though they are ordered 2 to 10. The site of Platform 1 is now occupied by a car park; the platforms were not renumbered. The bay platforms at the north end of the station (Platforms 4 and 5) survive but are not available to passenger trains. The bay platforms at the south end of the station (Platforms 7 and 8) are not normally used for weekday services, but the first services of the day use trains that have been stabled there overnight and they have been fitted with passenger information displays.  A major Scottish area timetable recast in 2018 backed by Transport Scotland will see improved journey times from Stirling to both Edinburgh & Glasgow and more frequent services to Gleneagles, Dundee, Perth & Inverness. The lines from Glasgow to Alloa & Polmont to Dunblane are also due to be resignalled & electrified by 2018 as part of the rolling modernisation work associated with the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Programme.

Stirling railway station is a railway station located in Stirling, Scotland. It is located on the former Caledonian Railway main line between Glasgow and Perth. It is the junction for the branch line to and Dunfermline via Kincardine and is also served by trains on the Edinburgh to Dunblane Line and long-distance services to Dundee & Aberdeen and to Inverness via the Highland Main Line.


Biography.

1970–1991: Childhood and early beginnings.

Samuele Bersani was born on 1 October 1970 in Rimini, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. His father was a music teacher, while his mother was an employee, and she also became the vice-major of Cattolica, the town in which he grew up. He studied at the "classical lyceum", but he left school a few months before his "maturity exam". While he was a teenager, Bersani played in several local bands and took part in local singing competitions. In 1991, he met Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla before a concert Dalla was going to give in San Benedetto del Tronto, in Central Italy. Bersani asked Dalla to listen to a recording of his original song "Il mostro", and a few minutes later Dalla's producer, Renzo Cremonini, told him to open the concert performing the song. Bersani was then chosen as the opening act for the remaining concerts of Dalla's Cambio tour.

1992–1996: "C'hanno preso tutto" and "Freak".

Bersani's debut album, "C'hanno preso tutto", was released in November 1992. The album included the song "Il mostro", as well as the single "Chiccho e Spillo", which allowed Bersani to receive media attention, becoming a radio hit and supporting sales of the album, which sold more than 20,000 copies in Italy. In 1995, Bersani released his second album, "Freak". The album's lead single, "Freak", was released in February of the same year, but some Italian radio stations decided not to air it as a consequence of a line referring both to the Italian conservative coalition and to the Italian Communist Party, which was considered a violation of the "par condicio law", which introduced fees for those stations giving airplay to songs including political messages during the electoral campaign preceding the Italian regional elections. As a consequence, Bersani's label decided to anticipate the release of the second single from the album, "Spaccacuore". Both "Freak" and "Spaccacuore" were later performed by Bersani during the itinerant television show "Festivalbar", during the summer of 1995. The album was a commercial success, and it was certified platinum, selling more than 130,000 copies in Italy.

Samuele Bersani (born 1 October 1970, Rimini, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He received the "Mia Martini" Critics Award at the Sanremo Music Festival in 2000 and in 2012, with the songs "Replay" and "Un pallone", respectively. His best known songs also include "Giudizi universali", released in 1997 and certified in 2017 as a platinum-selling single by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry, and "Spaccacuore", which was later covered by Italian singer Laura Pausini.


History.

The World Cup was first held in July 2012. The tournament was named the "Summer Games" in accordance with its unofficial tie-in to the 2012 Summer Olympics, and because the name "World Cup" was already being used since 2007 for a club championship held in the United States. The tournament was held in Oxford, United Kingdom as the Olympic torch was passing through the city. Five teams participated: Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The event followed a round-robin format, with the lowest ranked team being eliminated and the others advancing to the bracket phase. The UK was defeated by all other competitors and did not make the bracket. The US took first place, defeating France in the final, and Australia claimed bronze by defeating Canada.  In 2014, the tournament was renamed "Global Games" and took place under an updated IQA which became an international sports federation. The Games were under the supervision of US Quidditch but were held in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Seven teams came out to compete: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Italy had planned to compete but had to pull out. The event was contested over a round-robin, with positions in a series of playoffs determined by each team's result in the first round. Due to limited media relations and improper planning, the tournament was relatively unknown and had a lacking medical staff which became evident when Belgium chose to forfeit after suffering multiple injuries. The United States defended their title by defeating Australia in the final, and Canada claimed bronze by defeating the United Kingdom.  The 2016 World Cup took place in Frankfurt, Germany. The initial tournament plan involved 24 competing teams, but because of the dropouts of five teams, the number of expected nations was reduced to 19. Later, Brazil and Slovakia were added to the roster of teams, resulting in a field of 21 nations. The tournament took place using a pool-play format, followed by a single-elimination bracket with all 21 teams. Ahead of the tournament, exhibition matches were held between Canada and the United Kingdom, Turkey and Mexico and Australia and Germany. A planned exhibition match between Uganda and South Korea was canceled after Uganda dropped out of the competition. After a pool-play and bracket tournament, Australia defeated the United States 150*–130 in the final. The United States had first made a snitch catch which was disallowed on the grounds of charging the snitch. When the Australian seeker caught the snitch, the catch was initially challenged due to the seeker having been hit by a bludger. However the beat was ruled out as the beater had himself been hit by a bludger. The catch was therefore called good and Australia won the match and the United States suffered their first defeat. In the third place match, the United Kingdom avenged their defeat in the 2014 third place playoff years prior by beating Canada 190*–60. Both the final and bronze playoff were therefore re-runs of the same games from the previous World Cup, both with the reverse result.  The 2018 World Cup was held in Florence, Italy with 29 teams competing. There has been much online controversy about the unexpected hike in tournament fees, which has forced some smaller nations to drop out, namely Denmark and Sweden, both of whom would have been attending for the first time.

Format.

Qualification.

None of the competitions so far have involved a qualification round. To be eligible, the team must be representing a region's national governing body.

Results.

The following table shows a list of all World Cups to date. The team that caught the snitch is denoted with an asterisk.

The IQA World Cup is an international quidditch tournament contested by the national teams of the members of the International Quidditch Association, the sport's global governing organisation. The championship, which was named Summer Games and Global Games in its first two editions, has been awarded every two years since 2012. The current champions are the United States, who defeated Belgium in 2018.


Location.

It is situated in the bottom of the Valley of Boí. The engine of its economy is the tourism. In 2005 had 262 inhabitants. To get to Taüll, from the city of Lleida take the N-230 road, that begins in Lleida and finishes in Vielha. The N-230 goes through the village of Pont de Suert. At the end of the village turn right to take the L-500, the main road of the Valley of Boí. Continue on this road after leave behind Barruera until another fork. Turn to the right at L-501, that takes you to the settlements of Boí and Taüll and finishes at the ski station of Boí-Taüll.

History.

In 806 the Count of Tolosa freed the region from the Muslim domination and from the tribute they had to pay. Later, the Valley of Boí was given to the Country of Pallars, dependent on the Church of Urgell.  In 911, after a serious conflict with the Church of Urgell, a bschopric was established which included the countries of Pallars and Ribagorça.  In 949 both countries separated: Ribagorça remained in the new bishopric while Pallars came back again under the Church of Urgell. Further juridic conflicts make both countries join again and until the early 12th century the stability didn't reach the region. It was at this time when the region was favored by Alfons I "El Batallador", because the direct participation of region's Lords in his reconquest campaign, becoming improved and gaining wealth. Lord of Erill had the villages of Taüll and Boí under his jurisdiction, and was this period of wealthy what allowed all the rustic churches in the valley to be renewed, being replaced by others of romanesque construction, richly decorated and with outstanding liturgical furniture. The churches of Sant Climent, Sant Martí (destroyed by an avalanche in the seventies) and Santa Maria where constructed in Taüll.  Lords of Erill were a very important barony in the Pirenees. They are known because they planned the construction of the churches in the Valley of Boí. The valley was dominated by the Erills and they had the castle in the nowadays abandoned village of Erillcastell. The name of Taüll means ATA-ULI ("the peak of the village")

Economy.

Taüll's economy is based on tourism and livestock.

Geography.

Situated at 1,520 meters height in the valley of Sant Martí, a small valley in the Valley of Boí. The closest river is the Sant Martí river, Noguera de Tor affluent. A ravine splits the village in two districts: La Guinsa and Lo Barri. La Guinsa goes from the entrance of the village to the ravine, and Lo Barri goes from the ravine to the high part of the village.

Taüll () is a town in the province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain. It is home to the church of Sant Climent de Taüll, an excellent example of Romanesque architecture.


History.

An early version of BWV 572 was copied by Johann Gottfried Walther. The title page of Walther's manuscript reads "Piece d'Orgue | di | Giov: Sebast: Bach". This copy probably originated around 1714–1717. According to George B. Stauffer, Bach composed this version between 1708 and. Also Jean-Claude Zehnder supposes that this version of the piece was composed in Bach's early Weimar years, while he also mentions's contention that it may have been composed somewhat later. The earliest extant copies of Bach's revised version date from the 1720s. Also these manuscripts carry the title "Piece d'Orgue". The oldest extant copy of the revised version was written by a Köthen pupil late 1722, around half a year before Bach moved to Leipzig. A lost manuscript, which served for the publication of the piece in 1846, was, according to Peter Williams, likely titled "Fantasia". Philipp Spitta, naming the work Fantasia in the 1873 first volume of his Bach-biography, considered it more Buxtehude-like than any other composition by Bach. The Bach Gesellschaft published the piece as "" in 1891. A century later, the New Bach Edition returned to the name found in the early manuscripts, i.e. "Pièce d'Orgue". Breitkopf's 21st-century new Urtext edition also uses this name for BWV 572.  Most printed editions entitle it a Fantasia, but there is little suggestion of improvisation, particularly in the main, central movement. Many recitalists refer to it in their programmes as "Piece d'Orgue", its title in all the contemporary copies; but this, according to Peter Williams, is possibly misleading, as there is little French about the music itself, except the use of ninths and sevenths in the style of de Grigny (in the middle "alla breve" section) and the possible allusion to French "plein jeu" music (by the choice of the key of G major). The work could more accurately be described as a toccata, since it shares in the tradition of sectional toccatas (as conveyed by Buxtehude) with a central contrapuntal section that is surrounded by a toccata-like framework.

Structure.

The piece starts in compound quadruple meter (). This movement is very dynamic and cheerful, and features complete absence of the pedal. The broken chords shared between left and right hand do not seem to have a parallel in any work by another composer, though Williams notes a similarity in the "idea of running semiquavers for hands followed by a sustained "durezza" passage with pedals" with a prelude by Christian Friedrich Witt. The youthful vigor and digital dexterity of the opening movement leads to a broken tonic pedal point, which then transitions to the contrapuntal central section which features five voices. In contrast to the first movement, it employs the entire range of the instrument. The dense texture of the movement makes it more idiomatic for the instrument and more typical for Bach. The movement uses long held chords with many suspensions to great effect, an idiom which Bach employed with relative frequency in his mature works.  The contrapuntal section fails to resolve back to its key chord, and instead leads into a coda which shows close similarities to the final line of BWV 565, Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor.

The Fantasia or Pièce d'Orgue (organ piece) in G major, BWV 572, is a composition for organ by Johann Sebastian Bach.


Background.

Donald Fagan said of the song's opening lines and theme:  The song was largely written at Fagen's house in Malibu and was prompted by his observation that "... if a college football team like the University of Alabama could have a grandiose name like the 'Crimson Tide' the nerds and losers should be entitled to a grandiose name as well." The song's protagonist has been described by Fagen as "autobiographical in that it reflected the dreams of both Fagen and Becker about becoming jazz musicians while they were living in the suburbs". Characterized as a "loser" by Becker, the song's subject was meant to reflect "... a broken dream of a broken man living a broken life".  On the origin of the song's name, Fagen stated, "At the time, there had been a lineman with the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers, Deacon Jones. We weren't serious football fans, but Deacon Jones's name was in the news a lot in the 1960s and early 70s, and we liked how it sounded. It also had two syllables, which was convenient, like 'Crimson.' The name had nothing to do with Wake Forest's Demon Deacons or any other team with a losing record. The only Deacon I was familiar with in football at the time was Deacon Jones."

Recording.

"Deacon Blues" was recorded at Village Recorders in West Los Angeles. Jazz guitarist Larry Carlton used Fagen's demos to transcribe the chords into a rhythm section that featured Carlton's guitar on the song's opening. Saxophonist Tom Scott wrote the horn arrangements for not only "Deacon Blues" but for all of the songs on "Aja", a task that he completed in less than two weeks. After the song was recorded, Becker and Fagen decided to add a saxophone solo. They asked their producer, Gary Katz, to arrange for Pete Christlieb to record the part. At the time, neither Becker nor Fagen knew Christlieb by name, only by his reputation as a musician on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". Christlieb went to the studio and recorded the solo after taping the show one evening. "They told me to play what I felt. Hey, I'm a jazz musician, that's what I do... so I recorded my first solo... we listened back and they said it was great. I recorded a second take and that's the one they used. I was gone in a half hour. The next thing I know I'm hearing myself in every airport bathroom in the world."

Success and legacy.

"Deacon Blues" was released on Steely Dan's 1977 album "Aja" which reached No.3 on Billboard's album chart, a position it held for seven consecutive weeks. The song was the duo's fifth Top 20 hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in the US, where it peaked at #19 in 1978. "Deacon Blues" remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks. In a 1994 AOL chat interview with Becker, someone asked him about the inspiration for the song and he answered, "It was an outgrowth of a specific mood that pertained at a given time," and later added, "...I remember the night that we mixed that one thinking that it was really good and wanting to hear it over and over which is never the case."  "As midlife-crisis songs go, Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues" ranks among the most melodic and existential." – "The Wall Street Journal" "One thing we did right on "Deacon Blues" and all of our records: we never tried to accommodate the mass market. We worked for ourselves and still do." – Donald Fagen The Scottish pop/rock band Deacon Blue took their name from this song. William Gibson's book "Mona Lisa Overdrive" features a gang called the Deacon Blues.

"Deacon Blues" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen in 1976 and recorded by their group Steely Dan on their 1977 album "Aja". It peaked at number 19 on the "Billboard" charts and number 17 on the U.S. "Cash Box" Top 100 in June 1978. It also reached #40 on the Easy Listening chart. In Canada, it peaked at #14, a position it occupied for two weeks, and #20 Adult Contemporary.


Background.

Muhammad Qutb was the second oldest of five children born in the Upper Egyptian village of Musha near Asyut, several years younger than his elder brother Sayyid. Little is known in English sources about his upbringing and education but it is known that he lived with his famous brother, their two sisters and mother in Helwan near Cairo for several years starting in 1926. He was arrested a few days before Sayyid (on July 29, 1965) for his alleged co-leadership along with his brother in a plot to kill leading political and cultural figures in Egypt and overthrow the government. His brother died on the gallows in 1966, but Muhammad's life was spared and he, along with other members of the Muslim Brotherhood took refuge in Saudi Arabia.  There he edited and published Sayyid's books and taught as a professor of Islamic Studies at (according to different sources) either Mecca's Umm al-Qura University, and/or King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, and that either Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri (al Qaeda's #2 and leading theorist), was a student. Osama bin Laden recommended "Sheikh Muhammad Qutb's" book, ""Concepts that Should be Corrected" in a 2004 videotape. According to Lawrence Wright, who interviewed Muhammad Qutb and a close friend in college of bin Laden's, Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, bin Laden "usually attended" Muhammad Qutb's weekly public lectures at King Abdul-Aziz University.  In addition to making available his brother's work, M. Qutb worked to advance his ideas by "smoothing away" differences between his brother's radical supporters and more conservative Muslims, particularly other members of the Brethren. Muhammad took a less literal interpretation of his brother's famous statement that the Muslim world and Muslim governments were "jahiliyya" (returned to pagan ignorance, and thus no longer Muslim). He denied that the country that had given him refuge (Saudi Arabia) was "jahiliyya", and in 1975 came out publicly against Takfir, or judging Muslims as unbelievers. He also worked to reconcile the doctrine of the Muslims Brothers with "the salafism that prevailed in his host country".  In 1986, Safar Al-Hawali defended his dissertation under Muhammad Qutb's supervision. "His defense was so impressive" that M. Qutb "declared in public that the student had surpassed his teacher". Al-Hawali went on to become one of the "two main figures of the sahwa" (Islamist awakening), which "mingled radical Wahhabism with Sayyid Qutb's ideas".  Muhammad was an author in his own right and his writings are widespread in the Arab world and nearly as prolific as his brother's. "Jahiliyya in the Twentieth Century" is perhaps his best-known work, and gained notoriety as an alleged terrorist handbook (along with his brother's "Milestones") when the government claimed to find the two in police searches of plotters' homes and environs.  Another very popular work, "Islam: the Misunderstood Religion," expands on his brother's ideas, describing the ways in which fundamentalist Islam is superior to the "perverted... inhuman... crazy... savage and backward" Western world.  Muhammad Qutb died at a hospital in Mecca on 4 April 2014 at the age of 95.

Muhammad Qutb, (; ; 1919 – April 4, 2014) was an Islamist author, scholar and teacher best known as the younger brother of the Egyptian Islamist thinker Sayyid Qutb. After his brother was executed by the Egyptian government, Muhammad moved to Saudi Arabia where he promoted his older brother's ideas.


Location.

Near the village of Agios Dimitrios, on the border with Thessaly, in 1000 to 1100 meters altitude, on a hillside. The burial site runs from northeast to southwest direction.

Excavation history.

In 1975, the relevant archaeological authority was informed that several tombs (at least 12 to 13) were destroyed when a firebrake was cut. A bronze sword was found then. Further information revealed that trade was operated with the burial objects from this site. 1985 began trial excavations, which were continued in 1986. The excavations brought to light 34 tombs, which were partly destroyed and plundered. A part of the stolen goods was later found in the storehouse of the Archaeological Museum in Dion. In 1985, some of the stone slabs that covered the tombs were stolen by unknown culprits. A part of the slope was brought to a drop by heavy snowfalls. In the years 1987 and 1988 the slope was terraced and stabilized by a wooden construction. Near the excavation site Spathes, 1987 more tombs were discovered, presumably from the same epoch. Six stone seals were recovered from them, further excavations were not held.

Necropolis.

As in this region of Greece, at the end of the Bronze Age, the deceased were usually buried in box-shaped tombs. The type of these tombs is known from southern Greece. The length of the tombs is approximately 2.40 meters, the width 1.50 meters and the depth between one and 2.50 meters. The bottom of the tombs was covered with a 10 to 20 centimeter high clay layer, the side walls were framed with stone slabs. The graves were intact except for penetrating roots and natural deposits of the building materials. The number of buried persons found in the intact tombs is 52. It is unusual that in each of the tombs several people were buried, presumably they were family tombs. They were buried next to each other, partly also upon one another; In addition to the skeletons of adults, the remains of children were also found.

Finds.

In addition to weapons and jewelry, the deceased was mainly given pottery. However, some of them were broken by the kind of burial of several people within the same tomb. The vessels were partly handmade, partly they were modeled with a potter's wheel. The most important finds were made in a tomb, in which apparently high ranking personalities were buried. Two skeletons, one male and one female, found themselves alongside rich burial gifts. Remnants of a spear, a bronze sword, painted and unpainted vases and perfume bottles, jewelry and stone seals (partly with animal motifs) were discovered. The sword is somewhat smaller, but resembles in the kind of swords found in Mycenae and Crete (Knossos, Heraklion). A bronze sword found in another tomb is of the same making as swords discovered in Athens, Crete, Kos and other locations. Recently, excavations on the southeast side of Olympus, to the west of Platamonas, have revealed an identical sword.

Among the first archaeological sites discovered in Mount Olympus was the excavation site Spathes (Greek Σπάθες, swords). It is a necropolis from the Late Bronze Age. The oldest tombs are from the 14th century BC, the last traces of the use were found from the end of the 13th century, the beginning of the 12th century BC. The settlement, associated with the necropolis, has not been found. Many of the burial offerings were made in the Mycenaean style, so that the Mycenaean cultural circle probably also (see also History and archaeology Pierias) extended over the border of Thessaly to Pieria.


Description.

Adults average 50 cm (20 inches) in total length (body + tail), with a maximum total length of. The tail is relatively long. The body is relatively slender, with 25-36 midbody rows of dorsal scales. These are heavily keeled, with the keels ending in a swelling at the end of each scale.  Adults have a uniform light green ground color, overlaid with a series of faint yellow, roughly paired spots running dorsally along the length of the body and about 2.5 cm (about 1 in) apart. The belly is pale green in color. Newborns are tan-brown in color, but this changes to a yellow-green hue with irregular dark spots within 24 hours. This second color phase has been described as the reverse of that of the adults and is only seen in individuals less than in total length.

Common names.

Western bush viper, West African leaf viper, West African tree viper.

Geographic range.

West Africa including Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, isolated locations in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.  The type locality is listed as ""Boutre, Ghana"".

Habitat.

Found in forests, in dense foliage about 1–2 m (about 3–6 ft) above the ground.

Feeding.

Said to feed on rodents, lizards and tree frogs.

Reproduction.

Gives birth to 6-9 young in March to April. Newborns are 131–151 mm (about 5-6 inches) in total length.

Atheris chlorechis is a venomous viper species found only in the forests of West Africa. No subspecies are currently recognized.


Early life and education.

Spencer was born into a military family at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. The family moved to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, in 1978 and to Alapaha, Georgia, a year later. Spencer graduated from Berrien High School in 1993.  He attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before transferring to Alabama State University, a historically black college (HBCU), on a full athletic scholarship for tennis. He transferred again to the University of Georgia, from which he graduated in 1997 with a degree in exercise & sport science.  Spencer studied and trained as a physician assistant, receiving a second bachelor's degree from South University in Savannah and a master's degree in physician assistant studies from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2005.

Political career.

Electoral history.

An active member of the Tea Party movement in coastal Georgia, Spencer was first elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2010 after defeating incumbent Cecily Hill in a primary runoff. His district centers on Woodbine in southeastern Georgia. He was reelected in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Legislative mentions.

Spencer served on the following committees in the Georgia State House: Science and Technology; Games, Fish and Parks; Juvenile Justice; Human Aging and Relations, and served as the Secretary to the House Special Rules Committee. He voted for legislation that relaxed “live-aboard” boating restrictions and legalized home brew beer competitions in Georgia.  Spencer served as an advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse, introducing and gaining passage in 2015 of a landmark civil statute of limitations (SOL) reform legislation, known as the Georgia Hidden Predator Act (HB 17, 2015). This legislation removed or extended the civil SOL so survivors can gain justice and expose the identities of hidden pedophiles in the state of Georgia. The Hidden Predator Act was instrumental in leading to the unraveling of one of the largest sex scandals in U.S. sports history: the exposure of Dr. Larry Nassar, who was later convicted of serial child molestation committed while serving the USA Gymnastics organization. Rep. Spencer received Voice Today's "Voice of Gratitude Award" for his efforts authoring the legislation.  In 2018, Spencer attempted to amend this 2015 law to strengthen it and provide more time for survivors to file cases, but the bill was weakened by lobbying efforts from the Atlanta Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, and other powerful interest groups. It narrowly failed to pass on the last day of the 2018 legislative session.  In 2017, Spencer introduced and passed legislation, known as the Georgia Space Flight Act (House Bill 1, 2017), to attract the commercial space industry to Georgia as part of an ongoing effort to establish the state's first commercial spaceport.

Issues during tenure.

Spencer was one of the strongest opponents in the Georgia House to President Barack Obama's administration's Affordable Care Act (ACA). He authored legislation that effectively blocked Medicaid expansion in Georgia, although the federal government would have covered most of the costs of extending health care to needy constituents. Spencer also blocked the establishment of the state's insurance marketplace, and forced the University of Georgia to terminate its "Obamacare" Navigator program under the Act. In 2014, Spencer introduced legislation to block the state from "using of its resources to implement any portions of the health care law." When this legislation was tabled by Senate Majority Whip Cecil Station (R-Macon) and other opponents in committee, Spencer issued a press release blaming fellow Republicans for an "eleventh hour betrayal" and likening them to "Benedict Arnolds, the King George the Third and his myrmidons."  In 2016, after facing bipartisan opposition, Spencer withdrew a bill that was perceived to have banned Muslim women from wearing religious garments such as burqas or niqābs in driver's license photographs or while driving cars. The legislation aimed to amend an existing 1951 Georgia law intended to prohibit members of the Ku Klux Klan from wearing masks and hoods; it had been constitutionally upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in "State v Miller", 1990] to unmask members of the group. Many, including the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) and American Civil Liberties Union, accused Spencer of Islamophobia.  Spencer accused a constituent of treason and supporting terrorism for donating $10 to CAIR Georgia in response to his bill. Spencer supported his charge of potential treason in a letter written to his constituent stating that the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) was designated as a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates due to the organization's alleged ties to Hamas, an organization which has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State. In addition, Spencer stated that CAIR was named by the U.S. Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terrorism funding trials in U.S. history, known as "United States v Holy Land Foundation, et. al.", claims which CAIR has rejected. As a result of the backlash of submitting this legislation, Spencer said he had received death threats.  In 2017, Spencer attracted controversy in the debate over the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. In a Facebook post, he issued a warning to LaDawn Jones, an African American attorney, former Georgia House colleague and current State Director for Bernie Sanders' Presidential Campaign, that she might "go missing in the Okefenokee," a swamp in southern Georgia (and partly in Spencer's district), if she followed through on her intentions to bring advocates to southern Georgia to remove Confederate monuments.

Primary defeat.

In May 2018, Spencer was defeated in the Republican primary by a primary challenger, 24-year-old political newcomer Steven Sainz. A local party leader attributed Spencer's loss in part to his "antics" in office. Spencer said "if he rubbed anyone the wrong way," he was doing so by standing up to powerful special interest representing the plight of "little guy." “My tactics won against them and that is one of the reasons why I stayed in office for eight years, because I effectively beat them at their own game,” said Spencer to the "Brunswick News." In a radio interview with WGIG 1440 AM, Rep. Jason Spencer said that he had often been a target of individuals on the ideological left and establishment politicians for introducing legislation that challenged powerful special interests. He believed such opponents blocked a bill in 2018 to strengthen a law extending civil justice to survivors of child sexual abuse.

TV appearance.

Spencer was featured on the July 22, 2018, episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's show "Who Is America?". At the urging of Baron Cohen, who posed as an Israeli counter-terrorism expert, Spencer exposed his bare buttocks, imitated a Chinese tourist using racial stereotypes, used a selfie stick to take an upskirt picture under a woman's burqa, and repeatedly yelled "nigger". Georgia House Speaker David Ralston urged Spencer to resign, saying that he had "disgraced himself." Governor Nathan Deal tweeted that Spencer's actions were "appalling and offensive." Spencer apologized for what he described as "this ridiculously ugly episode" but initially refused to step down, saying that the show's producers had exploited him "for profit and notoriety." He said that Baron Cohen and his crew had falsely promised that Spencer would be able to review and have final approval over any footage used. Spencer later announced his resignation on July 24, effective as of July 31.

Personal life.

Spencer lives with his wife and their two daughters in Woodbine. They are members of the Harbor Worship Center, a Christian church in Kingsland, Georgia.

Jason Chauncey Spencer (born November 14, 1974) is an American physician assistant and politician. He was elected as a Republican to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2010, representing district 180, and serving into July 2018. He was defeated by Steven Sainz in the May 2018 Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 180.


Geography.

Auvillars is located some 14 km north-west of Lisieux and 17 km south-east of Cabourg. Access to the commune is by the D16 road from Léaupartie in the south-west which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues to Bonnebosq in the north-east. The D101 passes through the east of the commune as it goes from Cambremer to Pont-l'Évêque. The D59 which connects Bonnebosq to La Boissière passes south through the commune. The commune is entirely farmland except for a few scattered forests.  The "Dorette" river passes through the centre of the commune from north-east to south-west and it continues south-west to join the "Dives" at Le Radier. The "Mont Dorain" rises in the north of the commune and flows south to join the "Dorette". The "Ruisseau Sainte-Agathe" flows from the east to join the "Dorette" near the village.

History.

In his "Monumental Statistics of Calvados" (1862), Arcisse de Caumont described the history of Auvillars as follows:  "As always, Auvillars had the first lords of the members of a family whose name was that of the commune itself. This family became extinct in the person of Jeanne d'Auvillars, daughter and heiress of Guillaume, lord and chatelain of Auvillars, Saint Aubin de Salona, and Barneville who married Robert de Tournebu, Baron de la Motte-Cesny, Grimbosc, etc. at the beginning of the 14th century.  Mr Floquet told of a curious trial that argued that Robert de Tournebu, lord of Auvillars, maltreated a cleric of the priory of Beaumont-en-Auge in the year 1342. He was sentenced to a fine of 400 livres, a huge sum for that time (see History of the Parliament of Normandy). A century later Richard de Tournebu more usefully employed his vigour to support a heroic siege against the captains of the invader Henry V. His capitulation on 7 August 1417 was devised on condition that showed the Norman barons, despite the lack of organization where the invasion had landed, had not made a capable resistance that could be respected. The text of the capitulation was published in the volume entitled "rotuli normanniae" printed in London in 1835 on page 285 and by the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy, Volume XV, page 263 of his memoirs.  Just as the castle was to be evacuated Henry hastened to donate it to the Earl of Salisbury, his cousin, to be sure of its conservation (25 September 1417).  At the time of death of Guillemette de Tournebu in 1485 Jean de Harcourt, his great-grandson, inherited and he added to his other titles that of lord and chatelain of Auvillars. In 1558, Auvillars was in the hands of a family named Salcede: Nicolas Salcede, the owner in 1582, was at that time involved in a conspiracy formed, it is said, by the Guises against the Duke of Alençon and King Henry III, his brother. He was tried by the Parliament of Paris, convicted of the crime of treason, and as such condemned to be quartered. This execution, the memory of which is still preserved in Auvillars, must have taken place around 1588. In 1600 Mme Charlotte Duquesnel d'Aussebost was Dowager of Auvillars. After her death in 1617 the lordship passed to a family named Miou. The head of this family was one of the principal officers of the Duke of Lorraine and his daughter, Louise Marie de Miou, married Pierre Dauvet of Tréguy.  The Dauvet family were nobility from Picardy who were allied to Breze, Montmorency, Saint-Simon, Bethune, Chabannes, etc.  Several of its members took to the sword. Benoit Dauvet and Louis-Nicolas Dauvet distinguished themselves in the battles of Louis XIV and Louis XV.  There is information on this house in the "History of the great officers of the Crown" by P Anselm. Its door was lined with gold and silver in 6 pieces: the first charged with a black lion passant in bend. A Marquisate crown; supported by two savages (see Waroquier, Vol. VII).  Thus one sees the arms on the "funeral litre" in the Chapel of Saint Jean d'Auvillars.  In 1700 Sir Peter Dauvet de Tréguy gave grassland to the poor of Auvillars which was located at Druval and Rumesnil. They still enjoy. The same lords from the Dauvet family founded a school for girls and from their private income. The children of the two parishes of Auvillars and Repentigny were educated there free by a sister of Providence from the Lisieux house. The income was lost through a faulty title. The house was sold by the revolutionaries and was bought by a resident who gave it back to its original purpose.  The presbytery, which had been confiscated, was bought by the commune around 1806.  There were 3 privileged fires and 80 taxable fires at Auvillars.  The small parish of Repentigny has always been a kind of dependency to that of Auvillars. The Lords of Auvillars were patrons, as for Repentigny, and they constantly showed benevolence. The parish had first been removed and reunited with Rumesnil but at the beginning of the reign of Charles X it was reunited with Auvillars as an independent vicariate".

Administration.

List of Successive Mayors

Demography.

In 2010 the commune had 220 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.

Culture and heritage.

Civil heritage.

The commune has a number of buildings that are registered as historical monuments:

Religious heritage.

The commune has one religious building that is registered as an historical monument:

The Church of Saint Germain.

The Church is built in a valley about 1 km from the town of Bonnebosq.  The whole choir dates back to the 12th century. It is lit on the north side by two narrow arched windows devoid of any ornament and very splayed on the inside; to the south is a similar window, enlarged a little on the outside, and a large modern semicircular window. The side walls each have two flat buttresses inside which is a newly built gallery leading to the sacristy placed behind the choir. The choir ends on the eastern side by a right chevet supported by three flat buttresses. There were originally two narrow semicircular windows that have been blocked. The gable is surmounted by an "antefix" cross.  The southern wall of the nave, without buttresses, shows a device of fern leaves. It is pierced by a semicircular door whose lintel is decorated with zigzags based on the columns. The arch is topped with grimacing heads of fantastic animals whose tongues are wrapped around a Torus that lines the underside of the arch (see photo). The nave is lit on this side by four very large semicircular windows, three of which are modern. The fourth is a little less wide and lined with a simple bevel and dates from first half of the 16th century when the nave was extended by one bay.  The northern wall was erected in the 16th century. It is flanked by projecting buttresses and pierced by three windows, one flamboyant and divided by a mullion, another a low arch ornamented with prismatic mouldings, and the other a modern window without character. This wall has the remains of a funeral litre.  A chapel was built between the choir and the nave in the 16th century. The chapel is illuminated on the north side by a large semicircular window ornamented with prismatic mouldings and to the east by a flamboyant window divided into two bays which are today blocked.  The western portal is in a renaissance style and is dated 1538. It is supported by four projecting buttresses, two of which are placed on the corners. The portal, which protrudes toward the middle, is pierced by a semi-circular door flanked by two columns and topped with two windows, now blocked, and decorated with prismatic mouldings. The curved form is pierced at the same time by an oculus and surmounted by a square tower built in timber and covered with slate. A wooden porch was previously in front of portal.  When the sanctuary was repaved in 1853, when the old tiles were removed a tombstone from the 15th or 16th century was discovered. This stone is topped by a statue of a priest holding an old chasuble, turned up at the shoulders with "amict" turned down. The head rests on a cushion with tassels held by angels. At the character's feet lies a dog gnawing a bone. Several parts of this tombstone have been mutilated but the statue is well preserved and perfectly sculpted, it was once under an arched arcade on the southern wall.  There are the remains of an old halo cross in the cemetery dating from the 17th century or perhaps as late as the end of the 16th century. On one side is represented Christ and on the other the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the Child Jesus. The lattice work is decorated with palm leaves.  Near the gate stands an old yew tree which is 4.1 metres in girth.  When the foundations of the sacristy were dug a sword was found at a depth of 2.5 metres that appears to date back to ancient times.  The church is under the patronage of Saint Germain. The parish was divided into two portions which were united around 1708 with provision for two priests: the two priests were both nominated by the Lord. The "pouillé' (Ecclesiastical register) of Lisieux shows that the Lord in the 14th century was dominus Robertus de Tournebut. There are many items in the church that are registered as historical objects:

Chapel of Saint-Jean.

The Chapel of Saint-Jean stands on a hill 2 kilometres south of the Church of Auvillars. It dates to the last Flamboyant Gothic period and is about 30 feet long by 15 wide. The western gate, flanked by two buttresses, finishes with a very sharp curve which supports a very steep roof. The ogival doorway is decorated with prismatic mouldings and surmounted by a window from the same era. In front of the chapel there are two large poplar trees at the entrance.  The Nave is lit by four windows: two full-arched with chamfer and the other two segmented arch. The walls are flanked by protruding buttresses and terminate in a quarter-round cornice.  The Chevet on the right is flanked by two buttresses and finishes, as with the portal, with a very sloping curve surmounted by an "antefix" cross. On the southern wall are the remains of a "funeral litre". The heraldic emblems painted on the liter are reproduced inside the chapel. On the side of the epistle there is an ogival pool.  Behind the altar are three niches containing old statues supported by corbels.  The vault of the chapel is paneled with tie beams.  There are several items in the chapel that are registered as historical objects:

The Parish Church of Saint-Philbert.

The Parish Church of Saint-Philbert contains one item that is registered as an historical object:

Auvillars is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as "Auvillargeois" or "Auvillargeoises".


Early life and education.

Sams is the son of the late Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Eric Sams.  He read Music, French, and German at Magdalene College, Cambridge and piano at Guildhall School of Music. Early on, he worked as a freelance pianist and coach, giving frequent recitals and tours and doing stints as a repetiteur at opera houses in Brussels and Ankara.

Career.

Sams came to prominence as a director with a revival of Michael Frayn's farce "Noises Off", which he mounted in London's Royal National Theatre in 2000. This production then transferred to the West End, and then to Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway in 2001.  Among his other directing credits are the West End musicals "Spend Spend Spend" (1999), the story of Viv Nicholson, who squandered a fortune won in the British lottery, and a stage adaptation of the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", called simply "Chitty the Musical" (2002), starring Michael Ball, for both of which he received Laurence Olivier Award nominations; the 2002 Broadway production "Amour", which he translated from the original French libretto by Didier Van Cauwelaert. His efforts earned him two Tony Award and two Drama Desk Award nominations. His directing credits also include Jason Carr and Gary Yershon's musical of "The Water Babies" at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2003. He directed the Jason Robert Brown Broadway musical"13" at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, on Broadway.  Sams' many translations include plays by Botho Strauß; Mozart’s "The Marriage of Figaro", "The Magic Flute", Puccini's "La Boheme", and Wagner’s "The Ring Cycle" for ENO; "The Merry Widow" for Covent Garden; "Les Parents terribles", "The Miser" and "Mary Stuart" for the Royal National Theatre; "The Threepenny Opera" for the Donmar Warehouse; and "What's in a Name?" for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.  Sams' composing credits include the BBC film of Jane Austen’s "Persuasion", for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Music. Other scores include "The Mother" (2003) and "Enduring Love" (2004). He also directed 13 the Musical, which consisted of known stars like Ariana Grande, Graham Phillips, and Caitlin Gann.  Sams has written, arranged, and directed music for some 50 theatre productions, including "The Wind in the Willows" and "Arcadia" (RNT) and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (RSC).

Personal life.

Sams has one child with actress Maria Friedman.

Jeremy Sams (born 12 January 1957, in London, England) is a British theatre director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist.


Life.

Roy Schoeman's Jewish parents fled from Nazi Germany to New York, where he was born and grew up. He received his Jewish education from prominent Orthodox rabbis such as Arthur Hertzberg and Arthur Green, who ran the largest rabbinical college in the United States. The charismatic-Hasidic rabbi Shlomo Carlebach also influenced him.  He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School, where he received an MBA magna cum laude and lectured on marketing. In retrospect, he describes his childhood and youth as very religious, but he left this belief behind in the course of his career. He also talks about an increasing feeling of senselessness despite the success. He attributes his devotion to Christianity to apparitions of the Virgin Mary. He counts the Carthusian priest Marcellin Theeuwes among his Christian teachers.  Today he gives lectures and appears as a conference speaker and on television shows in the Christian field.

Religious theses.

In his work "The Salvation comes from the Jews", Schoeman has detailed his views on the role of Judaism in the Christian salvation history detailed above. He sees in Christianity the completion of Judaism and therefore would like to invite  In the Holocaust he suspects diabolic influence and considers the interpretation that this suffering is expiatively preparing the coming return of Christ (parousia). He also traces the influence of National Socialist ideas on Arab rulers and warns of the influence of Muslim anti-Semitism.

Praise and criticism.

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke praised Schoeman's book, "Honey from the Rock":  Schoeman's statements on the mission to the Jews were also criticized from various sides. Though Schoeman's statements are philosemic, he was also criticized on the Jewish side for his capture of Judaism.

Roy H. Schoeman (born in 1951 in New York, United States) is a Jew and author who has converted to the Catholic Church. Due to his decision of faith, he gave up a career in the field of economics and is now devoted to the Christian mission.


Geography.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which is land and is water.  The town is bordered by Skowhegan and Canaan on the north, Pittsfield on the northeast, Burnham on the east, Benton on the south and Fairfield on the west. It is the northernmost town in Kennebec County: towns to the west and north are in Somerset County, while Waldo County is to the east.  Clinton is crossed by Interstate 95, SR 11, SR 100 and SR 23. The village of Clinton is in the southeast part of the town, on the north side of the Sebasticook River, a southwest-flowing tributary of the Kennebec River.

Demographics.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,486 people, 1,412 households, and 962 families living in the town. The population density was. There were 1,547 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the town was 97.1% White, 0.4% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.  There were 1,412 households of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.9% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.88.  The median age in the town was 40.5 years. 22.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.1% were from 25 to 44; 31.1% were from 45 to 64; and 12.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 51.1% male and 48.9% female.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,340 people, 1,278 households, and 953 families living in the town. The population density was 76.1 people per square mile (29.4/km2). There were 1,409 housing units at an average density of 32.1 per square mile (12.4/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.08% White, 0.12% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.18% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.96% of the population.  There were 1,278 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 19.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.95.  In the town, the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males.  The median income for a household in the town was $32,419, and the median income for a family was $37,652. Males had a median income of $28,667 versus $21,051 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,052. About 10.1% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.3% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.  Claim to Fame  Clinton is the dairy capital of Maine; with 13% of milk production coming from 7 farms consisting of 3,778 acres.

References.

The Town of Clinton was incorporated in 1795, within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and, later became Clinton, Maine, on March 15, 1820, when the State of Maine was accepted as a State within the United States of America.  The Town was apparently named after Revolutionary War General, and U.S. Vice President, George Clinton. (Note: the Town is not named for Dewitt Clinton, who was born in 1769 and attained his first elective office in the New York state legislature in 1799, several years before becoming New York's governor).

Clinton is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The town was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. The population was 3,486 at the 2010 census. The main village in town is the Clinton census-designated place, with a population of 1,419 at the 2010 census.


History.

The Department of Corrections was formed in 1995, by the Department of Justice (Restructuring) Act 1995. Prior to this prisons, the probation system and the courts were all managed by the Department of Justice. The new Act gave management of prisoners, parolees and offenders on probation to a new Department of Corrections while leaving administration of the court system and fines collection with the Ministry of Justice. The intention was to enable the new Department to improve public safety and assist in the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.  In 2000, an approach based on enhanced computerised access to information about offenders was tried. The new chief executive of the department, Mark Byers, introduced a $40 million scheme designed to reduce reoffending called Integrated Offender Management (IOM). At the time it was described as "the biggest single initiative the department has undertaken to reduce reoffending". Seven years later, Greg Newbold said the scheme was an expensive failure and described it as "another wreck on the scrapheap of abandoned fads of criminal rehabilitation."  In 2012, the government revealed it would spend $65 million over the next four years on reducing criminal reoffending. It will go towards additional alcohol and drug treatment, increased education, skills training and employment programmes for prisoners. Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Associate Corrections Minister Dr Pita Sharples said the'reprioritised' operational funding was aimed at reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017.

Prison Privatisation.

The use of private prisons has also been tried, stopped and reintroduced. New Zealand's first privately run prison, the Auckland Central Remand Prison, also known as Mt. Eden Prison, opened under contract to Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) in 2000. In 2004, the Labour Government, opposed to privatisation, amended the law to prohibit the extension of private prison contracts. A year later, the 5-year contract with ACM was not renewed. In 2010, the National Government again introduced private prisons and international conglomerate Serco was awarded the contract to run the Mt Eden Prison. Numerous scandals surrounding the Mt Eden Prison led to Serco's contract not being renewed there.  On 16 July 2015, footage of "fight clubs" within the prison emerged online and was reported by TVNZ. Serco was heavily criticized for not investigating until after the footage was screened. On 24 July 2015, Serco's contract to run the Mount Eden prison was revoked and operation was given back to the New Zealand Department of Corrections. Serco was ordered to pay $8 million to the New Zealand government as a result of problems at Mount Eden Prison while it was under Serco's management.  Serco has also been given the contract to build and manage a new 960-bed prison at Wiri. The contract with Serco provides stiff financial penalties if its rehabilitation programmes fail to reduce reoffending by 10% more than the Corrections Department programmes. The Auckland South Corrections Facility was opened on 8 May 2015. The contract to operate the prison ends in 2040.

Growth in Prison Population.

Since it was established, the department has had to cope with a dramatic growth in the prison population. Between 1997 and 2011 the number of inmates increased by 70% and, at 201 prisoners per 100,000 of population (in 2018), New Zealand has one of the higher rates of imprisonment in the Western world. The Fifth Labour Government built four prisons – at Ngawha (Northern Region) housing 420 prisoners, Springhill (north of Huntly) housing 840, Auckland Women's' holding 330 and Milton (Otago) holding 425 – at a cost of $890 million. When National came to power in 2008, the Department built a new 1,000 bed prison at Mt Eden for $218 million in a public private partnership and gave the contract to Serco.  The Department's growth has been such that in July 2010, Finance Minister Bill English expressed concerns that Government spending was "led by a rapidly expanding prison system which would soon make Corrections the government's biggest department". As at December 2011, New Zealand had 20 prisons and the Department employed over 8,000 staff. The Department's operating budget is over $1 billion a year.  As at 30 September 2019, there were 10,040 people in prison in New Zealand. However, the prison population is very fluid and altogether about 20,000 people spend time in prison each year, the vast majority on remand. Nearly 75% of those given a prison sentence are sentenced to two years or less, and all these are automatically released halfway through their sentence. As 30 September 2019, 93% percent of inmates were male. 51.9% of prisoners were Māori, compared with about 16% of New Zealand's resident population. The cost of keeping a person in prison for 12 months is $91,000. In 2001 the Department estimated that a lifetime of offending by one person costs victims and taxpayers $3 million.  Despite English's concerns about the growing cost, in 2011 the government approved the building of a new 960-bed prison at Wiri estimated to cost nearly $400 million. Later that year justice sector forecasts showed a drop in the projected prison forecast for the first time. Charles Chauvel, Labour Party spokesperson for justice, and the Public Service Association both questioned the need for a new prison when there were 1,200 empty beds in the prison system. In March 2012, Corrections Minister Anne Tolley announced that the new prison would enable older prisons such as Mt Crawford in Wellington and the New Plymouth prison to be closed. Older units at Arohata, Rolleston, Tongariro/Rangipo and Waikeria prisons will also be shut down.

Rehabilitation policies.

In 2012 the government announced that an extra $65 million would be put into rehabilitation, in an effort to reduce re-offending by 25% within five years. As part of the package, Corrections Minister Anne Tolley indicated the 14,000 offenders who spend time in prison on remand each year would become eligible for rehabilitation for the first time. Rethinking Crime and Punishment spokesman Kim Workman supported the proposals but said it would be difficult to achieve the change given the "very high imprisonment rate" in New Zealand.  On 22 November 2019, it was reported that the Department of Corrections had adopted a policy of referring to prisoners as "men in our care" and "clients." Staff were also instructed to address prisoners by their first names instead of surnames. The Minister of Corrections Kelvin Davis confirmed that this was part of the Sixth Labour Government's Hōkai Rangi strategy to address the high rate of Māori reoffending and imprisonment by "humanising" prisoners. The Government's decision was criticised by Corrections staff and the Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges as "political correctness" and "being soft on crime."

Structure.

The Department comprises three service arms and four other groups. The service arms are prisons, community probation, and rehabilitation and reintegration and each arm used to have separate internal processes, infrastructure and support staff. As of May 2012 the newly appointed chief executive, Ray Smith proposed merging the three service arms into one team. Smith said the segregated infrastructure "creates replication of work, is inefficient and has resulted in an overly layered structure."

Chief executives.

Mark Byers was chief executive of the Department of Corrections for its first ten years, until he retired from the public service in 2005. Byers oversaw a range of organizational initiatives in his time at the helm and, in 2000, introduced a new computer system called "Integrated Offender Management". At the time, this was described as "the biggest single initiative the Department has undertaken to reduce reoffending." IOMS cost $40 million but had no impact of the rate of re-conviction which remained at 55% two years after release.  Barry Matthews, who replaced Byers, had formerly been Deputy Commissioner of Police in New Zealand and the Commissioner of the Western Australian Police Force. He served as chief executive of Corrections for five years from 2005 to 2010 and, in a farewell interview, listed his top three achievements as the implementation of cell phone blocking technology in prisons, better enforcement by the Probation Service of sentence compliance, and the establishment of the Professional Standards Unit to investigate corruption by prison officers.  During Matthews' tenure there was public concern about the management of the Department. Simon Power, Opposition spokesman for justice from 2006 through to 2008, made a number of calls for an inquiry into Corrections, but none was held. In 2009 Matthews' leadership was questioned by the new Corrections Minister, Judith Collins, after a run of bad publicity that included the murder of 17-year-old Liam Ashley in a prison van; the murder of Karl Kuchenbecker by Graeme Burton six months after he was released on parole; and the Auditor General's critical report on the Probation Service's management of parolees. Matthews exacerbated speculation about his leadership during the Burton debacle when he claimed: "There's no blood on my hands". After the Auditor General's report was released in 2009, Collins refused to express confidence in Matthews and media commentators expected him to resign. However, Matthews refused to do so and served out his term; on his retirement he admitted he had dealt with so many crises, the Department was like a "landmine".  Ray Smith, former deputy chief executive of Work and Income and former deputy chief executive of the Ministry of Social Development's Child, Youth and Family, became chief executive in 2010. Six months into his five-year term, Smith said he intended to shuffle the Department's $1.1 billion annual budget to focus more on rehabilitation and wanted his legacy to be a significant reduction in New Zealand's high reoffending rates.

Mental health in prisons.

In New Zealand there are five times more people with mental illness in prison than in the general population. All prisoners who are over eighteen are screened for mental illness and if they are mild to moderate then they will be referred to resources to help them. Prisoners are also more likely to commit suicide or self-harm in prison than the general population. Inmates are interviewed when they arrive to prison to see if they are at risk of committing suicide or self-harming themselves. For inmates who are prone to suicide and self-harm they have fourteen programs to help them and have specific cells which are under twenty-four hours of observation.

Violence in prisons.

In April 2015, a 44-year-old inmate, Benton Parata, died in Christchurch Men's Prison after being bashed by three other prisoners. An expert on gangs in New Zealand, Dr Jarrod Gilbert, said revenge attacks could "snowball" out of control while the prison officers' union said assaults in New Zealand prisons already occurred almost daily and it was only "good luck" there weren't more deaths.

Recidivism.

In March 2009 analysis of the previous 60 months, showed that 70% of prisoners reoffend within two years of being released from prison and 52% return to prison within five years (some of them more than once). For teenage prisoners, the recidivism rate (return to prison) is 71%. The government estimated that if it reached its reduced reoffending target of 25%, there would be 600 fewer people in prison by 2017. In 2014, prison numbers went up (to 8,700) rather than down, due to more offenders being held on remand.

The Department of Corrections (Māori: "Ara Poutama Aotearoa") is the public service department of New Zealand charged with managing the New Zealand corrections system. Corrections' role and functions were defined and clarified with the passing of the Corrections Act 2004. In early 2006, Corrections officially adopted the Māori name "Ara Poutama Aotearoa".