History.

It was founded about 620 by Romaric (580–653), a lord at the court of Chlothar II, who, having been converted by Saint Ame (570–625), a monk of Luxeuil, took the habit at Luxeuil. Together they established a double monastery on Saint-Mont (Mount Haberd), overlooking the Moselle valley. They followed the Rule of St. Columbanus and practiced the "Laus perennis", the continuous chanting of the Office by alternating choirs. Among the abbots were St Ame, St Romaric, and St Adelphus (d. 670). Among the abbesses were Sts Mactefelda (d. "ca" 622), Claire (d. "ca" 652) and Gébétrude (d. "ca" 673). Around 640, Bishop Arnulf of Metz, progenitor of the Arnulfing and Carolingian dynasty, died near Habendum, and was buried in the monastery until his remains were later translated to Metz Cathedral.

Benedictines.

The men's monastery disappeared perhaps during the 9th century. Around 818, the nuns adopted the more flexible Rule of St. Benedict and settled in the Moselle valley below. They kept the name of the founder, Romarici Mons (Romaric's mount) which later became "Remiremont". A market town grew around the monastery. In the Middle Ages, its estate was the largest in the region.

Canonesses.

Gradually, the women at Remiremont stopped following the Benedictine rule and became secular canonesses, who did not take perpetual vows, and were free to resign their prebendary and marry. Remiremont was very exclusive. Canonesses were admitted from those who could give proof of 200 years of noble descent. Enriched by the Dukes of Lorraine, the kings of France and the Holy Roman Emperors, the ladies of Remiremont attained great power. The canonesses lived independently within the abbey with their own circle of friends and servants. As prebends, they each received a share of the abbey's considerable income to dispose of as they wished, and could leave to visit family, sometimes for months at a time.  The abbey church consecrated by Pope Leo IX in 1051, at which time he granted Remiremont exemption from episcopal oversight, reporting to the Pope. In token of his, every three years the abbess would send to Rome a white horse draped with a purple cloth. At the time of Rudolph of Habsburg (1290), the abbess was raised to the status of Imperial Princess. On Whit Monday the neighboring parishes paid homage to the collegiate chapter in a ceremony called the "Kyriolés" (canticles in the vernacular).  On their accession, the Dukes of Lorraine became "de facto" suzerains of the abbey and had to come to Remiremont to swear to continue their protection. The "War of the Escutcheons" () in 1566 between the duke and the abbess ended in favor of the duke, and the abbess never recovered her former position. In order to demonstrate their Imperial immediacy and their independence from the Dukes of Lorraine, the canonesses of the abbey mounted escutcheons around the town displaying the Imperial eagle. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, took advantage of the absence of Emperor Maximilian II, away campaigning in Hungary, to remove the escutcheons by force and establish his "de facto" sovereignty.  In the 17th century the ladies of Remiremont fell away so much from the original monastic style of life as to take the title of countesses. In church they wore long white mantles trimmed with ermine. They were obliged to live at the abbey three months in the year in gentile houses built in a large enclosure around the church. Many kept carriages and gave balls, concerts, and other entertainments.  Catherine de Lorraine was an abbess from 1612 to 1648. The office was to be given to her niece, Marguerite, but she married Gaston, Duke of Orléans. The couple's second daughter, Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, became titular abbess, as was Princess Élisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine. Béatrice Hiéronyme de Lorraine was also abbess. Anne Charlotte de Lorraine, was an abbess from 1738 until 1773. Maria Christina of Saxony, sister to the Dauphine Marie Josèphe, was abbess after Anne Charlotte from 1773 until 1782.  The last abbess, under the Ancien Régime from 1786 until 1790, was Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon, the daughter of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé. She was prioress of the Monastery of the Temple at her death in 1824.

Remiremont Abbey was an abbey that was founded as a house of nuns near Remiremont, Vosges, France. It later became a community of secular canonesses.


Biography.

Education.

Al-Qasemi was born in Buraydah in the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa (present-day Saudi Arabia). Al-Qasemi first joined the Sheikh Ali Mahmoud school, his father died in 1922, and al-Qasemi was then freed from the constraints imposed on him by his father, he then continued his studies. The merchant Abdulaziz Al-Rashed Al-Humaid was impressed by al-Qasemi, so he took him to Iraq, India and Syria, finally, Al-Qasemi resumed his studies at the Sheikh Amin Shanqeeti school in Zubair in Iraq after then he traveled to India where he spent two years learning in school, he learned Arabic, hadiths, and the foundations of the Islamic Sharia, he then returned to Iraq where he joined al-Kazimiyah school, he returned to Damascus, finally, he decided to live in Cairo.

al-Qasemi and Salafi philosophy.

Al-Qasemi has studied at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo in 1927, but he was soon expelled because of his book "The chandelier in the sweep of the Dark Darkness", which he had written in response to an article by Al-Azhar scholar Yusuf al-Degwy, entitled "The litigiousness and ignorance of Wahhabists" published in the Journal "Nour al-Islam" in 1931. Subsequently Abdullah al-Qasemi wrote several books attacking the scholars of Al-Azhar.

al-Qasemi and free philosophy.

After this incident, al-Qasemi changed his way of thinking, defending secularism and scepticism and criticizing religion to the point where his opponents labelled him "atheist". His most important books - written after he turned against the Salafi ideology - are: "There are the cuffs " and "They lie to see God beautiful" and his book "Arabs are a sonorous phenomenon" (sic). He survived two assassination attempts in Egypt and Lebanon and suffered imprisonment in Egypt under instigation from the Yemeni government, because of his great influence on Yemeni students who, because of their frequent meetings with him, were deeply influenced by his thoughts. Such influence was perceived by the Yemeni government as negative and not suitable to Islam.

Death.

He was hospitalized at the Ain-Shams hospital in Cairo on December 12, 1995 and died of cancer on 9 January 1996, and according to his will, he was buried along with his wife in the "Bab Al-Wazir" cemetery in Egypt.

Works.

Books.

Abdullah Al-Qasemi's works have rarely been translated. Here is a non-exhaustive list:

Abdullah al-Qasemi (1907 – 9 January 1996) () was a Saudi Arabian 20th-century writer and intellectual. He is one of the most controversial intellectuals in the Arab world because of his radical change from defending Salafism to defending atheism and rejecting organized religion. He questioned the existence of God and criticized religions, which resulted in the allegations of him becoming an atheist, therefore his books were banned all over the Arab world.


Process.

Rationale.

The reason to use planning poker is to avoid the influence of the other participants. If a number is spoken, it can sound like a suggestion and influence the other participants' sizing. Planning poker should force people to think independently and propose their numbers simultaneously. This is accomplished by requiring that all participants show their card at the same time.

Equipment.

Planning poker is based on a list of features to be delivered, several copies of a deck of cards and optionally, an egg timer that can be used to limit time spent in discussion of each item.  The feature list, often a list of user stories, describes some software that needs to be developed.  The cards in the deck have numbers on them. A typical deck has cards showing the Fibonacci sequence including a zero: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89; other decks use similar progressions with a fixed ratio between each value such as 1, 2, 4, 8, etc.  The reason for using the Fibonacci sequence instead of simply doubling each subsequent value is because estimating a task as exactly double the effort as another task is misleadingly precise. A task which is about twice as much effort as a 5, has to be evaluated as either a bit less than double (8) or a bit more than double (13).  Several commercially available decks use the sequence: 0, 1⁄2, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, 100, and optionally a? (unsure), an infinity symbol (this task cannot be completed) and a coffee cup (I need a break, and I will make the rest of the team coffee). The reason for not exactly following the Fibonacci sequence after 13 is because someone once said to Mike Cohn "You must be very certain to have estimated that task as 21 instead of 20." Using numbers with only a single digit of precision (except for 13) indicates the uncertainty in the estimation. Some organizations use standard playing cards of Ace, 2, 3, 5, 8 and king. Where king means: "this item is too big or too complicated to estimate". "Throwing a king" ends discussion of the item for the current sprint.  Smartphones allow developers to use mobile apps instead of physical card decks. When teams are not in the same geographical locations, collaborative software can be used as replacement for physical cards.

Procedure.

At the estimation meeting, each estimator is given one deck of the cards. All decks have identical sets of cards in them.  The meeting proceeds as follows:  The cards are numbered as they are to account for the fact that the longer an estimate is, the more uncertainty it contains. Thus, if a developer wants to play a 6 he is forced to reconsider and either work through that some of the perceived uncertainty does not exist and play a 5, or accept a conservative estimate accounting for the uncertainty and play an 8.

Benefits.

A study by Moløkken-Østvold and Haugen<ref name="doi:10.1109/ASWEC.2007.15"></ref> reported that planning poker provided accurate estimates of programming task completion time, although estimates by any individual developer who entered a task into the task tracker was just as accurate. Tasks discussed during planning poker rounds took longer to complete than those not discussed and included more code deletions, suggesting that planning poker caused more attention to code quality. Planning poker was considered by the study participants to be effective at facilitating team coordination and discussion of implementation strategies.

Planning poker, also called Scrum poker, is a consensus-based, gamified technique for estimating, mostly used to estimate effort or relative size of development goals in software development. In planning poker, members of the group make estimates by playing numbered cards face-down to the table, instead of speaking them aloud. The cards are revealed, and the estimates are then discussed. By hiding the figures in this way, the group can avoid the cognitive bias of anchoring, where the first number spoken aloud sets a precedent for subsequent estimates.


2008 team roster.

Ages as of January 1, 2008

One-day races.

Spring classics.

By their own admission, Astana does not aim for the classics. The team first participated in Omloop Het Volk on March 1, with Dmitriy Muravyev in 31st their best-placed rider. Sergei Ivanov's 7th in the Amstel Gold Race proved to be one of the team's best results all season, as in the other spring races in which they competed, Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, the Tour of Flanders, and Gent–Wevelgem, they did not have a rider place higher than 13th. Due in part to the ban imposed by the Amaury Sport Organisation from participating in races they organized, the team did not compete in Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, or other races in which a team of their caliber would normally take part. In March, Tomas Vaitkus earned the team's lone one-day victory of the spring season, winning a sprint finish to the Ronde van het Groene Hart.

Fall races.

The team entered the Clásica de San Sebastián in August, with Contador in 26th their highest-placed finisher. Contador, like many riders in the event, rode it as preparation for the road cycling events at the 2008 Olympic Games. Astana also took part in Vattenfall Cyclassics, the Coppa Sabatini, Paris–Bourges, the Giro dell'Emilia, the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli, Milano–Torino, and the Giro del Piemonte in September and October, but did not obtain a place higher than 11th (by Janez Brajkovič in the Giro dell'Emilia). In August, Leipheimer and Contador took the top two spots in the Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama, a race they rode as preparation for the Vuelta a España.  In the Giro di Lombardia, Astana's final race of the season, they were more successful than they had been most of the season, attaining a fourth podium finish in a one-day race on the year. While Damiano Cunego had broken away from the field with 15 kilometers left to race to win the event, Brajkovič won a sprint over's Rigoberto Urán for second, and reacted as though he won the race. Chris Horner was also highly placed in the event, finishing seventh.

Stage races.

Astana attended the Tour Down Under for the first time in 2008, as it was the first year the event was part of the UCI ProTour. The team was not very competitive in the event, with a fifth place in a sprint finish to Stage 2 from Aaron Kemps as their best stage result. They also led the teams classification after that stage. The team's best-placed rider in the final overall classification was José Luis Rubiera, ranked 31st. The team then attended the Tour of California in February. Leipheimer was the team leader for the event, as he was the defending champion from 2007 with Team Discovery. Leipheimer assumed the race lead after Stage 3, having worked with rider Robert Gesink to gain time on the peloton with Gesink claiming the stage win and Leipheimer the overall lead. Leipheimer padded his lead by winning the individual time trial in Solvang two days later and held on to win the Tour itself for the second straight year. While the Tour of California was ongoing, Astana sent another squad to the Volta ao Algarve, with Tomas Vaitkus claiming a win in Stage 2. Rubiera was the victor in early March of the queen stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, a stage which the peloton almost refused to race because of the weather and safety conditions.  With the team disinvited from Paris–Nice and Tirreno–Adriatico, their next stage race was the Volta ao Distrito de Santarém, a race which neither Astana nor Discovery Channel had participated in the year before. The team did not win any stage, though Andreas Klöden finished on the event's final podium, in third. Astana next entered the Vuelta a Castilla y León with a squad that was thought to greatly outclass the squads entered by other teams. Contador won the opening time trial and the mountainous fourth stage en route to winning the race overall. Leipheimer also showed well, finishing 4 seconds off Contador's winning time in the time trial, and falling only on Stage 4, where he rode in support of Contador, to finish in fourth overall.  In April, the team achieved great success in the Vuelta al País Vasco, with Contador winning the opening stage, which had seven categorized climbs, and the final individual time trial, to win the race overall. Just after the tour of the Basque country was the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, an event in which Astana won a stage with Grégory Rast and the points classification with Assan Bazayev. Later in the month, the team sent a squad headed by Leipheimer and Chris Horner to the Tour de Georgia. They did not win any stage, but Leipheimer took third overall, and Antonio Colóm fourth. The team was greatly successful at the Tour de Romandie later in the month, with Maxim Iglinskiy and Klöden both winning stages, and Klöden the race overall. In the Volta a Catalunya, which was concurrent to the Giro d'Italia, the team did not win any stage, with Janez Brajkovič's second in Stage 2 their closest result, though they did win the teams classification.  At the Tour de Luxembourg in June, Rast entered as defending champion and was considered among the favorites, but the team did not win any stage or finish on the podium. Leipheimer won the prologue time trial to the Dauphine Libéré later in the month, and wound up finishing third overall in the race. Klöden next took second overall in the Tour de Suisse, later in June. The following month, Leipheiemer and Horner raced as Astana (though they were the only Astana riders in the event) at the Cascade Cycling Classic, and Leipheimer was able to take the overall win there, largely thanks to a convincing victory in the third stage time trial. On the same day, René Haselbacher won a stage in Tour of Austria. Later in the month, Sergeui Ivanov won the Tour de Wallonie, without winning a stage.  The team sent squads to the Tour de Pologne, Tour de l'Ain, Tour of Ireland, and the Eneco Tour, but did not obtain a stage win, classification win, or podium finish in any of them.

Grand Tours.

Giro d'Italia.

Astana was at first not invited to the Giro. Six days before the race began, RCS Sport (the organizers of the Giro) went back on the decision to exclude Astana and extended them a late invitation. This change of heart was at least partly contingent on Contador, Leipheimer, and Klöden participating in the race. Having thought for two months prior that they would not compete in the Giro, most of Astana's riders had planned to take a break during the Tour of Italy, and Contador was actually vacationing on a beach when Bruyneel called him to tell him the team was headed to the Giro.  The team mostly lay low in the race's first week and a half, with only fourth in a sprint from Assan Bazayev in Stage 4 and fifth in Stage 6 by Maxim Iglinsky from a breakaway to show for themselves through nine stages. Contador and Klöden both showed strongly in the Stage 10 individual time trial, with Contador missing the stage win by just 8 seconds (Klöden was third, 20 seconds off Marzio Bruseghin's winning time) and moving from eighth to fourth in the overall classification.  The high mountain Stage 14 into the Italian Alps saw Contador rise to second overall, just five seconds behind race leader Gabriele Bosisio. The next day, Contador finished twelve minutes ahead of Bosisio and took the race leader's pink jersey. His main rival at that point was Riccardo Riccò, who had gained 16 seconds on him that day and was only 33 back overall. Contador padded his lead over Riccò slightly in short time trial in Stage 16, and stayed out of trouble in Stages 17 and 18, stages where the contenders all finished together. The long and mountainous Stage 19 saw Riccò and Danilo Di Luca both put time into Contador with late attacks, but not enough to take the jersey from him. Di Luca found himself effected the next day, losing over five minutes and falling from contention, but Contador and Riccò finished together and were separated by just 4 seconds entering the Stage 21 time trial. Riccò was unable to challenge Contador in the Giro's finale, finishing 68th on the stage and losing close to two minutes to Contador, who was 11th. Though neither Contador himself nor anyone from the team won any stage in the Giro, Contador took the overall victory in the General Classification.

Vuelta a España.

Astana entered the Vuelta with Contador as a big favorite to win the overall title and complete the career sweep of the Grand Tours. Astana's Vuelta actually began with a disappointment, an 8th-place finish in the Stage 1 team time trial, which either they or had been thought likeliest to win. After staying out of trouble in sprinters' Stages 2 through 4, Leipheimer won the Stage 5 individual time trial and Contador was fourth, 49 seconds back of him. This gave Leipheimer the race leader's golden jersey by a margin of 2 seconds over Sylvain Chavanel. It was not a lead that Astana intended to defend the next day, however, as Chavanel's team drove the peloton to catch the morning breakaway in Stage 6 so Chavanel could get bonus seconds in intermediate sprints to take the jersey, which he did.  The next stage, after the first rest day, was the longest in the Vuelta and contained numerous mountain climbs. It was made even more difficult by a consistent downfall of rain and cold temperatures. Contador and Leipheimer both marked the competition and finished well on the stage, third and fifth respectively, to maintain their high overall placings. Leipheimer regained the race lead the next day essentially by default, as Alessandro Ballan, who had won the difficult Stage 7, quickly faded on Stage 8. Again Astana did not work to keep Leipheimer in the race lead, affording a breakaway that included Egoi Martínez sufficient time that Martínez took the golden jersey. The next day, several local newspapers criticized Astana for the move, as and had tried to pull the peloton such that Astana would have no choice to defend the jersey, but were unable to force their hand. Martínez reacted to his assumption of the race lead as though it were a gift from his former manager Bruyneel.  Following several stages won by sprinters and breakaways, the next test for the riders was the legendary Alto de El Angliru in Stage 13. The morning breakaway was afforded over eleven minutes, but it was dropped to nothing on the ascent of what has been called the most difficult climb in all of professional cycling. Astana and Caisse d'Epargne both had many support riders in the leading group going up the climb, and they alternately tried to set paces to protect either Contador or Alejandro Valverde while isolating the competition. It was left to Leipheimer to pace Contador to the conclusion as the climb reached its hardest part, 7 kilometers from the finish. Contador indeed went on to win the stage, and took the race lead as well. Contador added another stage win the next day when only he and Leipheimer could respond to the repeated attacks of Ezequiel Mosquera, and Contador won the sprint.  The top ten in the general classification finished together in the next five stages, which were mostly friendly to sprinters and breakaways. Stage 20 was another time trial, one with an uphill finish. This time trial was won convincingly by Leipheimer, as only Contador and Valverde were within a minute of his winning time. This ride put Leipheimer 46 seconds off Contador's time. With the Vuelta's final stage flat and largely ceremonial, akin to the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, this stood as the final result, with Contador winning the Vuelta to complete his career triple; he also won the combination classification and its white jersey. Minor controversy followed the Vuelta; Contador alleged that Leipheimer was not being a team player by seeming to ride the Stage 20 time trial with the aim of winning the Vuelta, after Contador had apparently been decided as the team's leader, though the team had not firmly chosen a leader as the race began.

Away from competition.

Exclusion from ASO races.

On February 13, it was announced that the Amaury Sport Organisation would not invite Astana to any of their races that season, which included the Tour de France, Paris–Nice, and numerous one-day races. The decision was made because of the doping perpetrated by Astana in its previous seasons; chief among these scandals was the blood doping perpetrated by Alexander Vinokourov in the 2007 Tour de France. The team reacted with surprise and disappointment, particularly since the ban seemed to punish a team that no longer existed, and as a result Contador would not be able to defend his Tour de France championship.

Dismissal of Vladimir Gusev.

On June 26, the team fired Vladimir Gusev for "irregular values" given in an internal doping check as part of the program run by Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, proprietor of a noted anti-doping system previously used by. Though the values did not by themselves confirm doping on Gusev's part, they were taken as an indication of it.  The firing also caused Gusev to be removed from Russia's team for the 2008 Olympic Games, though he originally intended to sue the team in time to still take part in the Olympics.  On September 1, Gusev began his appeal of the firing, with the case eventually reaching the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On June 18, 2009, the CAS ruled that Astana was in the wrong regarding Gusev's dismissal and ordered the team to pay his lost wages, legal fees, and compensatory damages.

Return of Lance Armstrong.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine published on September 9 that he intended to return to competitive cycling in 2009, after four years of retirement. Aside from trying to win an eighth Tour de France, his goal would be to raise public awareness and money for cancer research. He would ride for no salary.  It was speculated immediately that Armstrong would return with team Astana, as it was now headed by Armstrong's sporting director from each of his seven Tour de France victories, Johan Bruyneel.  Though spokespeople for the team first denied any plans to sign Armstrong, Bruyneel commented two days later during the then-ongoing Vuelta a España that he had spoken to Armstrong about his return, and could not imagine him riding for any team but Astana. On September 24, Armstrong signed with Astana.  Armstrong's return was not well received by Contador, who asserted that he had earned the right to be a team leader and said he would consider leaving the team if he were relegated to a role supporting Armstrong.  The team gave Contador assurances in the offseason that he would remain Astana's team leader, and Contador remained with the team for 2009, though the controversy over who would in fact be the team's leader lasted well into the 2009 Tour de France.

The 2008 season for the cycling team began in January with the Tour Down Under and ended in October with the Giro di Lombardia. As a UCI ProTour team, they were automatically invited and obliged to attend every event in the UCI ProTour.


Sports.

Basketball.

In the years since becoming a four-year university, Little Rock has won slightly more games than they've lost. However, during the six-year coaching tenure of Mike Newell, the Trojans made a big splash on the national stage. Appearing in their first ever NCAA tournament game in 1986, the 14th seeded Little Rock beat the heavily favored and 3rd seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, coached by Digger Phelps, now a college basketball analyst for ESPN, 90 to 83. The Trojans lost in the second round to North Carolina State, 80 to 66 in two overtimes.  The 1986 NCAA Tournament success led to post-season appearances for the Trojans in each of the next four seasons. In 1987, Little Rock beat Baylor, Stephen F. Austin and California to make it to the National Invitation Tournament finals in New York City. The Trojans lost to both LaSalle and Nebraska to finish fourth. The next season, Little Rock lost to Louisiana Tech in the first round of the NIT.  The Trojans returned to the NCAA tournament in 1989 and 1990, losing to Louisville 76–71 in 1989 and to eventual tournament champion UNLV 102–72 the next season.  With five tournament appearances out of six seasons in Little Rock, Newell departed after the 1990 season and the Trojans didn't return to post-season play until the 1996 NIT under coach Wimp Sanderson, the Trojans' most recent tournament game.  The Trojans played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship; it is the first appearance for the Trojans since 1990.  The women's team has also had its fair share of success since beginning play in 1969 and joining Division I in 1999. They have won the conference tournament in 2011, 2012, 2015 while competing in the NCAA tournament four times in the past seven years (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015), while going to the Second Round in the first and latter appearances.  Little Rock plays its home games in the Jack Stephens Center, an on-campus facility that seats 5,600. Prior to this home, the Trojans played at Alltel Arena (now Verizon Arena) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Previous to that, Little Rock's home games were played in Barton Coliseum on the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock.

Football.

Though the football program has long since been disbanded, the Trojans were a national powerhouse when the school was known as Little Rock Junior College. Coach Jimmy Karam revived a program in 1947 that hadn't played football since 1933. The team won the 1947 Coffee Bowl 31–7 against Coffeyville Junior College and played in the 1948 Junior Sugar Bowl, losing 18–7 to South Georgia. In 1949, the team went undefeated and won the Junior Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, defeating Santa Ana Junior College 25–19 and earned the junior college national championship. The LRJC team had played their way to the Junior Rose Bowl by winning the Little Rock Shrine Bowl for the right to meet the California junior college champion.

Wrestling.

On March 17, 2018, just hours before the start of the Division I NCAA wrestling championship finals, Little Rock announced the addition of a wrestling program. The school received a $1.4 million pledge from Arkansas businessman Greg Hatcher, considered the father of Arkansas wrestling for helping the sport grow in a state that did not field high school wrestling programs before 2008. The program is set to begin in 2019 and would be the first Division I program in Arkansas. Little Rock joins Presbyterian and the unified Long Island University program as new Division I programs in 2019. In June 2018, Little Rock named former Oklahoma State wrestler and assistant Neil Erisman as their first head coach.  Little Rock's first commit was Kansas state champion Conner Ward.  As a member of the non-wrestling Sun Belt, the team will be an associate member of the Pac-12.

The Little Rock Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Trojans are a non-football member of the Sun Belt Conference and a wrestling affiliate member of the Pac-12 Conference. The University offers 7 men's and 8 women's varsity sports. Little Rock has Sun Belt rivalries with all the West Division schools (Arkansas State, Louisiana–Monroe, Louisiana–Lafayette, Texas State, and UT Arlington). Little Rock's primary Sun Belt rival is Arkansas State.


The term.

The term "Muscadin" existed well before the post-Thermidor gangs, who are also referred to as the "jeunesse dorée" ("gilded youth") or simply "les jeunes gens" ("the young people"). The term had long been current in Lyon, used by the working class of "white-collar" domestic servants, shop boys and clerks of the merchants. An element of effeminacy was implied. In 1789, at the start of the Revolution, a royalist militia was raised in Lyon, with the encouragement of the city elite, and containing many of their employees, and their revolutionary opponents started to call them the "muscadins". Perfumed or not, they were an effective military force in the area for nearly a year, before being disbanded after it was clear that national events had overtaken them. Their equipment, and nickname, were transferred to the local Garde Nationale, and when Lyon was besieged by Jacobin armies in 1793, the term became known in Paris.  In that year the term was used in the battle between the Jacobin publications "Le Père Duchesne", written by Jacques Hébert, and "Le Vieux Cordelier", written by Camille Desmoulins, with Hébert using it in criticising Desmoulins. The split among the Jacobins was to be resolved the next year by the execution of both men with many of their respective factions; in the meeting of the Committee of Public Safety that moved against the "Hébertistes" in March 1794, Barère complained that Muscadins, along with foreigners and deserters, were seen to "congregate at the theatre, dressed with ridiculous ostentation, and... show themselves with dirty stockings, large moustaches, and long sabres, threatening the good citizens, and especially the people's representatives" – he saw them as supporting the ultra-radical "Hébertistes".

Costume.

The costumes of the Muscadins are less well-recorded than those of their successors, the Incroyables, but appear to have been similar to these. Characteristics include tightly-cut coats with extravagantly large lapels, typically in a different colour, with large and elaborately knotted cravats and perhaps sashes round the waist. Colours are bright and violently contrasting, with stripes very popular – perhaps a parody of the "sans-culottes", for whom stripes were also characteristic. However, more muted versions of some of these characteristics can be seen in the self-portrait painted in jail in 1794 by Jacques-Louis David after the fall of the Jacobins; the Muscadins took to extremes elements of the shared fashions of the day. Their walking sticks, clubs or bludgeons are often thick twisted pieces of wood, perhaps artificially grown in that style; they are supposed to have referred to these as "constitutions".

The term Muscadin (), meaning "wearing musk perfume", came to refer to mobs of young men, relatively well-off and dressed in a dandyish manner, who were the street fighters of the Thermidorian Reaction in Paris in the French Revolution. After the coup against Robespierre and the Jacobins of 9 Thermidor Year II, or 27 July 1794, they took on the remaining Jacobins and sans-culottes, and largely succeeded in suppressing them over the next year or two. In prints they are often seen carrying large wooden clubs, which they liked to call "constitutions". They were supposedly organized by the politician and journalist Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron, and eventually numbered 2,000-3,000. They in fact seem to have mostly consisted of the lower middle classes, the sons of "minor officials and small shopkeepers", and were quietly encouraged by the shaky new government, who had good reason to fear Jacobin mobs, and wider unrest as the hard winter of 1794-5 saw increasing hunger among the Parisian working class. The Muscadins are considered to be part of the First White Terror in response to the preceding Reign of Terror of the Jacobins.


Religion.

In Christianity.

The Bible has many rituals of purification relating to menstruation, childbirth, sexual relations, skin disease, death, and animal sacrifices. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds of hand washing for example after leaving the latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal. The women in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church are prohibited from entering the church temple during menses; and the men do not enter a church the day after they have had intercourse with their wives.  Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene, Despite the denunciation of the mixed bathing style of Roman pools by early Christian clergy, as well as the pagan custom of women naked bathing in front of men, this did not stop the Church from urging its followers to go to public baths for bathing, which contributed to hygiene and good health according to the Church Father, Clement of Alexandria. The Church also built public bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes near monasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, the popes situated baths within church basilicas and monasteries since the early Middle Ages. Pope Gregory the Great urged his followers on value of bathing as a bodily need.

In Hinduism.

In Hinduism, cleanliness is an important virtue and the "Bhagavad Gita" describes it as one of the divine qualities which one must practice. The Sanskrit word for cleanliness is "saucam". The "Bhagavad Gita" repeats this word in five slokas at 13.8, 16.3, 16.7, 17.14 and 18.42. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam mentioned "saucam" at 1.16.26, 1.17.24 (as one of the four legs of Satya Yuga or Golden Age), 1.17.42, 3.28.4 (as spiritual practice), 3.31.33 (those who are addicted to sex life will not understand cleanliness), 4.29.84 (purity of atman), 7.11.8-12 (one of the thirty qualities to be acquired), 7.11.21 (cleanliness as a characteristic of a Brahmin), 7.11.24 (cleanliness is a quality of the best worker), 11.3.24 (one should learn cleanliness to serve his or her guru), 11.17.16 (cleanliness is a natural quality of a Brahmin), 11.18.36 (cleanliness as a virtue among those who has realised God), 11.18.43 (quality to be practised by a householder), 11.21.14 (means of cleansing one body and mind), 11.19.36-39 (cleanliness means detachment from desire-prompted actions) 12.2.1 (effects of Kali Yuga on cleanliness).  Srimad Bhagavatam also recognises cleanliness as one of the thirty qualities which one must acquire to obtain the grace of God and identifies internal and external cleanliness among the twelve regular duties. Cleanliness is also an exalted quality which characterises the Satya Yuga (Golden Age) in Hinduism. As stated by many Hindu scriptures that cleanliness is a way of relative to God.  Cleanliness or "saucam" is both internal and external. Hinduism extols not only external cleanliness but also internal cleanliness or purity. Since their minds are constantly absorbed in the all-pure lord, devotees become internally cleansed from the defects of lust, anger, greed, envy, ego, etc. In this state of mind, they naturally prefer to keep the external body and environment pure as well. Thus, in accordance with the old saying, "cleanliness is next to godliness", they are also externally pure.  Cleanliness is also a virtue which has to be cultivated by Vedic students and spiritual aspirants.  Srimad Bhagavatam also explains the internal and external cleanliness as "My dear Uddhava, general cleanliness, washing the hands, bathing, performing religious services at sunrise, noon and sunset, worshiping Me, visiting holy places, chanting japa, avoiding that which is untouchable, uneatable or not to be discussed, and remembering My existence within all living entities as the Paramatman — these principles should be followed by all members of society through regulation of the mind, words and body."  All Hindus must make a visit to the seven sacred rivers. Bathing in these rivers will purify the mind and increase their good merits. Therefore, to invoke the presence of the holy rivers, the following mantra is chanted before daily bath: ""AUM gaṇge ca yamune caiva godāvarī sarasvatī | narmade siṇdhu kāverī jalesmin saṃnidhim kuru"." [In this water, I invoke the presence of holy waters from the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri.]  All Hindus must have taken a bath before entering temples in order to seek blessings. They also wash their feet before entering the temple. In some Orthodox Hindu households, taking a bath after visiting a funeral is required as some Hindus believe that it is an inauspicious thing to witness and the in-auspiciousness would follow. This is also related to the pollution of the River Ganges.  Hindus also clean their homes particularly well in preparing to celebrate Diwali each year as they believe that it brings good luck. Most Hindus also believe that keeping your house clean and great devotion are gestures to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi to their abode to stay. Some orthodox Hindus refrain from cleaning their houses on a Friday as it is a day dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi and cleaning homes on that day is considered inauspicious, so they are allowed to clean their homes on the rest of the days. Tamil people also keep their homes clean in preparation for Diwali, Pongal or Bhol.  Hinduism also gives a deeper meaning to cleanliness. In Srimad Bhagavatam 11.19.36-39, cleanliness is also defined as detachment from activities prompted by desire. Cleanliness, therefore, means to give up material attachment, not merely to frequently rinse one's skin with water.

In Islam.

Islam stresses the importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene. There are many verses in the Quran which discuss cleanliness. For example, “...Truly, Allah loves those who turn to Him constantly and He 'loves those who keep themselves pure and clean” (2:222). And, “...In mosque, there are men who love to be clean and pure. Allah loves those who make themselves clean and pure” (9:108).  First lessons in Islamic manuals of catechism are matters of cleanliness. Subjects taught first in the book of cleanliness include: which are clean, what is clean and what is not clean, what people need to be cleansed from, how they should clean, and which water should they use to clean. Muslims are required to perform ablution ("wudu") before every prayer, and are recommended to stay in the state of ablution at all times. A ritual bath ("ghusl") is performed on Fridays before the Friday Prayer ("Juma"). Ritual baths are recommended for spiritual purity, also after committing a sin, and are necessary for those who have washed a funeral. Special attention is given to cleaning homes before the arrival of guests or before feasts (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha), and holy days and nights.  Islamic hygienical jurisprudence, which dates back to the 7th century, has a number of elaborate rules. Taharah (ritual purity) involves performing wudu (ablution) for the five daily salah (prayers), as well as regularly performing ghusl (bathing), which led to bathhouses being built across the Islamic world. Islamic toilet hygiene also requires washing with water after using the toilet, for purity and to minimize germs.  A basic form of the contagion/germ theory of disease dates back to medicine in the medieval Islamic world, where it was proposed by Persian physician Ibn Sina (also known as Avicenna) in "The Canon of Medicine" (1025). He mentioned that people can transmit disease to others by breath, noted contagion with tuberculosis, and discussed the transmission of disease through water and dirt. The concept of invisible contagion was eventually widely accepted by Islamic scholars. In the Ayyubid Sultanate, they referred to them as "najasat" ("impure substances"). The fiqh scholar Ibn al-Haj al-Abdari (c. 1250–1336), while discussing Islamic diet and hygiene, gave advice and warnings about how contagion can contaminate water, food, and garments, and could spread through the water supply.

Hygiene.

Since the germ theory of disease, cleanliness has come to mean an effort to remove germs and other hazardous materials. A reaction to an excessive desire for a germ-free environment began to occur around 1989, when David Strachan put forth the "hygiene hypothesis" in the "British Medical Journal." In essence, this hypothesis holds that environmental microbes play a useful role in developing the immune system; the fewer germs people are exposed to in early childhood, the more likely they are to experience health problems in childhood and as adults. The valuation of cleanliness, therefore, has a social and cultural dimension beyond the requirements of hygiene for practical purposes.

Industry.

In industry, certain processes such as those related to integrated circuit manufacturing, require conditions of exceptional cleanliness which are achieved by working in cleanrooms. Cleanliness is essential to successful electroplating, since molecular layers of oil can prevent adhesion of the coating. The industry has developed specialized techniques for parts cleaning, as well as tests for cleanliness. The most commonly used tests rely on the wetting behaviour of a clean hydrophilic metal surface. Cleanliness is also important to vacuum systems to reduce outgassing. Cleanliness is also crucial for semiconductor manufacturing.

Cleanliness is both the abstract state of being clean and free from germs, dirt, trash, or waste, and the habit of achieving and maintaining that state. Cleanliness is often achieved through cleaning. Cleanliness is a good quality, as indicated by the aphorism: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", and may be regarded as contributing to other ideals such as 'health' and 'beauty'.


Background and recording.

Following a short-living dancing career on television shows such as MTV's "Club MTV" and work as a backup dancer in music videos, including rap group Salt-N-Pepa's clip for "Get Up Everybody (Get Up)", in 1993, Anastacia relocated from New York to Los Angeles in hopes of launching a singing career. Soon after, she signed a production deal with Cece Peniston manager O.G. Pearce, but failed to arrange a recording contract. In 1997, Anastacia met San Diego-based music executive Lisa Braudé, who signed her with Braudé Management and encouraged her to join MTV's "The Cut", a talent series for unsigned acts, the following year. Her appearance on the show led to a meeting with Epic Records A&R executive David Massey who offered a recording contract with his own label Daylight, a custom label of Sony Music Entertainment's Epic company, in March 1999.  For the sound of her debut album "Not That Kind", Anastacia envisioned "something in a funky, Sly and the Family Stone" style. While Massey felt that it would be hard to find a song that stood up to her massive voice, he consulted Sam Watters from Epic's R&B group Color Me Badd to work on "a great song for a big voice, kind of "I Will Survive" but with a little more substance." Within three or four days, Watters presented a demo of "I'm Outta Love" in its earliest form. After listening to the demo, Anastacia agreed to further work on it alongside Watters and co-producer Louis Biancaniello. In an interview discussing the development of the song, Anastacia revealed that they had adopted Massey's approach while writing it, aiming for a song "like "It's Raining Men" and "I Will Survive", one that makes you move and makes you happy." Answering a question on British music show "Later... with Jools Holland" regarding if this song was about anybody in particular, Anastacia later replied, "It's about a lot of people in particular, not just one but probably many in my life who I wanted to have a love thing with but it wasn't there."

Critical reception.

"I'm Outta Love" has been lauded by contemporary music critics. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic called the song an "aggressive dancefloor item," and added: "The minute she opens her mouth she starts reminding you of other singers, especially Aretha Franklin." Michel Paoletta, editor for "Billboard" magazine, declared "I'm Outta Love" a "sonic joyride [...] which moves and grooves with a spirit all its own." Less impressed, MTVAsia.com editor Tricia Boey wrote that this song "could very well have been sung by Jennifer Lopez or a whole "Billboard" chart-full of other divas."

Chart performance.

"I'm Outta Love" was first released in the United States, where a promo-only 12 inch single was issued to club DJs in November 1999. Officially released to radio and retailers by February 2000, the song debuted in the week of April 1, 2000 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. It spent three weeks on the chart, peaking at number ninety-two. As of 2016, the single remains Anastacia's only entry on the chart. "I'm Outta Love" fared better on many of the "Billboard" component charts, including number eleven on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, and number two for eight consecutive weeks on both the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts. "I'm Outta Love" also reached number eleven on the Canadian Singles Chart.  The single was released to greater international success in Australia and Europe, where Daylight Records and the Epic label had planned to develop a platform first and promotion through affiliates took off much quicker than in North America. In Australia, the track debuted at number six on the Australian Singles Chart, a month later reached number one and stayed there for five consecutive weeks. The song eventually became the highest-selling single of the year, and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for selling over 140,000 copies. In New Zealand, the single spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the charts and after shipping over 15,000 units to retailers the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) certified it platinum. Like in Australia, the song ended up the highest-selling single of the year in New Zealand.  The track reached the top ten in most European countries in which it charted. "I'm Outta Love" spent three consecutive weeks at number-one in the Wallonian region of Belgium and was ranked eighth on national year-end chart. It also reached the top five in Austria, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and Switzerland, and entered the top ten in Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the Flemish part of Belgium. In the United Kingdom, "I'm Outta Love" sold a total of 292,000 copies and was eventually certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on October 1, 2000.

Music video.

The music video for "I'm Outta Love", directed by Nigel Dick and choreographed by Robin Antin, was filmed on location at the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Dick had previously shot the video for Guns N' Roses's "Welcome to the Jungle" (1987) at the same location. In 1999, "I'm Outta Love" earned Anastacia her first MTV Europe Music Award nomination in the Best New Act category at the 2000 awards ceremony. The song also spawned an official remix video for the Hex Hector Radio Mix, which included some new and extended scenes.

Synopsis.

The video starts out with Anastacia walking through a tunnel with her coat on as we cut to a dressing room where she and her singers are preparing for a performance on stage. Intercut scenes of her female singers are shown in-between alongside Anastacia singing in the crowd. When she sings the song on a microphone, there is a backstory where the girlfriend and boyfriend (proving to be Anastacia's ex) are dating together. When he glances at Anastacia singing, the girlfriend confronts him and slaps him. He then writes a letter. After the performance, the ex boyfriend gives the letter to Anastacia—upon opening it, she walks away from the hotel and out of the tunnel ripping up the letter in pieces.

Credits and personnel.

Credits adapted from the "Not That Kind" linear notes.

"I'm Outta Love" is the debut single by American recording artist Anastacia. Written by Anastacia, Sam Watters, and Louis Biancaniello and produced by the latter of two, it was released on February 29, 2000 as the lead single from her debut album, "Not That Kind" (2000). The song became a major hit in Europe and Australia, reaching number one in Walloon Belgium, Australia and New Zealand; it was the most successful song of 2000 in the latter two regions. It additionally reached the top five in several others, including France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland.


Performance history.

The two-act French libretto was written by Louis-Adolphe Jaime and Étienne Tréfeu, and the opera was first staged at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, Paris, on 19 November 1859. A new three-act version (in which the "Gendarmes' Duet" first appeared), revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux, was first given at the Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs, Paris, on 26 December 1867. An expanded five-act version was devised for a production at the Théâtre de la Gaîté on 25 February 1875. A Paris revival in 1908 at the Théâtre des Variétés with Geneviève Vix in the title role ran for 58 nights.  "Geneviève de Brabant" was first performed in Vienna ("Die schöne Magellone") and Berlin in 1861 and Brussels and Madrid in 1869. The New York premiere was on 22 October 1868, and Farnie's version was first seen in London at the Philharmonic Theatre in Islington, produced by and starring Emily Soldene as Drogan, with Selina Dolaro in the title role, on 11 November 1871. The production ran for a year and a half, and revivals took place over the following decade with Soldene repeating her Drogan.

Synopsis (1867).

Act 1.

At evening in the main square, the burgomaster Van der Prout announces the imminent return from a pilgrimage to the monastery of Mount Poupard of Duke Sifroid’s party. The Duke, married to the beautiful Geneviève of Brabant, has fallen under a curse which prevents them from having any children. To find a cure, a competition is organized and is won by Drogan, a young baker, offering a magic pie. Secretly in love with Geneviève, Drogan asks for his reward to be made the page of Geneviève. Upon his return, the Duke tastes the magic pie, and feels good (Couplets de la poule).  In Geneviève’s apartments, Drogan implores her to allow him to accept him as her page, and confesses that it is he who has been singing beneath her window each night. He leaves as the Duke joins Geneviève, but after an interruption announcing the imminent arrival of Charles Martel, the effects of the pie on the Duke begin, in the form of a terrible bout of indigestion. As the Duke tries to assuage his digestion with a cup of tea, his counsellor Golo and his poet Narcisse arrive to carry out a plot to seize the crown. Golo and Narcisse tell him that Geneviève and Drogan have been witnessed in an embrace: the Duchess and the page must be put to death. But then Charles Martel demands entry to the palace (Boléro), asking Sifroid and his knights to catch the 8.05 train and join his crusade to Palestine. Sifroid condemns Geneviève, then sets off with his soldiers, by the northern railway.

Act 2.

With the help of her servant Brigitte, Geneviève has escaped, along with Drogan, and they find themselves seven months later in a forest. As two men-at-arms approach, they hide. The Gascon and Flemish men-at-arms tell how they have been tasked by Golo to kill a noble lady. Golo and Van der Prout come on the scene and after despatching the men-at-arms to hunt down Geneviève (Golo having put about the story that Sifroid has been killed in the crusades) he calls up the hermit of the ravine. Drogan appears disguised as the statue of the hermit, and warns the men to abandon their pursuit as Sifroid is at the Château d'Asnières with Charles Martel. Even though he was married many years before, Golo threatens Geneviève with marriage. The statue of the hermit comes to life (Drogan) and sends the men-at-arms packing. Geneviève decides to feign death, Drogan takes a lock of her hair, and rushes off to reach the Duke.  Meanwhile, Charles Martel and Sifroid have ended their trip at the Château d'Asnières, where they make merry. Sifroid is taken with a masked lady, Isoline, who explains how her husband left her. Drogan arrives and announces the death of Geneviève. Sifroid decides to set off again with his retinue back to Curaçao to meet Golo – who, Isoline reveals, is the husband who abandoned her.

Act 3.

Geneviève and Brigitte are still in the forest with only a young hind for company. Drogan returns with four huntsmen, looking for Golo. Passing by on the way back from their 'crusade', Sifroid and Martel are stopped by the men-at-arms, but Geneviève recognises and vouches for her husband’s identity. Van der Prout swaps sides again and tells Sifroid that the treacherous Golo is planning to be crowned at a quarter to three. All continue back to Curaçao.  At the appointed hour Golo claims the crown, but he is denounced by Drogan and Sifroid has his crown restored. Isoline promises to punish her errant husband, and all ends well.

Recordings.

These include a radio broadcast from 1956 reissued on INA Mémoire vive conducted by Marcel Cariven featuring Denise Duval, Deva Dassy, Michel Hamel, Jean Giraudeau, Robert Massard and André Balbon, and one from 1970 also conducted by Cariven on Bourg with Annick Simon, Monique Stiot, Bernard Plantey and Jean-Christophe Benoît among the cast.

References.

Notes  Sources

Geneviève de Brabant is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant.


History.

Origin of the name.

The group have a friend named Antònia Font and liked the idea of giving a band composed of five men a woman's name. 'Font' is a common surname and 'Antònia' a common female given name in Catalan.

Trajectory.

In 1997 Antònia Font recorded a demo with the tracks "Cibernauta Joan", "l'Univers és una festa", "Rumba" and "Es xifon és un aparato". Their first concert took place the same year in Bunyola.  In 1999 they recorded their eponymous first album, "Antònia Font", at TJ So studios in Bunyola with producer Tomeu Janer.  Two years later, on 17 February 2001, they presented their second album in Barcelona: "A Rússia". According to Pau Debon, the group's vocalist, the band opted for stylistic continuity with their first album because the style adopted had worked well and they were pleased with it. The album received the 2001 "Disc català de l'any" ("Catalan album of the year") prize awarded by Ràdio 4.  Their subsequent album, "Alegria", appeared one year later. Without abandoning their style, the tone and rhythm of the songs underwent a much greater change between the second album and this one than between the first and second albums.  "Taxi", Antònia Font's fourth album, came out in 2004. The CD was released with an accompanying DVD and text. "Taxi" was named album of the year at the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic and by the Catalan music magazines Enderrock and Rock'n'clàssic.  In 2006 "Batiscafo Katiuscas" was released. This album saw the group incorporate sounds and rhythms inspired by music from the 1980s.  On the 2007 album "Coser i cantar", Antònia Font reinterpreted twenty of their songs with orchestral accompaniment. The album was recorded in Bratislava, Slovakia at Studio 2 of Slovak National Radio, with fifty string and wind musicians from the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra performing arrangements by the Majorcan composer Miquel Àngel Aguiló. For this work they received the 2008 Academia de la Música award for "Best Pop Album", becoming the first artist to win a general category (one open to work performed in any language) at the Premios de la Música with a Catalan-language album. In July 2008, Antònia Font were awarded the annual Premi Nacional de Música from the Generalitat de Catalunya for "Coser i cantar".  In April 2011, the group released their seventh album, "Lamparetes", on their own label, Robot Innocent Companyia Discogràfica. It debuted at number three on the Spanish albums chart, becoming the band's highest-charting album to date.  On August 2010, during the music festival of Cardedeu, some fans made a lipdub with their song "Extraterrestres".  In November 2013, the group announced they would be disbanding at the end of the year. A final concert was planned for 27 December in Palma. Due to high demand, two additional shows were added. Antònia Font played three consecutive farewell concerts in Palma on 26, 27, and 28 December.

Antònia Font () was a Majorcan band, formed in 1997. They are characterized by their festive music and their humorous and fantastic lyrics. The group's creative universe includes elements such as outer space and astronautics, combined with themes from everyday life. Their lyrics are written in the Catalan variant spoken in Mallorca. They are generally classified as a pop group, though they have stated that they do not have any "stylistic prejudices" when composing songs.


History of the Royal Australian Air Force

Formation, 1912.

In 1911, the Imperial Conference that was held in London determined that the armed forces of the British Empire needed to develop an aviation branch. At the time, aircraft were a newly emerging technology, but nevertheless Australia implemented the decision, the only country to do so. The first step taken by the government was to approve the establishment of the Central Flying School (CFS) in 1912. Initially, it had been proposed to establish the school at Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory, where the Royal Military College had been established in 1911, but in July 1913 it was determined that Point Cook, Victoria, was the preferred location. The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was subsequently formed as a Militia unit, with staff and students to be selected from the Citizen Forces, and the first flights by CFS aircraft took place in March 1914.

World War I and the Inter-war years.

Soon after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the AFC sent aircraft to assist the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in capturing German colonies in what is now north-west New Guinea. These colonies surrendered quickly however, before the planes were even unpacked. The first operational flights did not occur until 27 May 1915, when the Mesopotamian Half Flight was called upon to assist the Indian Army in protecting British oil interests in what is now Iraq. The corps later saw action in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front throughout the remainder of World War I. By the end of the war, four squadrons – Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 – had seen active service; another four squadrons – Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8 – had also been raised to provide training in the United Kingdom. The AFC was disbanded along with the rest of the Australian Imperial Force in 1919, following the end of hostilities. Although the Central Flying School continued to operate at Point Cook, military flying virtually ceased until 1920, when the Australian Air Corps was formed. The following year, this was separated from the Army on 31 March 1921, when the Australian Air Force was formed as an independent service; in June that year King George V gave his assent for the service to use the prefix "Royal" and this came into effect on 31 August 1921.  Upon formation, the RAAF had more aircraft than personnel, with 21 officers and 128 other ranks, and just 170 aircraft. Initially, it had been planned to expand the force to 1,500 personnel – three-quarters permanent staff and one quarter reserves – who would serve in six squadrons: two of fighter aircraft, two of reconnaissance aircraft, and two squadrons of seaplanes. These plans were scuttled a year after formation due to budget constraints and until 1924, the service's strength remained steady at just 50 officers and 300 other ranks; of the six planned squadrons, only five had been raised, albeit cadre strength, and these were subsequently merged into a single mixed squadron until 1925. A slightly improved economic situation in 1925 allowed the re-raising of Nos. 1 and 3 Squadrons, which were initially composite units equipped with fighters and bombers. Later in the decade, they were reorganised with No. 1 Squadron becoming a solely bomber formation, while No. 3 focused on army co-operation roles; smaller squadrons – in reality only flights – of fighters and seaplanes were formed within the RAAF's flying training unit, No. 1 Flying Training School, which had been raised at Point Cook.  Throughout the inter-war years the fledgling RAAF focused on local defence and providing training opportunities to Australia's naval and military forces. It also undertook aerial survey missions, meteorological flights, public displays, and provision of defence aid to the civil community, undertaking search and rescue missions and bush fire patrols. In the late 1930s, the force was expanded amidst concerns about a future war in Europe. Additional squadrons were raised and bases established away from the south-east coast, including airbases in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. This expansion saw the RAAF increase its personnel from under 1,000 in 1935 to around 3,500 in 1939, and the establishment of a force of 12 squadrons, with plans for a further six, by the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.

World War II.

Shortly after the declaration of war in Europe, although Australia's air force was small – consisting of just 246 aircraft – the Australian government offered to send six squadrons to Britain to fight, in addition to the 450 Australians who were already serving in the ranks of the Royal Air Force at the time. The RAAF already had one squadron in the United Kingdom, No. 10 Squadron RAAF, which had been dispatched earlier in the year to take ownership of nine Short Sunderland flying boats and return them to Australia. They subsequently took place in their first operational mission on 10 October 1939, when they carried out a sortie to Tunisia. To rapidly expand, Australia joined the Empire Air Training Scheme, under which flight crews received basic training in Australia before travelling to Canada or Rhodesia for advanced training. These crews were then posted to operational units. A total of 17 RAAF bomber, fighter, reconnaissance and other squadrons served initially in Britain, and/or with the Desert Air Force, in North Africa and the Mediterranean.  With British manufacturing targeted by the "Luftwaffe", the Australian government created the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP), which was later known as the Government Aircraft Factories, to supply Commonwealth air forces and the RAAF was eventually provided with large numbers of locally-built versions of British designs like the Beaufort torpedo bomber. In the European Theatre of World War II, RAAF personnel were especially notable in RAF Bomber Command: although they represented only two percent of all RAAF personnel during the war, they accounted for 23% of the total number killed in action. This statistic is further illustrated by the fact that No. 460 Squadron RAAF, mostly flying Avro Lancasters, had an official establishment of about 200 aircrew and yet had 1,018 combat deaths. The squadron was therefore effectively wiped out five times over.  The beginning of the Pacific War—and the rapid advance of Japanese forces—threatened the Australian mainland for the first time. The RAAF was quite unprepared for the emergency, and initially had negligible forces available for service in the Pacific. Its four squadrons based in Malaya – Nos. 1, 8, 21 and 453 – equipped with a mixture of Hudsons, Wirraways and Buffalos, were the first to go into combat, but they suffered heavily against Japanese during the Malayan Campaign and the subsequent fighting on Singapore, highlighting the fact that the Japanese held the upper hand in the air. The devastating air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942 – launched from four aircraft carriers stationed in the Timor Sea – drove the point home. Defended by a small force of just 18 Wirraways and 14 Hudsons from two squadrons – Nos. 12 and 13 – the town was heavily damaged with the loss of 10 ships, 23 aircraft and a death toll of several hundred. In response, some RAAF squadrons – such as No. 452 Squadron. – were transferred from the northern hemisphere—although 15 remained there until the end of the war. Shortages of fighter and ground attack planes led to the acquisition of US-built P-40 Kittyhawks, and the rapid design and manufacture of the first Australian fighter, the CAC Boomerang. RAAF Kittyhawks, such as those operated by Nos. 75, 76 and 77 Squadrons, came to play a crucial role in the New Guinea and Solomon Islands campaigns, especially in the Battle of Milne Bay and in the Kokoda Track campaign.  In the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, imported Bristol Beaufighters proved to be highly effective ground attack and maritime strike aircraft. Beaufighters were later made locally by the DAP. Although it was much bigger than Japanese fighters, the Beaufighter had the speed to outrun them. The RAAF's heavy bomber force predominantly comprised 287 B-24 Liberators, which could bomb Japanese targets as far away as Borneo and the Philippines from airfields in Australia and New Guinea.  In September 1942 most Australian squadrons were grouped under RAAF Command. The only Australian air combat units in the SWPA not under RAAF Command were those based in New Guinea as No. 9 Operational Group RAAF, which was controlled by Fifth Air Force. RAAF Command was charged with defending Australia, except in the north-east, protecting the sea lanes to New Guinea, and conducting operations against Japanese shipping, airfields and other installations in the Dutch East Indies. Its role was thus "mainly defensive" at the outset, with the expectation that "in the event of developments in the North and North-West of Australia, this would be altered". Bostock was to exercise control of air operations through the RAAF area command system, comprising North-Western, Western, Southern, Eastern, and North-Eastern Area Commands.  By late 1945, the RAAF had received or ordered about 500 P-51 Mustangs, for fighter/ground attack purposes. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation initially assembled US-made Mustangs, but later manufactured most of those used. The RAAF's main operational formation, the First Tactical Air Force, comprised more than 18,000 personnel and 20 squadrons; it had taken part in the Philippines and Borneo campaigns and was scheduled to participate in the invasion of the Japanese mainland, Operation Downfall. So too were the RAAF bomber squadrons in Europe, as part of the proposed Tiger Force. However, the war was brought to a sudden end by the US nuclear attacks on Japan. As a result of the Empire Air Training Scheme, about 20,000 Australian personnel had served with other Commonwealth air forces in Europe during World War II. A total of 216,900 men and women served in the RAAF, of whom 9,780 lost their lives. At war's end, a total of 53 RAAF squadrons were serving in the Pacific and a further 17 in Europe. With over 152,000 personnel operating nearly 6,000 aircraft it was the world's fourth largest air force, after those of the USA, the USSR and the UK.

Post-World War II service.

Korean War.

In the Korean War, Mustangs from No. 77 Squadron (77 Sqn), stationed in Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, were among the first United Nations aircraft to be deployed, in ground support, combat air patrol, and escort missions. When the UN planes were confronted by MiG-15 jet fighters, 77 Sqn acquired Gloster Meteors, which enabled some success against the Soviet pilots flying for North Korea. However, the MiGs were superior aircraft and the Meteors were relegated to ground support missions, as the North Koreans gained experience. The air force also operated transport aircraft during the conflict.

Vietnam War.

During the Vietnam War, from 1966–1972, the RAAF contributed squadrons of Caribou STOL transport aircraft (No. 35 Squadron), UH-1 Iroquois helicopters (No. 9 Squadron) and English Electric Canberra bombers (No. 2 Squadron).  The Canberras flew a large number of bombing sorties, two were lost (in 1970 and 1971). Two crew members were killed, two squadron members died of disease, and three from accidents during the war. One of the Canberras lost ("A84-228") was brought down by a surface-to-air missile from which the crew (including the squadron commander, W/C Frank Downing) safely ejected and were rescued by helicopter. The other ("A84-231") was lost near Da Nang, during a bombing run. Its exact location and fate of its crew (FlgOff. Michael Herbert and Plt Off. Robert Carver) were unknown for 28 years, when it was located and their remains were returned to Australia.)  RAAF transport aircraft also supported anti-communist ground forces. The UH-1 helicopters were used in many roles including Dustoff (medical evacuation) and Bushranger Gunships for armed support.

Peacekeeping and Iraq.

Military airlifts were conducted for a number of purposes in the intervening decades, such as the peacekeeping operations in East Timor from 1999. Australia's combat aircraft were not used again in anger until the Iraq War in 2003, when F/A-18s from No. 75 Squadron operated in the escort and ground attack roles.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) traces its history back to the Imperial Conference held in London in 1911, where it was decided aviation should be developed within the Armed Forces of the British Empire. Australia implemented this decision, the only country to do so, by approving the establishment of the Central Flying School (CFS) in 1912. The location for the proposed school was initially to be at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, but in July 1913 Point Cook, Victoria, was announced as the preferred location. The first flights by CFS aircraft took place there in March 1914.


Background.

Following the publication of the well-regarded novels "White Noise" (1985), "Libra" (1988), and "Mao II" (1991), DeLillo made few public appearances and published little for several years while writing "Underworld", besides the folio short story "Pafko at the Wall" which was incorporated into the prologue of "Underworld" with minor changes.  According to DeLillo, the novel's title came to him as he thought about radioactive waste buried deep underground and about Pluto, god of death.

Plot summary.

The prologue is a fictionalized account of The Shot Heard 'Round the World, a home run by Bobby Thomson on October 3, 1951, that won the National League pennant for the New York Giants against their cross-town rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. In DeLillo's account, the game-winning ball is caught by a young black fan named Cotter Martin, while J. Edgar Hoover, watching in the stands, is informed in the middle of the game of the first Soviet test of the hydrogen bomb.  The remainder of the novel, comprising six parts and an epilogue, is a reverse chronological account of the life of Nick Shay, the man who ultimately ends up with the baseball, from his undirected existence as an executive of a waste management company in Arizona in the 1990s back to his childhood in the Bronx in the 1950s, though the non-linear narrative includes a large number of digressions and ancillary subplots.  Part 1 takes place in 1992. Nick Shay lives in Arizona with his wife, Marian, who is having an affair with his colleague, Brian Glassic. Nick visits an art installation of painted B-52 aircraft in the desert by Klara Sax, with whom Nick is later revealed to have had an affair forty years earlier. It is revealed that Nick killed a man when he was a teenager, and that Nick's father disappeared when Nick was a child after going out to get a pack of Lucky Strikes. Nick prefers to imagine that he was killed by the Mafia. In a flashback to 1953, Cotter Martin's father takes the baseball from his son with the intention of selling it.  In Part 2, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Marian begins her affair with Brian, while Nick acquires the baseball from an avid baseball memorabilia collector named Marvin Lundy after Brian meets Lundy on a trip to New York City to see the Fresh Kills Landfill. Elsewhere, in the Bronx, a pessimistic, germophobic nun named Sister Edgar, who was Nick Shay's Catholic school teacher in the 1950s, works among the unbelieving poor and sick. A videotape of a serial killer nicknamed the Texas Highway Killer is described.  In Part 3, in the spring of 1978, Nick attends a waste management conference in the Mojave Desert and meets a swinger named Donna, while Marvin Lundy traces the baseball to San Francisco.  Part 4, in the summer of 1974, mainly concerns Klara Sax, who is working as an artist in New York City, and Matt Shay, Nick's brother, a former chess prodigy, who is a scientist in the nuclear weapons program in New Mexico.  Part 5 encompasses the 1950s and 1960s, beginning with Nick Shay in juvenile detention, following Nick's relationship with a woman named Amy and later with his future wife Marian, and Matt's courtship of his wife Janet. Lenny Bruce's comedy routines on the Cuban Missile Crisis are mentioned several times. In another flashback, Cotter Martin's father sells his baseball to Charles Wainright, a white fan standing in line with his son outside of Yankee Stadium.  Part 6, from the fall of 1951 to the summer of 1952, relates how Nick Shay, running loose after his father left his family, accidentally kills his friend George Manza.  In the epilogue, Nick and Brian travel to Kazakhstan to watch a demo of a new waste disposal system that incinerates the waste with a nuclear explosion. Nick confronts Brian about his affair with Marian, but decides to stay with Marian. Esmeralda, a feral girl in the Bronx whom the Catholic nuns were trying to save, is raped and murdered. Her image then miraculously appears on a billboard. Sister Edgar dies shortly after witnessing the miracle.

Literary significance and reception.

"Underworld" received high acclaim from literary critics, particularly for DeLillo's prose and ambition. David Wiegand of the "San Francisco Chronicle" declaring it DeLillo's “best novel and perhaps that most elusive of creatures, a Great American Novel." Many have described the book as emotionally powerful. David Foster Wallace wrote Delillo a letter in 1997, praising the novel and Delillo's talent. He described "the book as an organic thing" and stated that This novel is (1) a great and significant piece of art fiction; (1a) not like any novel I've read; (2) your best work ever, so far; (3) a huge reward for someone who's read all your previous stuff because it seems to be at once a synthesis and a transfiguration – a transcendence – of your previous stuff; (4) a book in which nothing is skimped or shirked or tossed off or played for the easy laugh, and where (it seems to me) you've taken some truly ballsy personal risks and exposed parts of yourself and hit a level of emotion you've never even tried for elsewhere (at least as I've read your work).He also remarked on the phonetics of the novel, telling Delillo "you use these Saxonic devices heavily and over and over and yet the prose never seems heavy or straining; in fact just the opposite: it always seems exquisitely controlled, sober, poised rather than lunging."  Other critics, however, praised DeLillo's prose but found the novel overlong and argued it could have benefited from more editing. On Salon.com, Laura Miller wrote that “Nick's secret, the one that supposedly provides the book's suspense, proves anticlimactic."  In May 2006, "The New York Times Book Review" named "Underworld" as a runner up for the best work of American fiction of the previous 25 years. It garnered 11 of 125 votes, losing to Toni Morrison's "Beloved" by four votes.  The literary critic Harold Bloom, although also expressing reservations about the book's length, has said "Underworld" is "the culmination of what [DeLillo] can do" and one of the few contemporary American works of fiction that "touched what I would call the sublime," along with works by Cormac McCarthy ("Blood Meridian"), Philip Roth ("American Pastoral" and "Sabbath's Theater"), and Thomas Pynchon ("Mason & Dixon", "Gravity's Rainbow" and "The Crying of Lot 49").  "Underworld" was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award, as well as for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize. The novel won the 2000 William Dean Howells Medal.

Allusions and references.

The novel has J. Edgar Hoover utterly intrigued by "The Triumph of Death", a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Hoover first sees the painting while at the baseball game; the painting was reproduced in "Life" and pieces of it fall on him when someone in the stands above tears up the magazine and tosses the pieces. Later in the book he obtains a print of the painting.  Several segments of the novel are named in homage to other works. "Das Kapital" is Karl Marx's magnum opus, "Long Tall Sally" is a song by Little Richard also famous as a cover by The Beatles, and "Cocksucker Blues" is an infamous unreleased Rolling Stones song and film. "Better Things for Better Living Through Chemistry" was an advertising slogan for DuPont, while "The Cloud of Unknowing" is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century.  The novel incorporates a number of historical events. The prologue is about "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" and the whereabouts of the ball hit by Thomson are a recurrent element of the book. The book also employs Lenny Bruce’s reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Soviet Union's atomic weapons program (including their testing grounds in Kazakhstan).  DeLillo has said that the front page of "The New York Times" on October 4, 1951, inspired "Underworld".

Adaptation.

The novel was at one point optioned by producer Scott Rudin for a film adaptation before it lapsed. In 2002 Robert Greenwald held the rights and was in discussions for turning it into a television miniseries.

Underworld is a 1997 novel by the American writer Don DeLillo. The novel is centered on the efforts of Nick Shay, a waste management executive who grew up in the Bronx, to trace the history of the baseball struck in The Shot Heard 'Round the World, and encompasses numerous subplots drawn from American history in the second half of the twentieth century. Described as both postmodernist and a reaction to postmodernism, it examines themes of nuclear proliferation, waste, and the contribution of individual lives to the course of history.


Composition and release.

"The Pleasure Principle" has been described as featuring synth-pop and new wave throughout. Numan completely abandoned electric guitar on the album. This change, coupled with frequent use of synthetic percussion, produced the most purely electronic and robotic sound of his career. In addition to the Minimoog synthesizer employed on his previous album, Numan made liberal use of the Polymoog keyboard, particularly its distinctive "Vox Humana" preset. Other production tricks included copious amounts of flanging, phasing and reverb, plus the unusual move of including solo viola and violin parts in the arrangements. Numan was also influenced by Kraftwerk; the track "Cars" had the same musical "glides" as "Autobahn" and both songs used the same synthesizers.  Notable tracks included "Airlane", the lead-off instrumental; "Metal", sung from the perspective of an android longing to be human (covered by Nine Inch Nails on "Things Falling Apart", Thought Industry on "Recruited to Do Good Deeds for the Devil" and Afrika Bambaataa on "Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light", and used as backing for Planet Funk's "Who Said"); "Films", acknowledged by Bambaataa as an important influence on the U.S. hip hop scene; "M.E.", told from the perspective of the last machine on Earth (later used as backing for Basement Jaxx’s "Where’s Your Head At?"); the electronic ballad "Complex", a UK number 6 single; and "Cars", a worldwide synthpop hit. "Cars" reached number 9 in the U.S. and number 1 in Canada, helping make "The Pleasure Principle" Numan's strongest North American showing, but lack of a strong commercial follow-up resulted in him being tagged as a one-hit wonder there. The album was #49 in the Canadian Top 100 of the year.

Tour.

Numan toured throughout the world in support of the album with a huge stage set including banks of neon lights and twin pyramids which moved across the stage via radio control. The live show was captured on record as "Living Ornaments ’79" and on video as "The Touring Principle". The support act on the UK leg of the tour was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. An expanded version of "Living Ornaments '79" was issued on CD in 2005, and the final show of "The Touring Principle" was captured on the CD "Engineers" (released exclusively through Numan's official website) in 2008.  Numan performed a 16-date mini-tour dedicated to the album across the UK and Ireland during November and December of 2009, similar to Numan's previous tours for "Replicas" and "Telekon", performing the album in its entirety. Numan had been scheduled to play the 2010 Coachella Festival in Indio, California but was forced to cancel, due to the Icelandic volcano eruption that disrupted air travel. To make up for this, Numan embarked upon another 16-date mini-tour of the U.S. that August, in which he again performed "The Pleasure Principle" in its entirety.

Reissue.

Of the bonus tracks later included on CD reissues, "Random" and "Oceans" were instrumental outtakes from "The Pleasure Principle" sessions, originally issued on vinyl with other previously unreleased tracks in 1985, while "Asylum" was the instrumental B-side of the "Cars" vinyl single. The live versions of "Me! I Disconnect From You" and "Bombers", which appeared as B-sides of "Complex", were recorded on tour and later made available in their original context on the expanded "Living Ornaments '79" CD, along with "Remember I Was Vapour" and "On Broadway". The latter two tracks were first released as a promotional single shipped with early pressings of the album "Telekon" in 1980; Numan's cover version of the classic "On Broadway" was dominated by a characteristic synthesizer solo by then-former (and soon-to-be-again) Ultravox band member Billy Currie.

Reception.

AllMusic's Greg Prato rated "The Pleasure Principle" 4.5 of 5 stars. He explained that "there is not a single weak moment on the disc" and that "the quality of the songs gets stronger and stronger as the album progresses". He concluded: "If you had to own just one Gary Numan album, "The Pleasure Principle" would be it." Robert Christgau rated the album a B, saying that it was where "metal machine music goes easy-listening." He also stated, "This time he's singing about robots, engineers, and isolation. In such a slight artist, these things make all the difference."

Track listing.

All tracks written by Gary Numan, except where noted.

30th Anniversary Edition.

To coincide with "The Pleasure Principle" 30th Anniversary Tour, a special edition of the album was released on 21 September 2009.  Disc three (Bonus tracks only available on the 3CD version available from the Numan website)

40th Anniversary Edition.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the release of "The Pleasure Principle", a special edition of the album, "The Pleasure Principle: The First Recordings" was released on 11 October 2019. Released on 2 LP coloured vinyl and 2 CD editions.

The Pleasure Principle is the debut solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan. Released about six months after "Replicas" (1979), the second album with his band Tubeway Army, "The Pleasure Principle" peaked at number 1 in the United Kingdom.


Application to price index theory.

The United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a price index that is based on the idea of a cost-of-living index. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) explains the differences: The CPI frequently is called a cost-of-living index, but it differs in important ways from a complete cost-of-living measure. BLS has for some time used a cost-of-living framework in making practical decisions about questions that arise in constructing the CPI. A cost-of-living index is a conceptual measurement goal, however, not a straightforward alternative to the CPI. A cost-of-living index would measure changes over time in the amount that consumers need to spend to reach a certain utility level or standard of living. Both the CPI and a cost-of-living index would reflect changes in the prices of goods and services, such as food and clothing that are directly purchased in the marketplace; but a complete cost-of-living index would go beyond this to also take into account changes in other governmental or environmental factors that affect consumers' well-being. It is very difficult to determine the proper treatment of public goods, such as safety and education, and other broad concerns, such as health, water quality, and crime that would constitute a complete cost-of-living framework.

Economic theory.

The basis for the theory behind the cost-of-living index is attributed to Russian economist A. A. Konüs. The theory assumes that consumers are optimizers and get as much utility as possible from the money that they have to spend. These assumptions can be shown to lead to a "consumer's cost function", "C"("u","p"), the cost of achieving utility level "u" given a set of prices "p". Assuming that the cost function holds across time (i.e., people get the same amount of utility from one set of purchases in year as they would have buying the same set in a different year) leads to a "true cost of living index". The general form for Konüs's true cost-of-living index compares the consumer's cost function given the prices in one year with the consumer's cost function given the prices in a different year:  Since "u" can be defined as the utility received from a set of goods measured in quantity, "q", "u" can be replaced with "f"("q") to produce a version of the true cost of living index that is based on price and quantities like most other price indices:  In simpler terms, the true cost-of-living index is the cost of achieving a certain level of utility (or standard of living) in one year relative to the cost of achieving the same level the next year.  Utility is not directly measurable, so the true cost of living index only serves as a theoretical ideal, not a practical price index formula. However, more practical formulas can be evaluated based on their relationship to the true cost of living index. One of the most commonly used formulas for consumer price indices, the Laspeyres price index, compares the cost of what a consumer bought in one time period (q) with how much it would have cost to buy the same set of goods and services in a later period. Since the utility from q in the first year should be equal to the utility from q in the next year, Laspeyres gives the upper bound for the true cost-of-living index. Laspeyres only serves as an upper bound, because consumers could turn to substitute goods for those goods that have gotten more expensive and achieved the same level of utility from q for a lower cost. In contrast, a Paasche price index uses the cost of a set of goods purchased in one time period with the cost it would have taken to buy the same set of goods in an earlier time period. It can be shown that the Paasche is a lower bound for true cost of living index. Since upper and lower bounds of the true cost of living index can be found, respectively, through the Laspeyres and Paasche indices, the geometric average of the two, known as the Fisher price index, is a close approximation of the true cost of living index if the upper and lower bounds are not too far apart.

A cost-of-living index is a theoretical price index that measures relative cost of living over time or regions. It is an index that measures differences in the price of goods and services, and allows for substitutions with other items as prices vary.


History.

The "Indiana Weekly Messenger" was published in the town between 1874 and 1946.  The Downtown Indiana Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. Also listed on the National Register are Breezedale, Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway Indiana Passenger Station, Silas M. Clark House, Graff's Market, James Mitchell House, Old Indiana County Courthouse, Indiana Borough 1912 Municipal Building, Indiana Armory, Old Indiana County Jail and Sheriff's Office, and John Sutton Hall.  Indiana Mall is the area's major shopping center.

Industry.

For decades the major industry of the town was coal mining, but as mines closed throughout the latter half of the 20th-century the area has had ongoing economic difficulty. Natural gas surveying and production have picked up some of the slack, and Indiana serves as the home of the largest privately owned drilling company in the United States, S.W. Jack Drilling Company. It counts a number of other production and service firms as members of the community, as well as three publicly traded companies: S&T Bancorp, Inc., First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, and Superior Well Services Inc. As well, it holds one of the nation's largest independent insurance agencies: The Reschini Group, which was founded by the nation's first female insurance agent, Rose Reschini, in 1938.  A large section of the southern part of the town, and bordering the university is occupied by Kovalchick Salvage Co. The land was recently purchased by the university and it plans to rejuvenate part of what is considered the largest eyesore in the community. Kovalchick holds large amounts of railroad salvage and aluminum. As of December 2008, roughly fifty percent of the salvage materials held by Kovalchick Corporation have been cleared or otherwise removed from publicly viewable land.

Notable people.

Indiana was the birthplace and hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart (1908–1997), who was born there and lived at 104 North 7th Street. Despite the fact that he left the area upon graduating from high school, the town always followed his career closely, with the local newspaper periodically publishing rumors in his later years that Stewart planned to return there to live. On May 20, 1983, Stewart was given a 75th birthday celebration by the town. Before Stewart's death, a museum to his memory was opened on the third floor of the local public library, and a bronze statue of Stewart was erected in his honor at the county courthouse during his 75th birthday. The town annually holds a Jimmy Stewart film festival as part of the town's "It's a Wonderful Life" holiday celebration. Environmentalist author Edward Abbey (1927–1989) was born at the Indiana hospital and raised in Indiana and near the Indiana County towns and villages of Saltsburg, Home, and Tanoma. His first novel, "Jonathan Troy" (1954), is set entirely in a thinly disguised Indiana, and his novel "The Fool's Progress" (1988), which he called his "fat masterpiece", is an autobiographical account of his growing up in this area and his imagined attempt to return home after a lifetime spent mostly in the desert Southwest. His nonfiction book "Appalachian Wilderness" (1970) lovingly describes Indiana and Home. There is a Pennsylvania state historical marker for Abbey.

Geography.

Indiana, Pennsylvania is located at (40.6211, -79.1549). The borough is an independent municipality surrounded by White Township. For some time in the 1990s there was discussion of merging the borough and township, but the matter was never acted upon.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of, all of it land.

Climate.

Indiana has a humid continental climate (Köppen "Dfb"), with warm summers and cold, snowy winters. Precipitation is highest in the summer months, falling as snow usually between November and April.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2010, there were 13,975 people, and 4,624 households residing in the borough. The population density in 2000 was 8,440.0 people per square mile (3,267.6/km). There were 5,096 housing units at an average density of 2,887.6 per square mile (1,117.9/km). The racial makeup of the borough was 91.51% White, 5.19% African American, 0.07% Native American, 1.89% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.  There were 4,804 households, out of which 14.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.5% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 65.3% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.81.  In the borough the population was spread out, with 8.2% under the age of 18, 59.4% from 18 to 24, 13.7% from 25 to 44, 10.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.  The median income for a household in the borough was $21,279, and the median income for a family was $47,768. Males had a median income of $32,333 versus $27,831 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $12,317. About 11.2% of families and 44.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (or IUP) is a public university founded in 1875. It offers over 100 undergraduate majors and is the only doctoral degree-granting institution in the system.  For public K-12 education, the Indiana Area School District supports four neighborhood elementary schools (Eisenhower Elementary, Horace Mann, East Pike, Ben Franklin), a junior high school (Indiana Area Junior High School) and high school (Indiana Area Senior High School), which are accredited and recognized for quality. A Catholic-affiliated Pre-K through grade 6 program is offered at the St. Bernard School, in addition to other various parochial schools for different denominations.  Early care and education programs for pre-k children are available. The non-profit IndiKids or (Indiana County Child Day Care Centers) offers NAEYC-accredited care for children of students and community members on the campus of IUP and throughout the community.

Local media.

Indiana's local newspaper is the "Indiana Gazette". Indiana is also home to several radio stations:  Indiana receives Television stations from both Pittsburgh and Johnstown-Altoona markets.

Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The population was 13,975 at the 2010 census, and since 2013 has been part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area after being a long time part of the Pittsburgh Media Market. Indiana is also the principal city of the Indiana, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.