History.

When the Royal Württemberg State Railways ("Königlich Württembergischen Staats-Eisenbahnen") opened the Rottweil–Villingen railway on 26 August 1869, Trossingen was not included in the route of the line. The new line ran about four kilometres in a straight line to the north of Trossingen. Despite the economic growth as a result of increasing industrialisation, in particular in the musical instrument industry (for instance Hohner), Trossingen found itself increasingly isolated. Therefore, committed citizens of the town tried in subsequent years to improve the transport situation and when the state railway had shown no interest they ended up agreeing to establish a private company.  To this end, the "AG Elektrizitätswerk und Verbindungsbahn Trossingen" (“Trossingen Electrical Works and Connecting Railway”) was established in 1896 and the appropriate license for the new line was issued on 31 December 1897. Because a power station was built nearby in Trossingen at the same time, the projected line was to be electrified. The relatively steep slope of the track—it climbed 66 metres towards the town—also favoured electric operations. The new railway was finally opened on 14 December 1898. It was taken over by the town of Trossingen in 1908 and it has been operated ever since as a municipal utility.  The Trossinger Railway is unusual in that it does not use the 15 kV/16.7 Hz electrical system that eventually became normal in Germany. It also does not abut any other electrified railway lines.  Since the 1990s, the line has been considered in danger of being closed, but instead it was saved by being integrating into the Ringzug concept of the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg planning region. Consequently, diesel-powered Regio-Shuttle railcars, operated by the HzL, took over the operation of all traffic on the Trossingen Railway in 2003. Some of the services run via Villingen-Schwenningen and Donaueschingen to Bräunlingen.  The catenary has not been needed in scheduled operations since Friday, 11 July 2003 and the electrical infrastructure is now only used in museum operations. However, two vintage railcars were temporarily restored to scheduled operations from December 2004 because the Ringzug was short of rolling stock.

Trossingen Stadt station.

The Trossingen Stadt terminus now has only one platform track for passenger traffic. The remaining three tracks are used for the railway museum.  In addition to connecting services to trains in Trossingen Station, some Ringzug services also run directly to Villingen and Bräunlingen.  In Trossingen Stadt station there are connections to the following bus routes (as of 2014):

Museum.

A small museum of items from the Trossinger Railway has been located in the roundhouse at Trossingen Stadt station since 5 June 2005. Most of the historic rolling stock have been housed here. The "Freundeskreis der Trossinger Eisenbahn" (Friends of the Trossinger Railway) is involved in the Museum. This was established on 7 September 2004 and its first official excursion trip ran on 1 May 2005. The T1 railcars are said to be the world's oldest operational electric railway vehicles.

The Trossingen Railway ("Trossinger Eisenbahn", "TE") is a DC-electrified branch line in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The branch line has connected the town of Trossingen with Trossingen station, which is located on its periphery, since 1897. Trossingen station (formerly called "Trossingen Staatsbahnhof"—"state station") is on the Rottweil–Villingen railway. The railway is not part of the Deutsche Bahn network; instead it is owned by "Stadtwerke Trossingen GmbH". This company formerly operated the railway, but since 2003, operations have been carried out by the Hohenzollerische Landesbahn (HzL). Freight operations were abandoned in 1996.


History.

Way of the Five Pecks of Rice.

In 142 CE Zhang Daoling announced that Laozi had appeared to him and commanded him to rid the world of decadence and establish a new state consisting only of the ‘chosen people.’ Zhang became the first Celestial Master, and began to spread his newly founded movement throughout the province of Sichuan. The movement was initially called the "Way of the Five Pecks of Rice", because each person wishing to join was required to donate five pecks of rice. The movement spread rapidly, particularly under his son and grandson Zhang Lu. Their rebellion against the Han dynasty is known as the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion. After the success of the rebellion in 194, they founded the theocratic state of Zhang Han in the Hanzhong Valley of Sichuan, enjoying full independence.  正一 Zhengyi included in their religious liturgy, the Daoist writings of the Han, Laozi, the 3 caves and 7 parts. 方士 Fangshi originated in southern China. Sin was punished by ailments in the view of the Heavenly Masters. The Shangqing syncretized the Heavenly Masters with fangshi. Buddhism, Fangshi, and Heavenly Masters were synchronized in Lingbao.  The 180 precepts of the Celestial Masters were rules on morality. Stocking up riches was banned by Daoism.  A 173 AD Sichuan stele provides physical proof for the Celestial Masters existence at its oldest. China's southeastern area may have seen the spread of Celestial Masters in the Six Dynasties. At the start of their existence a large amount of religious text canon was already written by the Celestial Masters. Celestial Masters used an 精室 "essential chamber" for ceremonies. Specific attire was worn by Daoists. Celestial Master collectives had secretaries assigned to them on the basis of their population. Clerics of the Celestial Masters were referred to as 黃赤祭酒 "libationers of the yellow and red" in the era of the Six dynasties. There were stationery clerics and roving clerics. Distinctions between different social groups in civilization were recognized and utilized accordingly by the Celestial Masters. The Celestial Masters did not find monastic lifestyle attractive and rather passed down their teachings to their biological heirs. Children and widows were part of the Celestial Master groups. Tablets were clutched and prostrations were conducted by clerics. The Dadaojia Lingjie denounced the Yellow Turbans who were enemies of the Celestial Masters. A ritual master of the Celestial Masters may have been a 齋官 fast officer. Daoist Lingbao and Celestial Masters may have overlapped in customs with the Daoist Louguan ceremonies.  Building temples, effigies and fasting was practiced by Daoists to gain blessings.  寇謙之 Kou Qianzhi was the leader of the Celestial Masters north branch.  Celestial Masters north branch under Kou Qianzhi worshipped divinities described in the 魏書 Book of Wei. Yin Xi and the Elder Lord are abesnt from the Celestial Masters of Kou Qianzhi.  Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi were where the Celestial Masters northern branch operated, while Louguan and Guanzhong Daoism developed around Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi. Celestial Masters are not believed to be connected with stele founded in Shaanxi.  An anti-Buddhist plan was concocted by the Celestial Masters under Kou Qianzhi along with Cui Hao under the Taiwu Emperor. The Celestial Masters of the north urged the persecution of Buddhists under the Taiwu Emperor in the Northern Wei, attacking Buddhism and the Buddha as wicked, and as anti-stability and anti-family. Anti-Buddhism was the position of Kou Qianzhi. There was no ban on the Celestial Masters despite the non-fulfillment of Cui Hao and Kou Qianzhi's agenda in their anti-Buddhist campaign.  太上老君 Taishang Laojun was the Celestial Masters' main deity.  In the Southern dynasties 正一經 Zhengyi Jing was part of the religious canon of the Celestial Masters. In the Tang and Sui Daoists reconciled the Zhengyi jing with the religious texts of the Lingbao.  Celestial Masters and the nobility of northern China subdued the nobility of southern China during the Eastern Jin and Western Jin in Jiangnan in particular.  The Celestial Master canon was not found among the religious texts in the Lingbao caves.  The ceremonies of the Celestial Masters, Sanhuang, Lingbao, and Shangqing were categorized and grouped by Lu Xiujing.  In the Eastern Han the Celestial Masters spread to the northwest. Celestial Masters believed in communication with spirits.  Religious canon was divided into 七部 7 sections during the Southern dynasties by the Celestial Masters. Non specific designations were used for the divinities of the most sublime station by the Celestial Masters. 道門定制 Daomen dingzhi was a religious texts composed in the Song dynasty. Buddhism, Celestial Masters and fangshi all contributed to the religious canon of Lingbao. Celestial Master petitions to divinities were copied by the canon of the Lingbao and fangshi rites were also copied by them. Sichuan was the origin of the Celestial Masters. Different beliefs were hed by the different groups of Daoists. 天師治儀 Tianshi zhiyi.  In 215, Zhang Lu submitted to Cao Cao, the ruler of the Wei Kingdom, surrendering his state in exchange for gaining state religion status for Tianshi Daoism. Zhang was given a title and land, as were several other family members and generals. His daughter was married to Cao Cao’s son, Cao Yu. His followers were forced to resettle in other parts of China, with one group being sent to the Chang'an area, and another being sent to Luoyang. Zhang relocated to the Han court until the Han Dynasty changed to the Wei. He then used his own popularity as a religious leader to lend legitimacy to the Wei, proclaiming that the Wei court had inherited divine authority from the Tao church, as well as from Confucian laws.  The collapse of the Wei Kingdom in 260 CE, along with the fall of Northern China to the Huns in 317, further scattered adherents to the Celestial Master. The Celestial Masters later reemerged in the 4th and 5th centuries as two distinct offshoots, the Northern and Southern Celestial Masters.  Celestial Masters had prophecy rituals banned since what happens in the future it was supposed to be just known already by the member without rituals.  For the water, earth, and heaven officials, Celestial Masters wrote the 三官手書 sanguan shoushu.

The Southern Celestial Masters.

After the fall of Luoyang to non-Chinese invaders in 311, the remnants of the court fled to Jiankang (modern-day Nanjing) and established a new state known as the Eastern Jin dynasty. Among the court members who fled were members of the Celestial Masters. There is also evidence that after Zhang Lu’s submission to Cao Cao, numerous adherents fled south from Sichuan. These various followers of The Way of the Celestial Master coalesced to form a distinct form of Celestial Master Daoism known as the Southern Celestial Masters. The Southern Celestial Masters lasted as a distinct movement into the fifth century.

The Northern Celestial Masters.

Kou Qianzhi, who was raised in a Celestial Master family, received two visions of Laozi in 415 and in 423. In 424, he brought the work that resulted from these visions to the court of the Northern Wei dynasty. The rulers put his works into practice, and Kou became the Celestial Master of the Daoist theocracy of the Northern Wei. After Kou died in 448, the prime minister, Cui Hao, became power hungry and began to insult the Wei rulers. Unhappy with his insubordination, the rulers had Cui executed in 450, and ended the Daoist theocracy.

The Celestial Masters today.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Zhengyi Dao School of Daoism claimed lineage to the Celestial Masters. They became one of the two leading schools of Daoism in China, along with Quanzhen Dao. Zhengyi Daoists became common in the Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Fujian provinces of China, as well as in Taiwan.  Zhang Yucai, the Celestial Master (38th) draw a handscroll of a dragon. Zhang Sicheng was the 39th and succeeded him.  Celestial Master teachings and Daoxue were mixed together by Yu Ji, whose teacher was 吳澄 Wu Cheng.  Daoism's biggest known conceptions are folk religion, the Celestial Masters and Quanzhen Daoism in the modern era since Wang Changyue launched a renaissance of the Quanzhen.  The Celestial Masters have survived into the 20th century. In 1949, after the communists gained power in the mainland, the 64th Celestial Master, Zhang Enpu, fled to Taiwan. After his death, a succession dispute arose between different branches of the family in Taiwan and mainland China.  In fact, the Way of the Celestial Masters have flourished during the reign of Communism. They regularly ordain priests at the Zhengyi Monastery at the Celestial Master’s Mansion in Mainland China.

Beliefs and practices.

Each of the three different eras of the Celestial Masters had distinct beliefs. However, because the Southern and Northern Celestial Masters both descended directly from the initial movement founded by Zhang Daoling, there are many beliefs that are shared. A number of texts exist that give insight into early Celestial Master practice, in particular the "Taiping Jing" and the "Xiang'er" commentary to the Laozi.  The foundation of Daoist belief is that there is an energy source known as qi that pervades all things. The human body also contains qi, but it only has a limited amount of qi. Qi could be lost from the body through things such as sweating and ejaculation. The Celestial Masters shared these foundational Daoist beliefs, but modified them slightly.  One such change was that illness was caused by sin. This was because sin caused qi to leave the body. In order to cure any illness, repentance was a crucial factor in ensuring that the loss of qi could be staunched. Repentance could be accomplished by spending time in a 'Chamber of Silence,' and reflecting on one's sins, or by beating one's breasts and kowtowing to heaven. Illness could also be cured in other ways as well, among them using medicinal herbs and by listening to ritual music. Eating very little was also of extreme importance, and an ideal diet would consist of no food at all, but only noncorporeal things such as air, which the person could absorb through meditation.  Sexual practices (known as heqi, or 'The Union of the Breaths') were not part of Celestial Master Daoism. While the School of the Naturalists (and offshoot schools) advocate not ejaculating during sex in order to 'nourish the brain,' the Celestial Masters frowned upon this, and simply advocated celibacy as a way to avoid losing qi. In addition, the Celestial Masters thought that the macrobiotic method of stealing a woman's qi to replenish the man's own qi was completely wrong, and should not be practiced.

Significance.

The Celestial Masters were the first group of organized Daoists. Before their foundation, Daoism did not exist as an organized religion. Being the first organized religious Daoists, the Celestial Masters are the ancestors of subsequent Daoist movements such as the Shangqing and Lingbao movements.

The Way of the Celestial Masters is a Chinese Daoist movement that was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 CE. They rebelled against the Han Dynasty and won their independence in 194. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic state in what is now Sichuan.


Examples of systems that require pivoting.

In the case of Gaussian elimination, the algorithm requires that pivot elements not be zero. Interchanging rows or columns in the case of a zero pivot element is necessary. The system below requires the interchange of rows 2 and 3 to perform elimination.  The system that results from pivoting is as follows and will allow the elimination algorithm and backwards substitution to output the solution to the system.  Furthermore, in Gaussian elimination it is generally desirable to choose a pivot element with large absolute value. This improves the numerical stability. The following system is dramatically affected by round-off error when Gaussian elimination and backwards substitution are performed.  This system has the exact solution of x = 10.00 and x = 1.000, but when the elimination algorithm and backwards substitution are performed using four-digit arithmetic, the small value of a causes small round-off errors to be propagated. The algorithm without pivoting yields the approximation of x ≈ 9873.3 and x ≈ 4. In this case it is desirable that we interchange the two rows so that a is in the pivot position  Considering this system, the elimination algorithm and backwards substitution using four-digit arithmetic yield the correct values x = 10.00 and x = 1.000.

Partial and complete pivoting.

In partial pivoting, the algorithm selects the entry with largest absolute value from the column of the matrix that is currently being considered as the pivot element. Partial pivoting is generally sufficient to adequately reduce round-off error. However, for certain systems and algorithms, complete pivoting (or maximal pivoting) may be required for acceptable accuracy. Complete pivoting interchanges both rows and columns in order to use the largest (by absolute value) element in the matrix as the pivot. Complete pivoting is usually not necessary to ensure numerical stability and, due to the additional cost of searching for the maximal element, the improvement in numerical stability that it provides is typically outweighed by its reduced efficiency for all but the smallest matrices. Hence, it is rarely used.

Scaled pivoting.

A variation of the partial pivoting strategy is scaled pivoting. In this approach, the algorithm selects as the pivot element the entry that is largest relative to the entries in its row. This strategy is desirable when entries' large differences in magnitude lead to the propagation of round-off error. Scaled pivoting should be used in a system like the one below where a row's entries vary greatly in magnitude. In the example below, it would be desirable to interchange the two rows because the current pivot element 30 is larger than 5.291 but it is relatively small compared with the other entries in its row. Without row interchange in this case, rounding errors will be propagated as in the previous example.

Pivot position.

A pivot position in a matrix, A, is a position in the matrix that corresponds to a row–leading 1 in the reduced row echelon form of A. Since the reduced row echelon form of A is unique, the pivot positions are uniquely determined and do not depend on whether or not row interchanges are performed in the reduction process. Also, the pivot of a row must appear to the right of the pivot in the above row in row echelon form.

The pivot or pivot element is the element of a matrix, or an array, which is selected first by an algorithm (e.g. Gaussian elimination, simplex algorithm, etc.), to do certain calculations. In the case of matrix algorithms, a pivot entry is usually required to be at least distinct from zero, and often distant from it; in this case finding this element is called pivoting. Pivoting may be followed by an interchange of rows or columns to bring the pivot to a fixed position and allow the algorithm to proceed successfully, and possibly to reduce round-off error. It is often used for verifying row echelon form.


Naval Station Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor is from Honolulu. Naval Station Pearl Harbor provides berthing and shore side support to surface ships and submarines, as well as maintenance and training. Pearl Harbor can accommodate the largest ships in the fleet, to include dry dock services, and is now home to over 160 commands. Housing, personnel, and family support are also provided and are an integral part of the shore side activities, which encompasses both permanent and transient personnel.  Because Pearl Harbor is the only intermediate maintenance facility for submarines in the Middle Pacific, it serves as host to a large number of visiting submariners.  The Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station, Pacific (NCTAMS PAC), Wahiawa, Hawaii is the world's largest communication station. The headquarters site of this shore command is located in the central section of the island of Oahu, approximately three miles north of Wahiawa.

Hickam Air Force Base.

Hickam Air Force Base was named in honor of aviation pioneer Lt. Col. Horace Meek Hickam. It is under the jurisdiction of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), which is headquartered on the base.  Hickam AFB remains the launch point of strategic air mobility and operational missions in support of the Global War on Terrorism as well as special air missions in support of the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) and Commander, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).  In 2009, the base was used as the temporary operating location for Air Force One during Barack Obama's Christmas vacation at Kailua, Hawaii.

Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (JBPHH) is a United States military base adjacent to Honolulu, Hawaii. It is an amalgamation of the United States Air Force's Hickam Air Force Base and the United States Navy's Naval Station Pearl Harbor, which were merged in 2010.


Euler's proof.

Euler wrote the first proof of the fact that "e" is irrational in 1737 (but the text was only published seven years later). He computed the representation of "e" as a simple continued fraction, which is  Since this continued fraction is infinite and every rational number has a terminating continued fraction, "e" is irrational. A short proof of the previous equality is known. Since the simple continued fraction of "e" is not periodic, this also proves that "e" is not a root of second degree polynomial with rational coefficients; in particular, "e" is irrational.

Fourier's proof.

The most well-known proof is Joseph Fourier's proof by contradiction, which is based upon the equality  Initially "e" is assumed to be a rational number of the form ⁄. Note that "b" could not be equal to 1 as "e" is not an integer. It can be shown using the above equality that "e" is strictly between 2 and 3:  We then analyze a blown-up difference "x" of the series representing "e" and its strictly smaller partial sum, which approximates the limiting value "e". By choosing the magnifying factor to be the factorial of "b", the fraction ⁄ and the partial sum are turned into integers, hence "x" must be a positive integer. However, the fast convergence of the series representation implies that the magnified approximation error "x" is still strictly smaller than 1. From this contradiction we deduce that "e" is irrational.  Suppose that "e" is a rational number. Then there exist positive integers "a" and "b" such that "e" = ⁄. Define the number  To see that if "e" is rational, then "x" is an integer, substitute "e" = ⁄ into this definition to obtain  The first term is an integer, and every fraction in the sum is actually an integer because "n" ≤ "b" for each term. Therefore, "x" is an integer.  We now prove that. First, to prove that "x" is strictly positive, we insert the above series representation of "e" into the definition of "x" and obtain  because all the terms are strictly positive.  We now prove that "x" < 1. For all terms with we have the upper estimate  This inequality is strict for every "n" ≥ "b" + 2. Changing the index of summation to "k" = "n" – "b" and using the formula for the infinite geometric series, we obtain  Since there is no integer strictly between 0 and 1, we have reached a contradiction, and so "e" must be irrational. Q.E.D.

Alternate proofs.

Another proof can be obtained from the previous one by noting that  and this inequality is equivalent to the assertion that "bx" < 1. This is impossible, of course, since "b" and "x" are natural numbers.  Still another proof can be obtained from the fact that  Define formula_11 as follows:  Then:  which implies:  for any integer formula_15  Note that formula_16 is always an integer. Assume formula_17 is rational, so, formula_18 where formula_19 are co-prime and formula_20 It's possible to appropriately choose formula_21 so that formula_22 is an integer i.e. formula_23 Hence, for this choice, the difference between formula_22 and formula_16 would be an integer. But from the above inequality, that's impossible. So, formula_17 is irrational. This means that formula_27 is irrational.

Generalizations.

In 1840, Liouville published a proof of the fact that "e" is irrational followed by a proof that "e" is not a root of a second degree polynomial with rational coefficients. This last fact implies that "e" is irrational. His proofs are similar to Fourier's proof of the irrationality of "e". In 1891, Hurwitz explained how it is possible to prove along the same line of ideas that "e" is not a root of a third degree polynomial with rational coefficients. In particular, "e" is irrational.  More generally, "e" is irrational for any non-zero rational "q".

The number "e" was introduced by Jacob Bernoulli in 1683. More than half a century later, Euler, who had been a student of Jacob's younger brother Johann, proved that "e" is irrational; that is, that it cannot be expressed as the quotient of two integers.


History.

The very first concert given by Subway to Sally was held in September 1990. The band then consisted of Ingo Hampf, Bodenski, Simon, Coni (trumpet) and Guido (drums). Their first appearance onstage in the constellation with which they later recorded their first album (Album 1994), was given in the Potsdamer "Stube" in January 1992. The group had decided on needing a fiddle to complete the sound, something which brought Frau Schmitt (Silke Volland) to the band, who in turn introduced Eric Fish (Erik Hecht) on the bagpipes.  In the early years, Subway to Sally played Irish / Scottish inspired folk rock, as reflected by the track list of their first album, being the only album where the majority of songs are in English (for this they hired a friend to write lyrics in English). The group then decided they wanted to keep their lyrics in German, thus being a part of the first wave of bands to do so after the Berlin wall broke down. Their second album, released in 1995 and aptly named MCMXCV, saw a mixture of biblically inspired lyrics and what is often referred to as medieval music, thus placing the label medieval metal firmly onto their foreheads. A label that they still are being confronted with, though the music can hardly be described as such and though the band repeatedly try to deny it. Three major changes can be noted with the release of MCMXCV. First, the appearing of the self-written German lyrics penned by Bodenski, second, Eric Fish moved up from being the piper to being the frontman and main singer. Third, the focus of the music was no longer on folklore with the occasional self-composed song tossed in for measure, but was turned around to exactly the opposite, with the two translated folk songs "Krähenfraß" ("The twa Corbies") and "Carrickfergus" adapted to fit the band's style.  Between 1994 and 1997 the band rapidly released four albums and toured Germany to exhaustion, with an average of around 100 concerts (take or give a few) per year. Drummer T.W. left the band in 1997, after completing the recordings of "Foppt den Dämon", being replaced by David Pätsch for the tour and the following albums. "Bannkreis" was the first chart entry of the band, but they were quite consistently ignored by the radio and music television channels. With "Hochzeit" the band broke their habits and spent more time on producing the album, leading to a more polished and worked-through sound. This paid off with another chart placement: the album made it to No. 19 in the official charts. The sound of "Hochzeit" is very much picked up by the next studio album, "Herzblut", though thematically moving in a different direction. Where "Hochzeit" is darker and ends on the note of "Müde" ("Tired") "Ach, ich bin von dieser Welt so müd'" ("Oh, I am so tired of this world"), "Herzblut" starts off with the energetic "die Schlacht" ("the battle"), declaring that "Ich gewinne diese Schlacht" ("I am winning this battle").  In 2003 the album "Engelskrieger" was released. In preparation of the release, the band made the lyrics available on their home page, leading to wild discussions and accusations of "selling out". The sound of the record, breaking clearly with their previous works, did nothing to silence those accusations. Subway to Sally had grown up, met up with the real world and made a deeply disturbing record, dealing with modern issues on modern terms. The lyrics were no longer veiled and styled old-fashionedly, but instead painfully direct, as was the music, delivered with more brute and force. "Wenn Engel hassen" ("When angels hate") from "Herzblut" can be said to explore the same terrain that "Geist des Kriegers" ("Spirit/Ghost of the warrior") does, dealing with an individual running amok, though the latter is firmly lodged in the "post 9/11"-world. Several band members have indeed emphasised the impact of the attacks of the Twin Towers and the following political events as inspirational source for the album. Other songs deal with incest, euthanasia, leaders who mislead their people and the general fall and corruption of our Western society. "Engelskrieger" entered the German charts at No. 9, and the band once more toured extensively. A live DVD was filmed in the Columbiahalle in Berlin on the first leg of the tour, leading to the release of a double DVD in the autumn of 2003. In April 2004 Subway to Sally changed label, leaving Universal (Motor) for the smaller metal-label Nuclear Blast.  The very last concert of 2004, the all-yearly concert in Lindenpark on the 30/12, was also the last concert of drummer David Pätsch, who left the band to pursue another musical direction with the Blue Man Group in Berlin. The band then spent half a year looking for a replacement, finally deciding on Simon Michael Schmitt to replace David. (On a side-note this has led to a great deal of confusion, as there are now 2 Simons, 3 Michaels and 2 Schmitts in the band.) The recording of the new album was already finished by the time "tiny Simon" joined the band.  Despite being very pleased with the outcome of "Engelskrieger", the band made no secret of it being a one-off and of returning to the more conventional "Sally-sound" with the next studio recording. "Nord Nord Ost" was originally planned to be released in 2004, but was delayed until fall 2005, due to the extensiveness of the production. Though the band have previously made use of musicians from outside the band, they now did so on a bigger scale, involving the "Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg" to create a wider and more orchestral sound. The album debuted at No. 5 in the official charts, the highest chart placement the band has seen to date.  In 2006, the group released the CD/DVD "Nackt", which was a live recording of acoustic versions of some of their songs.  On October 19, 2007, their new album "Bastard" was released via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Horus studio in Hannover, Germany and Lundgaard studio in Denmark.

Side projects.

Several of the band members have side- or solo-projects going. Wanting to "return to his roots" as a musician, Eric Fish started touring on his own in 1999. This project has now grown up to become a band in its own right, and three CDs have been released; "Auge in Auge", "Zwilling" and "Gegen den Strom". Eric is also involved in a hitherto online-only project called Weiß and often appears as a guest musician on records of other bands (for instance with Letzte Instanz and Fiddler's Green). Bodenski has published a book of poems, called "Inniglich", which draws heavily on his lyrics for Subway to Sally, but also contains other works and non-published Sally songs. Along with his brother Chris and his sister Dodo, Little Simon also plays in the powermetal band Silverlane which has been signed to Drakkar in 2008. Drakkar is also the label of bands such as Twisted Sister and Lordi. Frau Schmitt used to be a member of the somewhat "folkyjazzy" ensemble 17 Hippies.

Subway to Sally is a folk metal band that was founded in Potsdam, Germany, in the early 1990s. Their music has clear folk and medieval influences, later also with gothic and metal elements added to the mix. With their continuous inclusion of oriental sounds and elements of classical music (noted for instance by the use of the arrangements of the backup vocals) and the use of instruments less frequently seen in metal bands, such as bagpipes, shawm, violin, hurdy-gurdy and lute, the band has acquired the label of medieval metal. They have released 12 studio albums, two live albums and two live DVDs. Their fame is mainly in the German-speaking countries, having played only a handful of concerts outside of that.


Early life.

Pierrepoint was born in Normanton on Soar, Nottinghamshire, the fourth child and second son of Thomas Pierrepoint, a plate layer on the railway, and Ann Pierrepoint, formerly Marriott.  By 1891, he and his family had moved to Clayton, near Bradford, where he was employed in a worsted mill. Henry was unhappy working there, and so in 1893 his father arranged an apprenticeship for him at a large butchers in Bradford. Three years later he left the apprenticeship and moved to Manchester where his sister Mary was one of the managers at a cabinet making firm. Not long after this he met a local girl, Mary Buxton, and they were married at St Anne's Church in Newton Heath, Manchester on 26 December 1898.

Career as a hangman.

In 1901, Henry was appointed to the list of executioners after repeatedly writing to the Home Office to offer his services. He participated in his first hanging on 19 November, as an assistant to James Billington.  Over the next few years, he worked primarily as an assistant to William and John Billington before becoming the principal executioner of Britain in 1905. In 1906, he carried out all eight hangings in the country.  Pierrepoint later persuaded his elder brother Thomas to join the family business, and reputedly trained him in a stable with a rope and sacks of corn. Later, an interview he gave, published in a local newspaper, inspired his son Albert to do the same. In his nine-year term of office Henry carried out 105 executions. His career was finished when he arrived the day before an execution at Chelmsford Prison "considerably the worse for drink", and fought his assistant John Ellis. Ellis reported the incident to the Home Office which decided, after receiving confirmation by the warders' account of the matter, to strike Henry from the list of approved executioners.  Henry was never officially "dismissed", but he was removed from the list of executioners and invitations to conduct executions ceased to arrive.  Throughout his career as an executioner, Pierrepoint occupied various other jobs, such as a position in Huddersfield gasworks, to supplement the relatively low pay English hangmen received.  Henry had been suffering from a terminal illness for several years and died on 14 December 1922, aged 44, although he was incorrectly registered as 48.

Henry Albert Pierrepoint (30 November 1877 – 14 December 1922) was an English executioner from 1901 until 1910. He was the father of Albert Pierrepoint and brother of Thomas William Pierrepoint.


Life.

Provenance and early years.

Fritz Kühn was born into a Protestant family in the Mariendorf district of central Berlin, his father's only son. (1883 - 1944), his father, was a metal worker and blacksmith who in 1925 founded and then over the years built up the specialist metals manufacturing firm known, initially, as. Between 1924 and 1928 Fritz Kühn trained as a tool maker and metal worker. During this period he also began to take a serious interest in photography. In 1927, while still working through his apprenticeship, and two years after his parents had set up a business together in Berlin-Weissensee, Fritz Kühn met Karl Schmidt who became something of a mentor, encouraging him in his wish to go into business independently. Schmidt also shared and encouraged his enthusiasm for photography.  In 1937 Kühn passed his, qualifying as a and opened his own studio on a converted estate in Berlin-Bohnsdorf (at that time part of Berlin-Altglienicke in the south-east of the city). 1937 was also the year in which he married Gertrud Moldenhauer (1911-1957), a clerical worker who subsequently played an important role organising the publication of his books and managing other business related aspects of his career.  The first of his - ultimately - twelve specialist arts/metalwork books, "Geschmiedetes Eisen" was published by Wasmuth Verlag in 1938. War broke out in the late summer of 1939. Kühn avoided conscription on account of a longstanding heart defect., his son, was born a couple of weeks before the leader's in 1942.

Soviet occupation zone.

Fritz Kühn's Bohnsdorf studio was completely destroyed by British bombing on 23 December 1943. Photographs, drawings and plans were destroyed. War ended in May 1945: over time Kühn was able to reconstruct, and later to extend, his studio-workshop, helped by journeyman labourers who had helped him before the war who were slowly returning from the front line or the prison camps. Once his space was again usable, he focused on contributing to recreating some of Berlin's important buildings, providing new railings for the extensive rebuilding of Berlin's eighteenth century Arsenal building. He also provided new banister railings for the interior and exterior of the Opera House. The eastern half of Berlin had ended the war within the Soviet occupation zone. The slaughter of war had left Germany desperately short of skilled workers which, in the case of the Soviet zone, was exacerbated by massive emigration to the American, British and French zones. In his rebuilt and enlarged studio-workshop Kühn contributed to the search for a solution by employing and training significant numbers of apprentices.  In 1947 Fritz Kühn published a first book of photographs, "10 Jahre Kunstschmiede Fritz Kühn" ("loosely, "Ten Years of the Fritz Kühn metal-smith"") which confirms in pictures the extent of his commitment to working with iron as a basis for his art. He managed to devise an innovative surface treatment for forged iron which one expert commentator likened to "the tachism of Yves Klein or the abstract painting of Emil Schumacher".ref>Ingeborg Ruthe: Der unideologische Universalist in: Berliner Zeitung, 11 May 2010; p. 21; accessed 15 February 2014 (but no longer accessible online)</ref>

German Democratic Republic.

During the 1950s his artwork found recognition beyond the borders of East Germany. In October 1949 the Soviet occupation zone had been relaunched as the Soviet sponsored German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In 1954 he teamed up with the East German film organisation (DEFA) to produce a film about his work and featuring his studio, using the title "Lebendiges Eisen" (""Living Iron""). The film had its premiere at the Montevideo film festival. There is no record that he ever joined the party, but there can be little doubt that he was nevertheless in good standing with the East German political establishment. It was also in 1954 that Kühn was a recipient of the National Prize (3rd class) in recognition of his creative artistic contribution to the post-war architecture of Berlin and other cities.  1958 marked an international breakthrough when Kühn's work was included in the "West" German pavilion display at the Brussels World Fair, forging for it an "artistically forged mesh element, inspired by an x-ray of a human chest". Even after the sudden appearance of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Kühn was seen as a member of the artistic establishment, winning commissions from state authorities and respected for his inventive artistry in his unusual artistic niche, on both sides of the so-called iron curtain, despite the increasing semblance of permanence in the physical and political divisions between East and West Germany. The listing of his commissioned works in public space now extended to 220 projects. His iron-based artworks featured, not just in the German Democratic Republic but also in places such as Hannover, Dortmund, Saarbrücken and Düsseldorf. Further afield, he also contributed to the war memorial at Coventry and the vast Futa Pass Cemetery in the Apennines between Bologna and Florence. It was also in 1958 that back in Berlin he succeeded in obtaining the necessary agreements to buy his studio-workshop and the adjacent former paddock.  In 1964 Kühn was appointed to a professorship at the, headquartered in the north-eastern part of the city. His actual teaching activity took place closer to the city centre, in the academy's "Fine Arts Institute" (""Institut für angewandte Kunst""), at the Monbijou Park. That year he headed up plans to build a new Institute for Metals Design (""Institut für Metallgestaltung"") beside the studio-workshop in Berlin-Grünau. The project architect was. The institute was designed to operate both as a training facility for hands-on workers and to operate a structured programme of coursers for a newly "metal design department" at the which, naturally, was closely involved in the development. Over the next few years there were personal exhibitions in Berlin, Braunschweig, Chemnitz, Dortmund, Essen, Hannover and Zürich. Further afield, he took part on the Montreal World Fair, with a "walk-in sculpture" for the in the West German pavilion.  Despite the church-state tensions that were a feature of life in the German Democratic Republic, Fritz Kühn was a leading producer of church art. One of his Christian pieces was a three meter tall dome-cross for the rebuilding of St. Hedwig's Cathedral, along with a transparent parapet of bronze and crystal glass around the central floor opening of the interior.  Fritz Kühn died unexpectedly on 31 July 1967 as the result of an operation that went wrong. His widow Gertrud died less than half a year later, on 16 October 1967.

Celebration.

The bodies of Fritz and Gertrud Kühn are buried together in a "Berlin grave of honour" in the. The many mourners at Fritz Kühn's funeral included Klaus Gysi.  Having won many prizes and awards in his lifetime, Fritz Kühn received further tributes after his death. One of the most remarkable, given the enduring cold war spirit of the times, was a retrospective exhibition staged in his honour in 1969 at the Louvre Palace in Paris.  In 1983 the East German government declared Fritz Kühn's life's work a "national cultural asset" ("einem "Nationalen Kulturgut""). There were plans to construct a Fritz Kühn Museum. By 1988 the plans were agreed and funding was in place. Two years later the government fell. Following reunification the new government confirmed the designation of Kühn's work as a national cultural asset, but as far as the museum project was concerned, with Berlin city politics now dominated by parties from the west, everything changed.  When Fritz and Gertrud Kühn died their son was a university student, studying Architecture at Weimar. Achim and his wife Helgard now took over their father's workshop and continued the business. They were driven from the start by a determination to celebrate and conserve Fritz Kühn's legacy. There was also already a plan in place, which they refined over time, to create a Fritz Kühn museum. During the East German years Fritz Kühn was an officially eulogised celebrity, and there was no obvious sense of urgency in creating a museum celebrating his life and work. Since 1989 and reunification, official positions have become more ambivalent, and the museum project remains unrealised: as the family's enthusiasm for it has resonated more strongly, the project has been increasingly hampered by lack of funds and opposition from local government. There have been (imprecise and vaguely supported) suggestions appearing in the press that Fritz Kühn only received the necessary permissions to start work on his new studio-workshop back in 1958 because he was inappropriately "close to" party members and officials in the East German government.

Fritz Kühn (29 April 1910 - 31 July 1967) was an East German visual artist whose output included sculpture, metal-artwork and photography.


Life.

The Anneke family (usually spelled "Annecke"; Fritz changed the spelling of his name while still in Germany) originates from a small village called Schadeleben close to Quedlinburg in what is today Saxony-Anhalt. Schadeleben is close to the Harz mountains, one of the oldest mining regions in Europe. Like the family of Martin Luther, whose birthplace, Eisleben, is only a few kilometers away from Schadeleben, many of Anneke's ancestors had worked in mining, which is why the family moved to Dortmund in the early 19th century, when industrial coal mining was beginning in the Ruhr district. Like his father, Anneke's brother Emil was a mining inspector, before he became involved in the 1848 revolution.  Anneke became a Prussian artillery officer, but was dishonorably dismissed in 1846 because of his democratic activities at his garrison in Münster, and also because he refused a duel. While still in Münster he met the divorced Mathilde Franziska von Tabuillot, who later became his wife. He was one of the leading figures of the Communist movement in Cologne, together with his friends Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Moses Hess (later the intellectual father of Zionism and the State of Israel). He spent most of 1848 in jail for his political activities. In 1849 he joined the revolutionary campaigns in the Palatinate and Baden, and was commander of the artillery there. Carl Schurz served as his adjunct officer. After the fall of Rastatt he fled to France, where he found refuge with his wife in the house of their mutual friend Moses Hess. Later on he worked as a correspondent for U.S. media in Europe, where he tried to join the Italian revolutionary movement under Giuseppe Garibaldi. In 1862 he returned to the USA to assume command of the 34th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment as a colonel. In 1863 he became the victim of blackmail and was dishonorably dismissed. His regiment was dissolved on September 9, 1863. Afterwards he tried in vain to be readmitted to Army service, supported by his brother Emil Anneke, who was a leading Republican in Michigan and acting Michigan Auditor General. Many of Anneke's friends and comrades from the 1849 campaign in Germany had become Union generals, including his own junior adjunct officer Carl Schurz, August Willich, Ludwig Blenker, Franz Sigel, and Gustav Struve.  After various failed commercial enterprises and the split with his wife Mathilde (who became an eminent figure in the U.S. abolitionist and suffrage movements, and who lived together with the American feminist and writer Mary Booth from 1860 until Booth's death in 1865), Fritz moved to Chicago, where he died on Sunday night 8. December 1872, after an accident. The short-sighted Anneke had fallen into a construction pit. Lighting was very bad in Chicago in those days, and the city was, one year after the Great Chicago Fire, full of such pits.  A son of Fritz, Percy Shelley Anneke, was a local celebrity in Duluth, Minnesota, as co-founder and owner of the famous Fitger Brewing Company, which is now registered as a U.S. National Historic Place.

Sources.

See German article and article about Fritz' wife Mathilde Franziska Anneke.

Friedrich 'Fritz' Anneke (January 3, 1818, Dortmund, Prussia – December 8, 1872, Chicago, United States) was a German revolutionary, socialist and newspaper editor, owner, and reporter. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1849 and became an officer in the Union Army, and later an entrepreneur and journalist. He was the husband of Mathilde Franziska Anneke, the older brother of Emil Anneke, the first Republican Michigan Auditor General, and the father of Percy Shelley Anneke, well known in Duluth, Minnesota, as co-founder and owner of the famous Fitger Brewing Company, now registered as a U.S. National Historic Place.


Track.

Tracks used for ice racing include ovals and road courses. Some tracks are dirt track racing tracks with the snow plowed off them. When there is no natural snow, an icy surface may be created by spraying the dirt surface with water when the temperature is below freezing. Artificial ice tracks (usually speed skating ovals) are used where it is not possible to construct natural ice tracks. Some tracks are made by plowing the snow off an area of a frozen lake. Spectators frequently park their cars around the outside of the track on a frozen lake.  In the UK ice meetings have been staged at ice rinks. The longest running event, at Telford, features riders using conventional machines with spiked tires. In the late 1960s ice racing was staged at a number of rinks in Scotland but the machines used were rally based machines with all season tires.

Tires.

Ice racing tires are either studded or non-studded. Studded tires have a stud such as a screw or bolt to provide better traction and increased speed. Some studs are sharpened to increase penetration. Tires cannot be purchased with studs, so the pit crew needs to attach the studs to the tire. Through 2008, Menard's Racing in Wisconsin manufactured and sold studded racing tires for cars, and they were required in many ice-racing classes. Cars with studded tires are generally required to contain a roll cage and increased safety equipment since they achieve much more speed with the greater cornering abilities.  The sanctioning body's rule book generally specifies the length and/or type of stud, often with the goal of controlling the level of damage done to the ice surface. Aggressive studs can cause enough damage to be a safety concern as they wear through the ice on successive laps, particularly during door-to-door auto racing.  Non-studded tires are standard production snow tires, as used on highway-use passenger cars in colder climates. Drivers often use winter tires. Favorites among ice-racers include the Bridgestone Blizzaks and Nokian Hakkapeliittas.

Motorcycle ice racing.

Ice racing includes a motorcycle class which is the equivalent of Speedway on ice. Bikes race anti-clockwise around oval tracks between and in length. The race structure and scoring is similar to Speedway.  The bikes bear a passing resemblance to those used for speedway, but have a longer wheelbase and a more rigid frame. The sport is divided into classes for full-rubber and studded tires. The studded tire category involves competitors riding on bikes with spikes up to in length screwed into each tread-less tyre, each bike has 90 spikes on the front tyre and 200–500 on the rear. The use of these spikes in this discipline necessitate the addition of special protective guards (similar to mudguards) over the wheels which extend almost to the ice surface. The spiked tyres produce a tremendous amount of traction and this means two-speed gearboxes are also required. As with speedway, the bikes do not have brakes. Czech made 4-stroke Jawa motorcycles have been the dominant force in this sport.  In the studded tyre class there is no broadsiding around the bends due to the grip produced by the spikes digging into the ice. Instead, riders lean their bikes into the bends at an angle where the handlebars just skim the track surface. Speeds approach on the straights, and on the bends. The safety barrier usually consists of straw bales or banked-up snow and ice around the outer edge of the track.  The riding style required for studded ice racing is different from that used in the other track racing disciplines. This means riders from this discipline rarely participate in Speedway or its other variants and vice versa.  The majority of Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme sanctioned team and individual meetings are held in Russia, Sweden and Finland, but events are also held in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary (since 2000), the Netherlands, and occasionally other countries. Countries that dominated and won the majority of titles in Individual Ice Racing World Championship (held since 1966) and Team Ice Racing World Championship (held since 1979) were the USSR and since 1991—Russia. Canada's national touring series is sanctioned by the Canadian Motorcycle Association.

Automobile ice racing.

Automobile ice races have been most successful in France, where the Trophée Andros series, sponsored by an industrial jam (fruit preserver) manufacturer attracts ex-F1 drivers like Alain Prost or Olivier Panis, manufacturer-backed entries of sophisticated 4WD cars and international television coverage. The Trophée Andros races mainly use damped snow (that is not very different from ice regarding car handling) tracks in French ski resorts with a final race on artificial ice in Paris Stade de France. The 2006 trophy includes one round in Andorra. On several occasions a round also took place in Canada, in the Canadian Challenge, which is held yearly and is the most notable Ice Racing event in North America.  In the 1960s and 1970s, there were two major Ice Racing Championships, the North American Ice Racing Championship and the European Ice Racing Championship. The North American was held in Anchorage, Alaska and their champions include Earl Bennett and Chuck Higgins, while Mexican Formula One driver Pedro Rodríguez won his class and an exhibition race in 1970, and was 2nd overall.  Elsewhere, ice racing has proven to be a largely recreational pastime. There is no professional ice-racing sanctioning body in North America, but there are clubs in several Canadian provinces (Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, Saskatchewan) and American states (New York, Michigan, Maine, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska). Some amateur and professional dirt track and paved track racers use ice racing to hone their skills or to practice for the summer season. Drivers often find that developing the car control skills needed on ice substantially improves their performance on a wet race track.  There is a new class in Canada called SS (street studs) where a car can run with the same modifications as a rubber to ice class, without the need for a roll bar. This same SS classing, although referred to as Super Stud or Studded class, by some American Clubs (such as the Anchorage Alaska Sports Car Lions Club) require any car running studded tires to meet at least IT rules and requires a roll cage and full safety gear. Some clubs even encourage people to ice-race their daily driver, and have strict no-contact rules to allow that safely.  In Russia there is a rally raid event, called the Northern Forest run on ice and snow in the last days of February in the outskirts of the city of St Petersburg. Also, in Russia exist popular winter track racing, where pilots race on short ice oval track, usually hippodromes, covered with ice during winter.  Conventional rallying also takes place on ice. Most notably, the tarmac of the Monte Carlo Rally is occasionally covered with snow and ice. The Sno Drift Rally in Michigan is another example of such events.

Race vehicle.

There are many classes of racing vehicles. The racing vehicles are frequently divided into studded or non-studded tire classes. Nearly all dirt track racing vehicles could be raced on ice. Flying snow and ice powder limits visibility, so some vehicles are required to have a bright light, normally red or yellow, on the back of the car for greater visibility in the powder.  Non-studded cars are selected by their weight since non-studded cars cannot carry high speed through a corner and cars cannot get much power to the slippery surface. Lightweight front-wheel drive cars are generally the quickest.

Ice racing in film.

Ice racing was featured in the 1969 James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" with George Lazenby and Diana Rigg as they attempted to evade their pursuers. The track was in Switzerland.  Motorcycle ice racing footage can be seen in the Bruce Brown documentary "On Any Sunday".

Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ice, it is usually found at higher latitudes in Canada, the northern United States, and in northern Europe, although limited indoor events are held in warmer climates, typically on ice hockey rinks (motorcycles and ATVs only). Tracks in North America vary from 1/4 mile (~400 m) long ovals to several mile-long road course designs.


History.

The United Nations has undergone phases of reform since its foundation in 1945. During the first years, the first decisive change was the development of peacekeeping measures to oversee the implementation of ceasefire agreements in 1949 in the Middle East and one year later in the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan. The Soviet Union launched reform initiatives during the East-West antagonism in the 1950s to curtail the independence of the Secretariat by replacing the post of Secretary-General with a troika, including a representative from the socialist states. Decolonization created rapid growth in UN membership, and by 1965 it stood at 118, twice as much as at the Organization's founding.  With states from Africa and Asia joining the United Nations, development issues became increasingly important, resulting in the expansion of the United Nations in the development area, including the establishment of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1965 and negotiations on an International Economic Order (NIEO) as part of the North-South conflict in the 1970s. The 1980s were characterized by financial crisis and the retreat of the United States, which triggered a reform of the budgetary process and the downsizing of the Organization. With the end of the Cold War, the rediscovery of and renaissance of the United Nations were hailed; the first half of the 1990s saw a major expansion of the Organization and the reform associated with the Agenda for Peace launched by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.  A string of new peacekeeping missions were launched in Namibia, Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Angola by the Security Council which also triggered interest in the reform of the 15-member body. Germany and Japan in particular, as well as India and Brazil, launched efforts to gain permanent seats and veto rights at the Council. In the late 1990s, Secretary-General Kofi Annan improved the coherence of the United Nations, with a better coordinated development system and more effective humanitarian structures. The fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic was energized, and a new concept of partnership between the United Nations and international business developed under the Global Compact. Other reforms included the revamping of peacekeeping operations following the Brahimi Report. The World Summit in 2005 recognized, albeit mainly symbolically, an international'responsibility to protect' populations from genocide and the Human Rights Council replaced the discredited Commission on Human Rights.  As of 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon continued the reform agenda covering oversight, integrity, and ethics which had previously been launched in response to investigation of the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. The Programme responded to the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi civilians and was the largest, most complex and most ambitious relief effort in the history of the United Nations. With reference to the 2005 World Summit, the General Assembly approved in April 2007 a number of loosely related reform initiatives, covering international environmental governance, a unified gender organization, and 'Delivering as One' at the country level to enhance the consolidation of UN programme activities.

Reforms.

Security Council reform.

A very frequently discussed change to the UN structure is to change the permanent membership of the UN Security Council, which reflects the power structure of the world as it was in 1945. There are several proposed plans, notably by the G4 nations, by the Uniting for Consensus group, and by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

UN Secretariat Transparency reform.

At another level, calls for reforming the UN demand to make the UN administration (usually called the UN Secretariat or "the bureaucracy") more transparent, more accountable, and more efficient, including direct election of the Secretary-General by the people as in a presidential system.  UN Secretariat/administration reforms seldom gets much attention in the media, though within the Organization they are seen as widely contentious issues. They run the bureaucracy of the UN, responding to the decisions by the Member States in the Security Council and the General Assembly.  Mark Malloch Brown, the former secretary general of the United Nations Development Program attributes the inefficiency of the UN administration to the "disconnect between the merit and reward" and further advocates "reconnecting merit to make the UN again an international meritocracy" to overcome the problem. He believes that the UN must stop promoting on the basis of political correctness that encourages promoting staffs proportionately from certain regions of the world, but instead make more use of Asia, Africa and other so-called less developed regions that now offer a large pool of talented, skilled, and highly motivated professionals. He argues that these individuals who are highly qualified will readily move up through the UN system without need of the "cultural relativism which is used to promote incompetents." A somewhat related point is often made by UN member states from the developing world, who complain that some of the most desirable senior posts within the Secretariat are filled under a "tradition" of regional representation that favors the United States and other affluent nations. The point has been made forcefully by Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, who was recently head of the G-77. "The major countries, the major powers hold very high positions in the Secretariat and support their national interests and refuse to allow the Secretary General to cut departments," he claims. And when they do ask for budget cuts, they do it "where it does not affect their national interests." He labels this "a double standard which is applied or is thought to be applied in the Secretariat, and we as overseers of the G-77 do not accept this double standard."  Among the notable efforts of Secretariat reform since 2005 is the Secretary-General's report "Investing in the United Nations" from March 2006 and the "Comprehensive review of governance and oversight within the UN", June the same year. From the Member States side there is the Four Nations Initiative, a cooperation project by Chile, South Africa, Sweden and Thailand to promote governance and management reforms, aiming at increased accountability and transparency.

Democracy reform.

Another frequent demand is that the UN become "more democratic", and a key institution of a world democracy. This raises fundamental questions about the nature and role of the UN. The UN is not a world government, rather a forum for the world's sovereign states to debate issues and determine collective courses of action. A direct democracy would request the presidential election of the UN Secretary-General by direct vote of the citizens of the democratic countries (world presidentialism) as well as the General Assembly (just as cities, states and nations have their own representatives in many systems, who attend specifically to issues relevant to the given level of authority) and the International Court of Justice. Others have proposed a combination of direct and indirect democracy, whereby national governments might ratify the expressed will of the people for such important posts as an empowered World Court.

Calls for diversity and democracy.

Implementation of population-based UN voting also raises the problems of diversity of interests and governments of the various nations. The nations in the UN contain representative democracies as well as absolute dictatorships and many other types of government. Allowing large powers to vote their population's interests "en bloc" raises the question of whether they would really represent the interests and desires of their individual citizens and the world community. Anything like direct election would be impossible as well in the many nations where an accurate direct vote would be impossible or where the local government has power to influence the local voters as well as security of the ballot box. Giving the UN any kind of actual governance power raises the question of how these powers could be carried out. What would happen when a vote of the UN General Assembly demands changes in the borders or political status of a nation, or requires citizens in some nations to tax themselves in favor of other nations, or demands the arrest of the leader of a nation, and is met by refusal?  The subsidiarity principle resolves some of these issues. The term originates from social thought within the Catholic Church and states that no larger organ shall resolve an issue that can be resolved at a more local level. It can be compared to federalist principles where entities of the union retain some aspects of sovereignty. Only when two or more members of the federation are affected by any given act does the federal government have the authority to intervene. Giving a reformed UN more powers but enshrining the subsidiarity principle in its Charter would guarantee that the UN does not evolve into a world autocracy that can arbitrarily dictate policy.

Financing reform.

On the subject of financing, Paul Hawken made the following proposal in his book "The Ecology of Commerce": "A tax on missiles, planes, tanks, and guns would provide the UN with its entire budget, as well as pay for all peacekeeping efforts around the world, including the resettlement of refugees and reparations to the victims of war."  The main problem with implementing such a radical tax would be finding acceptance. Although such a system might find acceptance within some nations, particularly those (1) with a history of neutrality, (2) without an active military (such as Costa Rica), or (3) with lower levels of military spending (such as Japan, which currently spends 1% of its GDP on defense), it would be unpopular among many consumers of arms. Nations in this latter category range from the United States, which spends 4% of its GDP on defense, to dictatorships who depend on arms to keep themselves in power. Other likely opponents would be nations engaged in ongoing military conflicts, or others in a state of heightened military alert, such as Israel. Arms producers would also oppose it, because it would increase their costs and possibly reduce their consumer base.  Another tax that the UN might promote would be some sort of global resources dividend.

Human rights reform.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights came under fire during its existence for the high-profile positions it gave to member states that did not guarantee the human rights of their own citizens. Several nations known to have been guilty of gross violations of human rights became members of the organization, such as Libya, Cuba, Sudan, Algeria, China, Azerbaijan and Vietnam. Meanwhile, the United States was also angry when it was ejected from the Commission in 2002. While it was re-elected, the election of human rights-abusing nations also caused frictions. It was partly because of these problems that Kofi Annan in the "In Larger Freedom" report suggested setting up a new Human Rights Council as a subsidiary UN body.  On Wednesday, 15 March 2006, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of establishing a new United Nations Human Rights Council, the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, with the resolution receiving approval from 170 members of the 191-nation Assembly. Only the United States, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Israel voted against the Council's creation, claiming that it would have too little power and that there were insufficient safeguards to prevent human rights-abusing nations from taking control.  The UNHRC has itself been criticised for the repressive states among its membership. The UNHRC has also been accused of anti-Israel bias, a particular criticism being its focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at each session as Agenda Item 7.

Creation, Removals and Additions for proposed UN Reform.

Creation of United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, or United Nations People's Assembly (UNPA), is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that eventually would allow for direct election of UN Parliament members by citizens of all over the world.  Proposals for a UNPA date back to the UN's formation in 1945, but largely stagnated until the 1990s. They have recently gained traction amidst increasing globalization, as national parliamentarians and citizens groups seek to counter the growing influence of unelected international bureaucracies.

Creation of United Nations Environment Organization.

Following the publication of Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC in February 2007, a "Paris Call for Action" read out by French President Jacques Chirac and supported by 46 countries, called for the United Nations Environment Programme to be replaced by a new and more powerful United Nations Environment Organization (UNEO), to be modelled on the World Health Organization. The 46 countries included the European Union member states, but notably did not include the United States, China, Russia, and India, the top four emitters of greenhouse gases.

Placing all UN Development Agencies and Specialized Programmes under a UNDG.

Then Secretary General Kofi Annan streamlined all UN Agencies working on International Development Issues under a new United Nations Development Group, chaired by the Administrator of the UNDP. The Delivering as One concept was also introduced. The main normative instrument for reforming the UN development system is the Quadrennial comprehensive policy review (QCPR). Following an assessment of progress, this General Assembly resolution which designs and gives mandates to the UN system to better address reform objectives is negotiated every four years. The most recent QCPR was adopted in December 2012.

Removal of spent provisions in UN Charter.

Several provisions of the United Nations Charter are no longer relevant. "In Larger Freedom" proposed the removal of these provisions:  There are also other provisions of the UN Charter that deal with transitional arrangements, and thus are now spent. For example, article 61(3) and article 109(3). However, "In Larger Freedom" does not contain any proposals with respect to these provisions.  Due to the difficulty in amending the Charter, it is unlikely that any of these spent provisions will be amended except as part of a package making substantive amendments, such as Security Council reform. Further, while "In Larger Freedom" proposes that certain provisions be removed there is not universal agreement. One school of thought in particular suggests that the Military Staff Committee could be revitalized by member states finally meeting their Article 45 commitments to provide a force able to perform peacemaking and peace enforcement under the legitimacy of the United Nations flag.

Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reforms of the United Nations (UN). However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or otherwise reduced use the term "UN reform" to refer to their ideas. The range of opinion extends from those who want to eliminate the UN entirely, to those who want to make it into a full-fledged world government. Secretary General has presented numerous ways to implement these new reforms. There have been reform efforts since the creation of the UN and closely associated with each of the Secretary-Generals.


Background.

Petrov, despite his relatively junior diplomatic status, was a colonel in (what became in 1954) the KGB, the Soviet secret police, and his wife was an MVD officer. The Petrovs had been sent to the Canberra embassy in 1951 by the Soviet security chief, Lavrentiy Beria. After Joseph Stalin's death in March 1953, Beria had been arrested and shot by Stalin's successors, and Vladimir Petrov evidently feared that, if he returned to the Soviet Union, he would be purged as a "Beria man".

Defection.

Petrov made contact with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and offered to provide evidence of Soviet espionage in exchange for political asylum. The defection was arranged by Michael Bialoguski, a Polish doctor and musician, and part-time ASIO agent, who had cultivated Petrov for nearly two years, befriending him and taking him to visit prostitutes in Sydney's King's Cross area. Bialoguski introduced Petrov to a senior ASIO officer, Ron Richards, who offered Petrov asylum plus £5,000 in exchange for all the documents he could bring with him from the embassy. Planning for Petrov's defection was codenamed Operation Cabin 12, after a briefer period of being designated Operation Cabin 11, following the standard practice of referring to potential defectors as "Cabin Candidates". Petrov defected on 3 April 1954.

Evdokia Petrova.

Petrov did not tell his wife Evdokia of his intentions; apparently he planned to defect without her. After falsely claiming that Australian authorities had kidnapped Petrov, the MVD sent two couriers to Australia to fetch Evdokia Petrova. Word of this leaked out and on 19 April there were violent anti-Communist demonstrations at Sydney Airport as Evdokia Petrova was escorted by the KGB men to the aircraft. On the plane, on radioed instructions from Prime Minister Robert Menzies, a flight attendant asked her if she was happy being escorted back to the USSR, but she did not give a clear answer, as she was racked with indecision – defection could have severe consequences for her family in the USSR. Menzies decided that he could not allow her to be removed in this way, and when the aircraft stopped for refuelling at Darwin Airport, she was seized from the MVD men by ASIO officials. (In order to separate Petrova from the MVD, the ASIO officials confronted them on the grounds that they were carrying arms, which it was illegal to do on an aircraft.) The ASIO officials offered Petrova asylum, which she accepted, after speaking to her husband by phone. By now it was the early hours of 20 April 1954.  These dramatic events were flashed around the world giving immediate sense to a world public of the real life drama that was at pitch and occurring. The photos of Evdokia Petrova being rough-handled by KGB agents at Sydney Airport and her agonised last-moment decision to defect with her husband, made at Darwin Airport, have become iconic Australian images of the 1950s.

Royal Commission.

The affair grew more dramatic when Menzies told the House of Representatives that Petrov had brought with him documents concerning Soviet espionage in Australia. He announced that a Royal Commission would investigate the matter, the Royal Commission on Espionage. Petrov's documents were shown to the commission members, though they were never made public. The documents were alleged to provide evidence of an extensive Soviet spy ring in Australia, and named (among many others), two staff members of the leader of the Australian Labor Party, Dr. H. V. Evatt, during proceedings. Evatt, a former justice of the High Court of Australia and the third President of the United Nations General Assembly, appeared before the Royal Commission as attorney for his staff members. His cross-examination of a key ASIO operative transformed the commission's hearings and greatly perturbed the government. Almost immediately, the Royal Commission simply withdrew Evatt's leave to appear. Evatt alleged that the judges of the commission were biased towards the Menzies' government in the wake of this unprecedented denial of his right to appear.  Another person who was questioned at length (over a week) about his activities and associations was Ric Throssell, a diplomat and former adviser to Evatt. His mother, the writer Katharine Susannah Prichard, was a committed Communist, and it was strongly suggested he had at least inadvertently, if not wittingly, given her classified information, as well as actively spying for the Soviet Union. The final report did not uphold these charges, but his career from then on was blighted by these suspicions.

Aftermath and legacy.

As a result of the defections, the Australian embassy in Moscow was expelled and the USSR embassy in Canberra recalled. Diplomatic relations were not re-established until 13 March 1959.

Political repercussions.

The defections came shortly before the 1954 federal election. Evatt accused Menzies of having arranged the defections to coincide with the election, for the benefit of the incumbent Liberal Party.  According to some, partly as a result of the Petrov Affair, Menzies was successful at the election, which Labor had been widely expected to win. The Royal Commission continued for the rest of 1954 and uncovered some evidence of espionage for the Soviet Union by some members and supporters of the Communist Party of Australia during and immediately after World War II, but no-one was ever charged with an offence as a result of the commission's work and no major spy ring was uncovered. (No one was charged for various reasons: one was given immunity from prosecution, others who had handled documents had not technically broken the law, one was in Prague and remained there, and evidence against others could not be presented because it would reveal that Western intelligence services had broken Soviet codes).  Evatt's loss of the election and his belief that Menzies had conspired with ASIO to contrive Petrov's defection led to criticism within the Labor Party of his decision to appear before the Royal Commission. He compounded this by writing to the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, asking if allegations of Soviet espionage in Australia were true. When Molotov replied, denying the allegations, Evatt read the letter out in Parliament, inviting amazement and ridicule from his opponents.  Evatt's actions aroused the anger of the right wing of the Labor Party, influenced by the Catholic anti-Communism of B.A. Santamaria and his clandestine "Movement". Evatt came to believe that the Movement was also part of the conspiracy against him, and publicly denounced Santamaria and his supporters in October 1954, leading to a major split in the Labor Party, which did not win office again until 1972.

Fate of the Petrovs.

The Petrovs, having been given political asylum, were eventually settled in suburban Melbourne under the names Sven and Maria Allyson, and given a pension. Prior to this, they spent an 18-month period in a safe house in Palm Beach, Sydney, with the then ASIO officer Michael Thwaites, who ghost-wrote their memoirs, published in 1956 as "Empire of Fear".  They lived in relative obscurity for the rest of their lives. The press was formally requested by the Department of Defence, by way of a D-Notice, not to reveal their identities or whereabouts, but this was not always honoured. Vladimir died in 1991 and Evdokia in 2002.

Retrospection.

The belief that there had been a "Petrov conspiracy" became an article of faith in the Labor Party and on the left generally for many years, although even pro-Labor historians acknowledged that Evatt's eccentric conduct had contributed greatly to the Labor split. The "left" version of the Petrov story was given in 1974 in "Nest of Traitors: The Petrov Affair", by Nicholas Whitlam (son of Gough Whitlam, who was Labor Prime Minister at the time of publication) and John Stubbs. This book was written without access to classified documents.  Menzies always denied that he had had advance knowledge of Petrov's defection, although he did not deny that he had exploited it and Cold War anti-Communist sentiment. Colonel Charles Spry, head of ASIO at the time, when interviewed after his retirement, maintained that, although it had taken some months of negotiations to bring about Petrov's defection, he had not told Menzies about these negotiations and that the timing of the defection had no connection to the elections.  In 1984, the ASIO files on Petrov and the records of the Royal Commission were made available to historians. In 1987, the historian Robert Manne published "The Petrov Affair: Politics and Espionage", which gave the first full account of the affair. He showed that Evatt's suspicions were unfounded, that Menzies and Spry had been telling the truth, that there had been no conspiracy, and that Evatt's own conduct had been mainly responsible for subsequent political events.  But Manne also showed that although there had been some Soviet espionage in Australia, there was no major Soviet spy ring, and that most of the documents given by Petrov to ASIO contained little more than political gossip which could have been compiled by any journalist. This included the notorious "Document J", which had been written by Rupert Lockwood, a member of the Communist Party of Australia expressing his beliefs on the matter. Page 35 of the document sourced the information to Evatt's staffers, Fergan O’Sullivan, Albert Grundeman, and Allan Dalziel. Evatt insisted that page 35 was misinformation added specifically to damage the Australian Labor Party. He managed to prove that his staff had not authored the document. The Royal Commission concluded that Document J was entirely Lockwood’s work.

Fictional works.

The Petrov Affair has inspired a number of fictional works, many of which have won awards.

The Petrov Affair was a Cold War spy incident in Australia in April 1954, concerning Vladimir Petrov, Third Secretary of the Soviet embassy in Canberra.


Defining tractive effort.

The term tractive effort is often qualified as starting tractive effort, continuous tractive effort and maximum tractive effort. These terms apply to different operating conditions, but are related by common mechanical factors: input torque to the driving wheels, the wheel diameter, coefficient of friction (μ) between the driving wheels and supporting surface, and the weight applied to the driving wheels (m). The product of μ and m is the factor of adhesion, which determines the maximum torque that can be applied before the onset of wheelspin or wheelslip.  Tractive effort inversely varies with speed at any given level of available power. Continuous tractive effort is often shown in graph form at a range of speeds as part of a tractive effort curve.  Vehicles having a hydrodynamic coupling, hydrodynamic torque multiplier or electric motor as part of the power transmission system may also have a maximum continuous tractive effort rating, which is the highest tractive force that can be produced for a short period of time without causing component harm. The period of time for which the maximum continuous tractive effort may be safely generated is usually limited by thermal considerations. such as temperature rise in a traction motor.

Tractive effort curves.

Specifications of locomotives often include tractive effort curves, showing the relationship between tractive effort and velocity.  The shape of the graph is shown at right. The line AB shows operation at the maximum tractive effort, the line BC shows continuous tractive effort that is inversely proportional to speed (constant power).  Tractive effort curves often have graphs of rolling resistance superimposed on them—the intersection of the rolling resistance graph and tractive effort graph gives the maximum velocity (when net tractive effort is zero).

Rail vehicles.

In order to start a train and accelerate it to a given speed, the locomotive(s) must develop sufficient tractive force to overcome the train's drag (resistance to motion), which is a combination of inertia, axle bearing friction, the friction of the wheels on the rails (which is substantially greater on curved track than on tangent track), and the force of gravity if on a grade. Once in motion, the train will develop additional drag as it accelerates due to aerodynamic forces, which increase with the square of the speed. Drag may also be produced at speed due to truck (bogie) hunting, which will increase the rolling friction between wheels and rails. If acceleration continues, the train will eventually attain a speed at which the available tractive force of the locomotive(s) will exactly offset the total drag, causing acceleration to cease. This top speed will be increased on a downgrade due to gravity assisting the motive power, and will be decreased on an upgrade due to gravity opposing the motive power.  Tractive effort can be theoretically calculated from a locomotive's mechanical characteristics (e.g., steam pressure, weight, etc.), or by actual testing with drawbar strain sensors and a dynamometer car. Power at rail is a railway term for the available power for traction, that is, the power that is available to propel the train.

Steam locomotives.

An estimate for the tractive effort of a single cylinder steam locomotive can be obtained from the cylinder pressure, cylinder bore, stroke of the piston and the diameter of the wheel. The torque developed by the linear motion of the piston depends on the angle that the driving rod makes with the tangent of the radius on the driving wheel. For a more useful value an average value over the rotation of the wheel is used. The driving force is the torque divided by the wheel radius.  As an approximation, the following formula can be used (for a two-cylinder locomotive):  where  The constant 0.85 was the Association of American Railroads (AAR) standard for such calculations, and overestimated the efficiency of some locomotives and underestimated that of others. Modern locomotives with roller bearings were probably underestimated.  European designers used a constant of 0.6 instead of 0.85, so the two cannot be compared without a conversion factor. In Britain main-line railways generally used a constant of 0.85 but builders of industrial locomotives often used a lower figure, typically 0.75.  The constant "c" also depends on the cylinder dimensions and the time at which the steam inlet valves are open; if the steam inlet valves are closed immediately after obtaining full cylinder pressure the piston force can be expected to have dropped to less than half the initial force. giving a low "c" value. If the cylinder valves are left open for longer the value of "c" will rise nearer to one.  The result should be multiplied by 1.5 for a three-cylinder locomotive and by two for a four-cylinder locomotive.  Alternatively, tractive effort of all'simple' (i.e. non-compound) locomotives can be calculated thus: formula_4  where For other numbers and combinations of cylinders, including double and triple expansion engines the tractive effort can be estimated by adding the tractive efforts due to the individual cylinders at their respective pressures and cylinder strokes.

Values and comparisons for steam locomotives.

Tractive effort is the figure often quoted when comparing the powers of steam locomotives, but is misleading because tractive effort shows the ability to start a train, not the ability to haul it. Possibly the highest tractive effort ever claimed was for the Virginian Railway's 2-8-8-8-4 Triplex locomotive, which in simple expansion mode had a calculated starting T.E. of 199,560 lbf (887.7 kN)—but the boiler could not produce enough steam to haul at speeds over 5 mph (8 km/h).  Of more successful steam locomotives, those with the highest rated starting tractive effort were the Virginian Railway AE-class 2-10-10-2s, at 176,000 lbf (783 kN) in simple-expansion mode (or 162,200 lb if calculated by the usual formula). The Union Pacific Big Boys had a starting T.E. of 135,375 lbf (602 kN); the Norfolk & Western's Y5, Y6, Y6a, and Y6b class 2-8-8-2s had a starting T.E. of 152,206 lbf (677 kN) in simple expansion mode (later modified to 170,000 lbf (756 kN), claim some enthusiasts); and the Pennsylvania Railroad's freight Duplex Q2 attained 114,860 lbf (510.9 kN, including booster)—the highest for a rigid framed locomotive. Later two-cylinder passenger locomotives were generally 40,000 to 80,000 lbf (170 to 350 kN) of T.E.

Diesel and electric locomotives.

For an electric locomotive or a diesel-electric locomotive, starting tractive effort can be calculated from the amount of weight on the driving wheels (which may be less than the total locomotive weight in some cases), combined stall torque of the traction motors, the gear ratio between the traction motors and axles, and driving wheel diameter. For a diesel-hydraulic locomotive, the starting tractive effort is affected by the stall torque of the torque converter, as well as gearing, wheel diameter and locomotive weight.  The relationship between power and tractive effort was expressed by Hay (1978) as  where  Freight locomotives are designed to produce higher maximum tractive effort than passenger units of equivalent power, necessitated by the much higher weight that is typical of a freight train. In modern locomotives, the gearing between the traction motors and axles is selected to suit the type of service in which the unit will be operated. As traction motors have a maximum speed at which they can rotate without incurring damage, gearing for higher tractive effort is at the expense of top speed. Conversely, the gearing used with passenger locomotives favors speed over maximum tractive effort.  Electric locomotives with monomotor bogies are sometimes fitted with two-speed gearing. This allows higher tractive effort for hauling freight trains but at reduced speed. Examples include the SNCF classes BB 8500 and BB 25500.

As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion.


Examples.

During the dot-com bubble, some companies that predated the bubble identified their Internet operations as high-growth divisions that would benefit from a tracking stock. The best-known example is The Walt Disney Company, which issued a tracking stock for go.com. At around the same time the bubble ended, Disney retired the tracking stock. AT&T (AWE) and Sprint Corporation (PCS) also established tracking stocks for their cellular telephone operations, but neither of these tracking stocks is still outstanding.  Liberty Media ( and and after January 23, 2017 symbol changes from LMCA, LMCB, and LMCK) had tracking stocks for Qurate Retail Group ( and after March 18, 2018 symbol changes from QVCA and QVCB), Liberty Capital—formerly LCAPA and LCAPB on Nasdaq, Liberty Starz—formerly LSTZA and LSTZB on Nasdaq, and Liberty Entertainment—formerly LMDIA and LMDIB on Nasdaq, at various times since going public. However, on September 25, 2011, Liberty Capital and Liberty Starz could no longer be traded, leaving only Liberty Media and Liberty Interactive as separate companies. Therefore, no major U.S. companies had tracking stocks until August 9, 2012, when Liberty Interactive issued tracking stock for itself using the symbols LINTA and LINTB and Liberty Ventures—formetly LVNTA and LVNTB on the Nasdaq. Currently, Liberty Media has tracking stocks for Liberty Braves Group ( and and ), Liberty Formula One Group (first three symbols), and Liberty Sirius Group (,, and ).  Among other examples, in 1999 Quantum Corp. issued tracking stock in two subsidiaries: its DLT and Storage Systems Group (DSS) and its Hard Disk Drive Group (HDD). Two years later, in 2001, Quantum sold the Hard Disk Drive business to Maxtor and redeemed the HDD tracking stock.

Tracking stock, also known as letter stock or targeted stock, is a specialized equity offering issued by a company that is based on the operations of a wholly owned subsidiary of a diversified firm. Therefore, the tracking stock will be traded at a price related to the operations of the specific division of the company being "tracked". Tracking stock typically has limited or no voting rights. Often, the reason for doing so is to separate a high-growth division from a larger parent company. The parent company and its shareholders remain in control of the subsidiary's or unit's operations.


History.

Ascaridole was the first, and for a long time only, discovered naturally occurring organic peroxide. It was isolated from "Chenopodium" oil and named by Hüthig in 1908, who described its explosive character and determined its chemical formula as CHO. Hüthig also noted the indifference of ascaridole to aldehydes, ketones or phenols that characterized it as non-alcohol. When reacted with sulfuric acid, or reduced with zinc powder and acetic acid, ascaridole formed cymene. These results were confirmed in a detailed study by E. K. Nelson in 1911, in particular that ascaridole explodes upon heating, reacting with sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric, or phosphoric acids. Nelson showed that the new substance contained neither a hydroxyl nor a carbonyl group and that upon reduction with iron(II) sulfate it formed a glycol, now known as ascaridole glycol, CHO. The glycol is more stable than ascaridole and has a higher melting point of about 64 °C, boiling point of 272 °C, and density of 1.098 g/cm. Nelson also predicted the chemical structure of ascaridole which was almost correct, but had the peroxide bridge not along the molecular axis, but between the other, off-axis carbon atoms. This structure was corrected by Otto Wallach in 1912.  The first laboratory synthesis was demonstrated in 1944 by Günther Schenck and Karl Ziegler and might be regarded as mimicking the natural production of ascaridole. The process starts from α-terpinene which reacts with oxygen under the influence of chlorophyll and light. Under these conditions singlet oxygen is generated which reacts in a Diels–Alder reaction with the diene system in the terpinene. Since 1945, this reaction has been adopted into the industry for large-scale production of ascaridole in Germany. It was then used as an inexpensive drug against intestinal worms.

Properties.

Ascaridole is a colorless liquid that is soluble in most organic solvents. It is toxic and has a pungent, unpleasant smell and taste. Like other pure, low molecular weight organic peroxides, it is unstable and prone to explosion when heated to a temperature above 130 °C or treated with organic acids. When heated, it emits fumes which are poisonous and possibly carcinogenic. Ascaridole (organic peroxide) is forbidden to be shipped as listed in the US Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Table 49 CFR 172.101.

Occurrence.

The specific flavor of the Chilean tree boldo ("Peumus boldus") primarily originates from ascaridole. Ascaridole is also a major component of epazote (or Mexican tea, "Dysphania ambrosioides", formerly "Chenopodium ambrosioides") where it typically constitutes between 16 and 70% of the plant's essential oil. The content of ascaridole in the plant depends on cultivation and is maximal when the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio in the soil is about 1:4. It also changes through the year peaking around the time when the plant seeds become mature.

Applications.

Ascaridole is mainly used as an anthelmintic drug that expels parasitic worms (helminths) from the human body and plants. This property gave the name to the chemical, after "Ascaris" – a genus of the large intestinal roundworm. In the early 1900s, it was a major remedy against intestinal parasites in humans, cats, dogs, goats, sheep, chickens, horses, and pigs, and it is still used in livestock, particularly in the Central American countries. The dosage was specified by the ascaridole content in the oil, which was traditionally determined with an assay developed by Nelson in 1920. It was later substituted with modern gas chromatography and mass spectrometry methods. The worms and their larvae were killed by immersion in a solution of ascaridole in water (about 0.015 vol%) for 18 hours at or 12 hours at or 6 hours at. Meanwhile, such immersion did not damage the roots and stems of plants such as "Iris", "Phlox", "Sedum" and others at for 15 hours or longer.  The wormseed plant itself (Mexican tea) is traditionally used in Mexican cuisine for flavoring dishes and preventing flatulence from bean-containing food. It is also part of tonic drinks and infusions to expel intestinal parasites and treat asthma, arthritis, dysentery, stomach ache, malaria, and nervous diseases in folk medicine practiced in North and South America, China, and Turkey.

Health issues.

The usage of wormseed oil on humans is limited by the toxicity of ascaridole and has therefore been discouraged. In high doses, wormseed oil causes irritation of skin and mucous membranes, nausea, vomiting, constipation, headache, vertigo, tinnitus, temporary deafness and blindness. Prolonged action induces depression of the central nervous system and delirium which transits into convulsions and coma. Long-term effects include pulmonary edema (fluid accumulation in the lungs), hematuria, and albuminuria (presence of red blood cells and proteins in the urine, respectively) and jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of the skin). Fatal doses of wormseed oil were reported as one teaspoon for a 14-month-old baby (at once) and daily administration of 1 mL over three weeks to a 2-year-old child. Ascaridole is also carcinogenic in rats.

Ascaridole is a natural organic compound classified as a bicyclic monoterpenoids that has an unusual bridging peroxide functional group. It is a colorless liquid with a pungent smell and taste that is soluble in most organic solvents. Like other low molecular weight organic peroxides, it is unstable and prone to explosion when heated or treated with organic acids. Ascaridole determines the specific flavor of the Chilean tree boldo and is a major constituent of the oil of Mexican tea (wormseed). It is a component of natural medicine, tonic drinks and food flavoring in Latin American cuisine. As part of the oil, ascaridole is used as an anthelmintic drug that expels parasitic worms from plants, domestic animals and the human body.