Early life.

Mary Ann Ball was born on July 19, 1817, in Knox County, Ohio, to Hiram and Annie Rodgers Ball. She was one of the first women who attended Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1847, she married Robert Bickerdyke, who died in 1859, two years before the Civil War. Together, the Bickerdykes had two sons.  She later moved to Galesburg, Illinois, where she worked as botanic physician and primarily worked with alternative medicines using herbs and plants. Bickerdyke began to attend the Congregational Church in Galesburg shortly after she became a widow.

Civil War service.

Mary Bickerdyke served in the Civil War from June 9, 1861 to March 20, 1865, working in a total of nineteen battles. Bickerdyke was described as a determined nurse who did not let anyone stand in the way of her duties. Her patients, the enlisted soldiers, referred to her as "Mother" Bickerdyke because of her caring nature. When a surgeon questioned her authority to take some action, she replied, "On the authority of Lord God Almighty, have you anything that outranks that?" In reality, her authority came from her reputation with the Sanitary Commission and her popularity with the enlisted men.  Dr. Woodward, a surgeon with the 22nd Illinois Infantry and a friend of Bickerdyke's, wrote home about the filthy, chaotic military hospitals at Cairo, Illinois. The letter was read aloud in their church and Galesburg's citizens collected $500 worth of supplies and selected Bickerdyke to deliver them (no one else would go). After meeting Mary Livermore, she was appointed a field agent for the Northwestern branch of the Sanitary Commission. Livermore also helped Bickerdyke find care for her two sons in Beloit, Wisconsin, while she was in the field with the army during the later part of the war. Her sons complained about living in Beloit. She stayed in Cairo as a nurse, and while there, she organized the hospitals and gained Grant's appreciation. Grant endorsed her efforts and detailed soldiers to her hospital train, and when his army moved down the Mississippi, Bickerdyke went, too, setting up hospitals where they were needed. Bickerdyke became a matron of the hospital in only five months.  She later joined a field hospital at Fort Donelson, working alongside Mary J. Safford. Bickerdyke cites Fort Donelson, specifically February 15 and 16, as the first battle she witnessed. At Fort Donelson, she realized that laundry services were lacking in the field hospitals. She packed up the soiled clothes and bedding that had been used by the men, added disinfectants, and sent it on a steamer bound for Pittsburg Landing to be cleaned by the Chicago Sanitary Commission. She also requested that her colleagues in Chicago send washing machines, portable kettles, and mangles. She then organized escaped and former slaves to provide laundry services for the hospitals she set up in the field.  After serving at Fort Donelson, she was appointed matron at Gayoso Block Hospital in Memphis. Gayoso had 900 patients, including 400 Native Americans. Like her other hospitals, "Mother" Bickerdyke employed escaped and former slaves at Gayoso. She had left Gayoso to run errands and returned to find the medical director had sent away the escaped and former slaves who helped her provide care for the hospital's patients. She left for dinner but did not return right away. Rather, she visited General Hurlbut's headquarters. She was given written authority to keep her employees until such time as Hurlbut himself revoked the order. She also set about acquiring cows and hens to provide dairy products for the hospital. General Hurlbut set aside President's Island for their pasture and the escaped and former slaves cared for the animals.  Bickerdyke also worked closely with Eliza Emily Chappell Porter of Chicago's Northwestern branch of the United States Sanitary Commission. She later worked on the first hospital boat. During the war, she became chief of nursing under the command of General Ulysses S. Grant, and served at the Battle of Vicksburg. As chief of nursing, Bickerdyke sometimes deliberately ignored military procedure, and when Grant's staff complained about her behavior, Union Gen. William T. Sherman reportedly threw up his hands and exclaimed, "She outranks me. I can't do a thing in the world." Sherman acknowledged that she was "one of his best generals" and other officers referred to her as the "Brigadier Commanding Hospitals." Sherman was especially fond of this volunteer nurse, who followed the western armies. Bickerdyke held the favor of both General Sherman and General Grant, who often provided her whatever she requested of them.  On October 27, 1863, Bickerdyke reported to Chattanooga and was witness to the battle of Lookout Mountain, nicknamed "the battle above the clouds." "I watched the dreadful combat until the clouds hid all from view," she wrote in a letter to Mary Holland, "In fancy I can hear General Hooker's artillery now." Bickerdyke set up the field hospital of the Fifteenth Army Corps for the Battle of Missionary Ridge, where she was the only female attendant for four weeks. Part of her work during this campaign was to collect personal items of soldiers killed in battle and return them to the soldiers' homes. On the march to capture Atlanta, Georgia, despite General Sherman's orders to inflict "all the damage you can against [the enemy's] war resource," Bickerdyke worked to build hospitals for Confederate soldiers.  By the end of the war, with the help of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, Mother Bickerdyke had built 300 hospitals and aided the wounded on 19 battlefields including the Battle of Shiloh and Sherman's March to the Sea. "Mother" Bickerdyke was so loved by the army that the soldiers would cheer her when she appeared. At Sherman's request, she rode at the head of the XV Corps in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington at the end of the war.

After the War.

After the war ended, Bickerdyke was employed in several domains. She worked at the Home for the Friendless in Chicago, Illinois in 1866. With the aid of Colonel Charles Hammond who was president of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, she helped fifty veterans' families move to Salina, Kansas as homesteaders. She ran a hotel there with the aid of General Sherman. Originally known as the Salina Dining Hall, it came to be called the Bickerdyke House. Later, she became an attorney, helping Union veterans with legal problems, including obtaining pensions.  General Logan helped her get a job in the San Francisco Mint. She also worked for the Salvation Army there. While in California, she was elected as the first president of Lyon Women's Relief Corps, No. 6 of Oakland, California. She declined, but is on their membership rolls as a charter member.  Bickerdyke received a special pension of $25 a month from Congress after Mary Livermore lobbied on her behalf. This special bill was introduced by Representative Long of Massachusetts. Generals Grant, Sherman, Pope, and Long testified on it. The bill passed on May 9, 1886.  Bickerdyke retired to Bunker Hill, Kansas to live with her son. In 1901, she died peacefully after a minor stroke and was buried in Galesburg.

Legacy.

Clara Barton wrote a poem entitled "The Women Who Went to the Field" that honored Bickerdyke, Cornelia Hancock, Dorothea Dix, Mary Livermore, and Annie Etheridge.  Statues of her have been erected in Galesburg, Illinois and in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The United States government recognized her military achievements with a hospital ship and liberty ship named the SS "Mary Bickerdyke" launched in October 1943.  The Seminary/Kellogg Street overpass in Galesburg, Illinois opened on November 30, 2014 and is officially named "Bickerdyke Bridge".

Mary Ann Bickerdyke (July 19, 1817 – November 8, 1901), also known as Mother Bickerdyke, was a hospital administrator for Union soldiers during the American Civil War and a lifelong advocate for veterans. She was responsible for establishing 300 field hospitals during the war and served as a lawyer assisting veterans and their families with obtaining pensions after the war.


Gameplay.

"Analogue: A Hate Story" is a visual novel featuring semi-static manga-style character images, and focused on reading text logs. Using the mouse and keyboard, the player interacts with the "Mugunghwa"s main computer to read log entries, communicate with the AIs, and occasionally enter commands directly into the vessel's computer system. At any time in the game, the player can save their game, adjust options, etc.  The main user interface allows the player to read through various diaries and letters that reveal the game's backstory and insight into its many (deceased) characters. For the most part, navigating this interface is similar to navigating a basic e-mail system, in that messages are chronologically arranged and searchable. They are grouped in usually numbered "blocks", released to the player by *Hyun-ae or *Mute throughout the game. For the most part, the AIs release blocks "out of order", or do not release all entries in a block, forcing the player to assemble the timeline of events out of what clues they have, and draw certain conclusions independently until (or if) the AIs can be convinced to be more forthcoming. In most cases, the player can, after reading a log entry, show its content to the currently active AI. This is the primary process by which additional information and message blocks are revealed. Players can also type in an entry's alphanumeric ID in the main log menu to obtain it directly, as long as its corresponding block is decrypted.  Communication with *Hyun-ae and *Mute is limited to choosing responses to yes-no questions. In the game, *Hyun-ae explains that the ship's disrepair may have led to the language parsing systems to malfunction, forcing her to put the interface together from scratch. Though *Hyun-ae and *Mute almost never communicate directly, the player can act as a go-between, taking a list of direct questions from *Mute to *Hyun-ae. This is a major turning point in the game, as the player not only receives answers to the questions, but has occasional opportunities to voice a third opinion on the events that led to the "Mugunghwa's" current state. The player can also access the "Mugunghwa's" override terminal, which can be used to decrypt data log blocks, switch between AI, change costumes for *Hyun-ae, adjust the behavior of some ship systems (a key aspect for the meltdown sequence), and more. The override terminal works like a basic text parser system similar to Unix shell commands, accepting only a very limited vocabulary of instructions that must be typed directly and correctly.  Due to the branching nature of the story, the game must be played more than once to unlock all logs to complete the game, as it is impossible to reveal all log entries and information from the AIs in one playthrough. A log system separate from the game's save files displays all discovered logs from all playthroughs, effectively tracking the player's overall completion.

Plot.

Setting and characters.

Set several thousand years in the future, "Analogue" revolves around the "Mugunghwa" (), a generation ship that lost contact with Earth some 600 years prior to the events of the game. For reasons initially unclear, society aboard the ship had degraded from that of modern, 21st Century South Korea, to the intensely patriarchal culture of the medieval Joseon Dynasty. In the process, the ship's clocks were reset to year 1, and the colonists began using Hanja characters to read and write. The reasons for why such a cultural shift has occurred is lost to time, leaving the player to formulate the cause on their own. Over the three centuries after the shift, the ship's birth rates began to gradually decline, to below the "replacement rate" of noble families. By year 322, the ship inexplicably went dark, falling into a state of severe disrepair.  In "Analogue"s present, 622 years later, the "Mugunghwa" is discovered in orbit above Antares B, a star system "en route" to its destination. A friend of the protagonist's, a dispatch officer, is the one who discovers the ship on their radar; this catches the attention of the Saeju Colony Historical Society (which suggests that humans have established planetary colonies beyond Earth), who sponsors the recovery of any remaining text logs that can explain the ship's disappearance. The dispatch officer gives the unnamed silent protagonist, an independent investigator, this "job" in the introduction message for its isolation from social situations; this implies that the protagonist is somewhat asocial, but beyond this their personality and background is based almost entirely upon the player's decisions. The protagonist encounters two AI cores within the ship's computer. The first, *Hyun-ae (), is a bright, cheerful girl who loves cosplay, and is highly curious about the player and the future they come from. The other, *Mute, is the ship's security AI and self-proclaimed "social creature", who outranked all but Emperor Ryu, her master and Captain of the ship. The AIs dislike one another intensely, apparently due to the event that led to the ship's demise. The logs the player must recover are written by members of the Imperial Ryu family, the noble Kim and Smith families, and those linked to them. The game relies heavily on this unreliable narrator mechanic, where the AI characters and log entries thematically withhold key information from the player in order to add to the importance of certain elements of the plot (e.g. the administrator password to the ship's computer).

Story.

In "Analogue"s introductory cutscene, the protagonist receives a message from a colleague, who tasks them with accessing the text logs aboard the "Mugunghwa", and download as many as possible, as sponsored by the Saeju Colony Historical Society. After enabling the system AI using a Linux-style terminal, *Hyun-ae greets the player, pleasantly shocked to find an external connection. She expresses her gratitude to the player for contacting the ship "after so many years", and promises that she will do her utmost to help access the logs.  As the player reads the logs, *Hyun-ae provides commentary on the letters and diaries of the late inhabitants of the "Mugunghwa". A key series of logs discovered with *Hyun-ae is the diary of the Pale Bride, a sick girl on the ship who was placed in stasis so her compromised immune system could be cured by future medical technology not available during her lifetime. The Pale Bride was brought out of stasis many years later by the descendants of her immediate family, the Kim family, in order to serve as a fertile young bride to Emperor Ryu In-ho, captain of the "Mugunghwa". She found herself in a culturally reverted, deeply misogynistic society, writing that "[e]veryone's so uneducated and stupid". The Pale Bride, accustomed to the more liberal society of her own time, has difficulty assimilating with this reverted culture, and often describes youthful rebellions in her diary entries.  After giving the player a key entry from the Pale Bride's diary, *Hyun-ae reveals that she is the AI form of the Pale Bride, and asks the player to decrypt a block of restricted data by entering the override terminal in super-user mode (accessible only by entering a certain password). While attempting to do so, the player encounters a corrupted AI core and is forced to restore it to proceed. This activates *Mute, who reveals that *Hyun-ae may be linked to the ship's demise by referring to her as "that murderous bitch". As only one of the AIs can be active at a time (determined by keying in Linux-like terminal commands), the path through the story and the revelations contained within the many logs and messages branch based on decisions made by the player - most relevantly, which AI receives the most attention.  Upon reaching one of two criteria (obtaining a certain percentage of the games logs, or showing *Hyun-ae any one of *Mute's questions), the game's main climax occurs—the "Mugunghwa"s nuclear fission reactor enters meltdown, endangering the AI cores, valuable data, and the protagonist. The player must execute a series of commands to safely shutdown the reactor and vent out residual heat, all within 20 minutes. The player must choose which AIs they will continue the story with prior to meltdown; leaving their separate cores on consumes too much power for the backup power system, and it is not possible to activate the dormant AI from this point onwards. Once the player has safely disabled the reactor, saving the life of the active AI, the game will continue similarly to before, with the player accessing logs and the surviving AI providing commentary. Each AI reveals a different side of the Mugunghwa's story: *Hyun-ae will assist in uncovering the Pale Bride's perspective, while *Mute yields logs from the noble families of the ship. More interaction will take place between the player and the AI, until a pivot is reached with the relationship and one of the five endings will occur.  Eventually, it is revealed that the Pale Bride (now *Hyun-ae) was brutally treated by the Kim family after they awoke her from stasis. After many small rebellions and increasingly serious punishments, going so far as to refusing to be wed to Emperor Ryu, to whom she had been promised as a bride and concubine, her adoptive parents cut out her tongue to prevent the young girl from speaking out against men (a trauma *Mute was unaware of to the game's present). After her marriage, Hyun-ae became close friends with the Emperor's first wife, Empress Ryu Jae-hwa. She calls her "stronger than I ever was", not letting men order her around "while still knowing her place"; as well as the only person to notice Hyun-ae's muteness and failing health. Upon the Empress's sudden death, Hyun-ae's sorrow and rage ultimately drove her to kill everyone she hated aboard the "Mugunghwa" by deactivating its life support systems. As the crew suffocated to death, she retreated into the computer system as an AI by using a "neurosynaptic" scan of her brain and a copy of *Mute's AI coding, which she used to deactivate the security AI up until "Analogue"s present. This explains the *Hyun-ae's hatred of the Kims, *Mute's hatred of *Hyun-ae, and acts as a key factor for the player's decisions.  The first two endings involve *Hyun-ae leaving the Mugunghwa with the protagonist, either as a companion or lover. In the third ending, the protagonist leaves without taking either AI with them (either by not saving the ship from meltdown in time, or by prematurely downloading the logs before the end of the AI commentary has been reached). This conclusion can also be reached if the player opts not to download the AI data during the final conclusion. The fourth ending involves "kidnapping" *Mute, effectively relieving her of her duties on the ship. The fifth ending, which can only be accessed by "cheating" (searching manually for a log which would not normally appear on the story branch in question), involves taking "both" AIs as a harem. The game can also end by penalty for disagreeing too much with an AI, causing the angered AI to permanently disconnect the protagonist from the ship's computer, or by the "bad priorities" ending, which occurs when the player downloads the logs "during" the meltdown sequence, which takes too much time, killing them in the explosion.

Development and release.

When looking for a setting to place "Analogue", Christine Love settled on Korea's Joseon Dynasty, saying that it had "always fascinated me the most for a number of reasons, not all of them negative." Among those reasons was how women were dehumanizingly treated then compared to the Goryeo Dynasty. "The plot is moved mostly by the Pale Bride, the modern girl who can't understand what's going on...but the crux of it, really, was trying to get into the heads of everyone else[:] the men and women who have internalized all these awful misogynist ideals and take them completely for granted as the way things are. So the story really just formed itself around that question: what would it be like to be a woman in that society? History didn't care about the answer, but I do. The rest—the modern-thinking woman who can't possibly survive [*Hyun-ae], the women who are forced to navigate family politics, the men who are complicit in this whole system but can't just be dismissed as bad people [Smith]—all came naturally in that attempt to answer it."  Love had mixed feelings about the AI characters during development. For instance, *Hyun-ae, as the Pale Bride, underwent almost no change from being a girl of modern times who couldn't understand the society she was thrust into. *Mute, apart from her position as the ship's security AI, was an unknown with, as Love stated, "how she'd end up turning out." As *Mute's "cheerful misogyny" began to define itself through her dialog, however, Love "started to hate her, especially with every line I wrote... Then she started to grow on me[. I]t was never really her fault she was like that[;] it was just her way of surviving, I realized." Neither character gave her much surprise, but Love "definitely never anticipated feeling so much sympathy for *Mute."  In an informal Kotaku interview, Love revealed that she considered being drunk while writing a "necessity", due to the Joseon dynasty's reprehensible history and the nature of the research of social agendas against women. Despite her disgust at the philosophies behind "Analogue's" misogyny, Love expressed her interest in how "ideas take root...Nobody ever just wakes up one day and says[,] 'yeah, I hate women, I wish we'd stop letting them read.'"  On April 13, 2012, Dischan Media announced that it would distribute "Analogue: A Hate Story", along with Juniper's Knot, through its online store.  An update for the game containing a Japanese localization was released on December 4, 2014. The game is also being localized by volunteers into Spanish and German.  "Analogue"'s soundtrack was composed by Isaac Schankler. It contains eighteen tracks, with three of them included as bonus tracks.

Reception.

"Analogue" was highly praised on both plot and interface, with the former being more noted than the latter. Eurogamer and JayIsGames praised the dark and emotional themes, pointing to how the mechanics interact with the thematic plot.  Several bloggers and gaming media sites noted the mechanics and interface of the game as well as the plot, such as 2chan.us and Killscreen, with 2chan labelling it as a "literary and intellectual delight." Matthew Sakey of Tap-Repeatedly remarked that "the thing about Christine Love is that she is a really, really good writer, one capable of astonishing deftness in her work."  "PC Gamer UK" gave "Analogue" 76 out of a 100, noting in particular to the skilfulness of the author's structural talent. Alec Meer of Rock, Paper, Shotgun said the brightness of the art was contradictory to the gloomy themes. As of August 26, 2013, "Analogue" holds a Metascore of 62 on Metacritic.

Sequel.

Christine Love announced that a sequel to "Analogue" titled "Hate Plus". Originally planned to be DLC before becoming full sequel release on 19 August 2013. According to an article by Kotaku's Patricia Hernandez, the sequel takes place after the events aboard the Mugunghwa and will feature the player returning to Earth and discovering how society on board the ship broke down. Those that finished the original game are able to import their save games into the sequel so that any decisions made will be part of the new story. Following Endings 1, 2, 4, and/or 5, "Hate Plus" reveals the events that took place aboard the "Mugunghwa", prior to the shift into the Joseon-like society depicted in the original "Analogue".

Analogue: A Hate Story (Korean: ) is a visual novel created by independent designer and visual novelist Christine Love. It was created with the Ren'Py engine, and was first released for download on the author's website in February 2012. A sequel set centuries after Love's earlier work, "" (2010), "Analogue" revolves around an unnamed investigator, who is tasked with discovering the reason for an interstellar ship's disappearance once it reappears after 600 years. The game's themes focus similarly around human/computer interaction, interpersonal relationships, and LGBT issues; but focus primarily on "transhumanism, traditional marriage, loneliness and cosplay."


Personal life.

Early life.

Although Taymur was born into a royal family from Iraqi Kurdistan, she worked diligently for those who did not have a voice. Her passion for women's rights in Egypt is why she is recognized as a pioneer in her field and culture.  Taymur was the daughter of Isma'il Taymur, a member of the Royal Turkish entourage. Taymur's mother was Circassian and a freed slave. Her father provided Taymur with an education and when he died she assumed the education of her brother, Ahmed Pasha Taymur. At age 14, Taymur married and moved to Istanbul.

Education.

Against Taymur's mother's attempts to teach her embroidery, Taymur's father educated her in the Quran, Islamic Jurisprudence, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. Her father also taught her composition, where she began her literary career with poetry in all three of her learned languages. Taymur was dedicated to education but because of gender at time in Egypt, she was restricted to only study in her home. Taymur voiced her anger with the segregation in poems when only 13. At age 14 she gave up her studies and writing when she married Mahmud Bey al-Islambuli. After the death of her daughter, father and husband, she returned to Egypt where she studied with female tutors on the subject of poetic composition.

Family.

Taymur was born to a literary family; her brother Ahmed Pasha Taymur was a researcher and novelist. She also had two nephews: Mohammad Taymur, a playwright and Mahmoud Taymur, a novelist.  The Taymur's believed Persian is the language of literature and refinement, whereas the Arabic language is used for religion and the people.  Taymur's father always wanted to provide his daughter with adequate education. Taymur got married in 1854 when she was 14 to Mahmud Bey al-Islambuli, a Turkish notable, and left with her husband to Istanbul. In 1873, Taymur's daughter, Tawhida, died from an unknown illness. Her father died in 1882, followed closely by the death of her husband in 1885, which prompted her to returned to Egypt where she resumed her writing. Her poems mourning her daughter are considered the best in that genre in modern times.

Activism.

After the death of her husband and daughter, Taymur started on her writings advocating for women's rights. Her works came out at the time of a socioeconomic transformation of Egypt where women realized they were being deprived of the rights Islam gave them. Taymur is referenced as the "mother of Egyptian feminism."  She worked with other female intellectuals and activists to campaign for education, do charitable work, and challenge colonialism. This was the start of early growth for Egyptian feminism.

Writing.

Taymur wrote poetry in Arabic, Turkish and Persian. She arguably had a fundamental influence on the emergence of Arabic women's writing. Her 1892 sixteen-page booklet "Mir'at alTa'mulfi al-Umur" ("A Reflective Mirror on Some Matters" or, more eloquently, "The Mirror of Contemplation") reinterpreted the Koran to suggest that it was markedly less patriarchal in its requirements of Muslims than was traditionally thought.  In her writing, Taymur illustrated women's rights in Islam through allegorical narrative. Taymur made use of the word "insan," meaning human being in Arabic, rather than using man. Taymur did this so that readers would consider her argument as a human being, and not based on her sex.  Taymur used imagery of female solitude to convey visibility of the life of a woman in Egypt. This offered readers a glimpse into the life of Muslim women.  Because Taymur was considered an elite Muslim in her society, she focused on going against her own status as a woman in a changing political and socioeconomic society throughout her writing.

Aisha E'ismat Taymur ( or Aisha al-Taymuriyya ; 1840–1902) was an Egyptian social activist, poet, novelist, and feminist in the Ottoman era. She was active in the early 19th century in the field of women's rights. Her writings came out in a period of time where women in Egypt were realizing that they were being deprived of some of the rights that Islam granted them. Taymur was one of the earliest Arab women to be alive while her poetry and other writings were recognized and published in modern times.


Animals.

The zoo has a large collection of animals (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians) across many different, naturally-themed exhibits.  Some notable species, many endangered, include: Western lowland gorillas, Bornean orang-utans, Asiatic lions, Northern giraffes, Sumatran tigers, Cuban crocodiles, red pandas, black rhinos, Hartmann's mountain zebras, maned wolves, cheetahs, Sulawesi crested macaques, Chilean flamingos, red-ruffed lemurs and the South West's only Komodo dragon. The zoo is also home to the UK's only short-beaked echidna and Northern brown kiwi.

History.

Paignton Zoo was one of the earliest combined zoological and botanical gardens in Britain and the first that was opened with education as its mission. It was founded by Herbert Whitley, initially as his private collection. Whitley was an early conservationist and a contemporary of people such as Sir Peter Scott and Jean Delacour, the famous French ornithologist. Paignton Zoo first opened to the public in 1923. After various name changes, it became Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in 1996.  A five-year redevelopment programme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, refurbished large parts of the Zoo and was completed in 2001. A new 10-year plan is now in place to redevelop the remaining areas to ensure that all animals are housed in modern enclosures of the highest standard.

Conservation.

Paignton Zoo is a member of the British & Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). Its gardens are members of PLANTNETWORK, Plant Heritage (formerly NCCPG) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). It works with partner zoos and gardens in these organisations on the management of captive breeding and plant conservation programmes for endangered species.

Education and research.

The zoo has a large education team which teaches approximately 40,000 students each year from under-5s to post-16s, as well as adult community groups.  The Education Department was founded in 1961 and the Paignton Zoo Science Department was established in 1997, which was part of the redevelopment programme. Now renamed the Field Conservation and Research Department, this has grown to become a well-known zoo science departments in Europe, with staff engaged in a programme of projects within the Zoo, at Wild Planet Trust's other sites in the UK, and at various sites overseas. Projects are carried out at 'A' level, undergraduate and post graduate level.

Botanical gardens.

Garden themes and plant collections include a broad collection of temperate hardy trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants arranged by habitat type. The indoor growing areas allow the zoo to grow plants from all over the world. From small critically endangered cactus in the desert house, through to the massive Titan arum, giant bamboo and giant water lilies located in the tropical houses.

Projects.

The Wild Planet Trust and its family of charitable attractions – Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts and Newquay Zoo – supports or is involved in conservation projects in the UK, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, Vietnam and Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Awards.

Paignton Zoo was, based on visitor feedback, named by TripAdvisor as the third best zoo in the UK (behind Chester and Colchester) and ninth best zoo in Europe in 2014.

CBBC's "The Zoo".

In 2017, children's television channel CBBC, in partnership with DHX Media, announced that a 15-part comedy documentary show filmed at Paignton Zoo, from the point of view of animals, would air in the summer of the same year. The series began airing on 15 August.

Paignton Zoo is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by Wild Planet Trust, formerly known as the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT). Wild Planet Trust also runs Living Coasts in Torquay, Devon and Newquay Zoo in Newquay, Cornwall. All three are registered charities.


Career Information.

Single-Seaters' Years (2001 - 2006).

Rees was born in São Paulo. In late 2003, he was given a private test by Mercedes-Benz on the Portuguese circuit of Estoril. On December 11, 2003, Mercedes-Benz had organized a Formula 3 test among its official client teams of the Formula 3 Euroseries. Only six drivers were selected to take part in the test: Fernando Rees, Robert Kubica, Jamie Green, Bruno Spengler, Alexandre Premat and Adrian Sutil. In the single test day, Rees topped the time sheets driving the ASM Mercedes-Benz car. Later in the same year, Ron Dennis picked the ASM Mercedes-Benz team for Lewis Hamilton to drive in the upcoming Formula 3 Euroseries championship, and Rees was forced to look elsewhere to compete.  After four years competing in the major single-seater categories in Europe (2001–2005), and having proved himself driving for the low budget team Interwetten.com in World Series by Renault during its 2005 season, Rees was awarded a test in the renowned Italian dream Draco Racing in the winter of that same year. With more than 30 drivers on track, including 2005 season champion Robert Kubica, Rees lead the field in the demanding track of Valencia, with more than half a second gap to Pastor Maldonado, who emerged second. The test opened new doors for the Brazilian driver, and 2006 was a promising year.  But in early 2006, at the Italian circuit of Monza, Rees was unfortunately involved in a shunt during a Formula 3000 International Masters test day, under heavy rain, and was seriously injured. Rees had two broken vertebrae, three compressed vertebrae, a broken ankle, and other excoriations in both legs. As a consequence, Rees was away from motor racing for a period of 18 months - of which 12 months were spent under serious immobilization, and the remaining 6 months with continuous physiotherapy sessions.

Endurance Racing Years (2007 - 2015).

With his convalescence complete, Rees made his sportscar debut in the last Le Mans Series event of 2007, the Mil Milhas of Interlagos. Racing for Larbre Compétition with an Aston Martin DBR9, together with drivers Roland Berville, Gregor Fisken and Steve Zacchia, Rees took a clear win in the GT1 class after almost nine hours of racing. Rees decided to remain in the Le Mans Series for the following season.  Rees made his debut in the LMP2 class of the Le Mans Series in the second round of the 2008 championship, in Monza. In 2009, Rees signed once again with the Barazi-Epsilon team in the LMP2 class of the Le Mans Series. For this season, Barazi-Epsilon decided to run a two-drivers team, with Rees and Juan Barazi. But soon after the second race of the championship, in Spa-Francorchamps, the team announced its retirement from the 2009 Le Mans Series championship because of financial problems. Rees was left without a team to race for the remaining season of 2009.  In 2010 Rees returned to Larbre Compétition in the Le Mans Series, the same team with which he won the Interlagos round of the championship in 2007 - at that time, driving an Aston Martin DBR9. In 2010, after wins in the opening event at Paul Ricard, at the Algarve, and Hungaroring, and a fourth place in Spa-Francorchamps, Larbre Compétition secured the Team's Championship with its Saleen S7-R in the GT1 category. Rees went on to win his third race in the 2010 championship at Silverstone, in the closure of the season. Larbre Compétition also won the 2010 edition of the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.  After a brief hiatus in 2011, Rees signed with Larbre Compétition for the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012. Rees drove the team's #50 Corvette in the GT-Am category, replacing Pedro Lamy after the initial round of the championship at Sebring. Alongside his teammates Pedro Lamy, Julien Canal, and Patrick Bornhauser, Rees helped Larbre Compétition to win the world championship in the new FIA endurance series.  In 2013, Rees signed once more with Larbre Compétition for the second season of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Again, the team entered the #50 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R in the GT-Am category. Rees ended the season in 7th place.

Racing Career Stats.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results.

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results.

() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)

Fernando Rees (born January 4, 1985) is a retired Brazilian racecar driver. He started his career racing with go-karts back in 1993 at age 8. Fernando made his international single-seaters' debut in 2001, his endurance racing debut in 2007, and has recently competed in various international racing championships.


Structure.

The patellar ligament is a strong, flat, ligament, which originates on the apex of the patella distally and adjoining margins of the patella and the rough depression on its posterior surface; below, it inserts on the tuberosity of the tibia; its superficial fibers are continuous over the front of the patella with those of the tendon of the quadriceps femoris. It is about 4.5 cm long in adults (range from 3 to 6 cm).  The medial and lateral portions of the quadriceps tendon pass down on either side of the patella to be inserted into the upper extremity of the tibia on either side of the tuberosity; these portions merge into the capsule, as stated above, forming the medial and lateral patellar retinacula.  The posterior surface of the patellar ligament is separated from the synovial membrane of the joint by a large infrapatellar pad of fat, and from the tibia by a bursa.

Clinical significance.

The patellar ligament can be injured in a patellar tendon rupture. Because tendon does not regenerate fully in humans there is a significant clinical need for research into therapies for patellar tendon rupture.  It can be used as a tissue source in the repair of other ligaments. In the event of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the patellar ligament can be used in the rehabilitation process. In this case, the middle one third of the patellar ligament is harvested and inserted through tunnels that are drilled into the femur and tibia. The portion of the patellar ligament is then drawn through these tunnels in the bone and will be affixed to the bone via screws. The recovery process takes approximately 4–6 months upon the completion of surgery. This patellar ligament method of reconstruction was traditionally the gold standard graft for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, and is still one of the more preferred methods.  Its insertion on the tibia is the location of Osgood–Schlatter disease.

The patellar ligament is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the "patellar tendon" as it is a continuation of the quadriceps tendon.


Geography.

City of Worthington Hills is located in northeastern Jefferson County at (38.311389, -85.527500). It is bordered to the north and east by Coldstream and otherwise by consolidated Louisville/Jefferson County. Downtown Louisville is to the southwest.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all land.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,594 people, 577 households, and 447 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,699.9 people per square mile (2,198.0/km2). There were 589 housing units at an average density of 2,106.2 per square mile (812.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 63.68% White, 30.74% African American, 0.06% Native American, 1.69% Asian, 1.88% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.33% of the population.  There were 577 households out of which 44.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 0.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.12.  In the city, the population was spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 40.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 2.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $56,250, and the median income for a family was $58,500. Males had a median income of $40,278 versus $27,162 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,199. About 3.5% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

City of Worthington Hills is a home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,446 at the 2010 census, down from 1,594 at the 2000 census.


Biography.

Tsgabu grew up near the city of Mek'ele, Tigray at an altitude of 2400 metres. He comes from a sporting family, with a father and a brother who competed in local bike races in Ethiopia. As an amateur rider he received training at the African UCI Continental Center in Potchefstroom, South Africa and the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.

2010 season.

In November 2010 Tsgabu came sixth at the African Continental Cycling Championships individual time trial in Kigali, Rwanda. He then stayed in Kigali to race the Tour of Rwanda which began five days later. He finished fifth overall.

2011 season.

Tsgabu began his season in January 2011 at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, which he finished in 13th place overall. In February he finished 21st in the Tour of South Africa. In April he came 51st in La Côte Picarde in France and 16th at the Ster ZLM Toer in the Netherlands. He then travelled to Quebec in June to race the Coupe des nations Ville Saguenay which he finished in 18th place overall. In July Tsgabu returned to France for more stage racing. He finished 31st in the Tour Alsace, 42nd in the Mi-Août Bretonne, and 19th in the Tour de l'Avenir. Tsgabu ended the season in Denmark in September representing Ethiopia at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships by participating in the men's under-23 road race which he abandoned.

2012 season.

Tsgabu began the 2012 season in April with a 71st place at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften. He raced two races in the Netherlands and then headed back to Africa for La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, which he finished in 11th place. He also came fourth in the young rider classification, 19 seconds behind winner Nikita Stalnov of the. In May Tsgabu finished 19th in the Flèche du Sud, coming fifth in the young rider classification. He was 43rd in the Tour de Gironde.  Following the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports, which he did not finish but was won by his future teammate Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Tsgabu joined the South African UCI Continental team for the remainder of their 2012 season. In August Tsgabu entered the 2012 Volta a Portugal. He was 17th in the prologue, but finished 82nd overall and 25th in the young rider classification. Tsgabu raced the Kernen Omloop Echt-Susteren as a warm-up for the 2012 UCI Road World Championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands where he was the only Ethiopian competitor. He finished 25th in the men's under-23 time trial and 87th in the men's under-23 road race. Tsgabu ended his season in November by winning silver at the African Continental Championships individual time trial and gold in the men's under-23 individual time trial in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He finished 38th in the road race.  In October 2012 it was announced that Tsgabu's contract had been extended for the 2013 season, and he became the first Ethiopian professional cyclist when MTN-Qhubeka became a UCI Professional Continental team.

2013 season.

Tsgabu's second season at saw the team rise to the second highest level in cycling, becoming the first ever African UCI Professional Continental team. Tsgabu began the 2013 season in January at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, finishing fifth overall and third in the young rider classification as well as coming second in the team classification. He narrowly missed out of a stage victory on the final day, crossing the finishing line in Libreville two seconds behind stage winner Gert Dockx of.  In February Tsgabu participated in the 2013 Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia finishing ninth overall, 2' 58" behind winner Julián Arredondo. MTN-Qhubeka won the team classification by nine minutes before the second placed.  In March 2013 Tsgabu became the first Ethiopian ever to win an international cycling event when he won the fifth stage of the Tour de Taiwan in Taoyuan County ten seconds ahead of Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan. The stage victory propelled him to second place overall, a position he managed to keep for the remaining stages. It also netted him 10 mountain points, which helped him to fourth position overall in the mountains classification.  At the 2013 Giro del Trentino in April Tsgabu finished 21st in the youth classification and 94th overall. In May he finished 73rd in the 2013 Tour of Norway. In July Tsgabu won both the national road race championship and the national time trial championship of Ethiopia in Bahir Dar for the first time. He headed to the United States of America in August, to race the Tour of Elk Grove and the 2013 Tour of Utah. He finished 42nd overall in the first and 27th overall in the second of the two stage races, as well as third in the young rider classification in Utah (15' 32" behind youth classification winner Lachlan Morton). After this he flew to Norway to ride the Tour des Fjords, but was forced to abandon after the fourth stage. Towards the end of August Tsgabu entered four single day races in Italy, receiving modest results in two races and abandoning the two others. At the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda in September Tsgabu was 24th overall and seventh in the young rider classification.  Tsgabu was the sole representative of Ethiopia at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships in Tuscany. He participated in the men's under-23 time trial, which he finished in 50th place, as well as the men's under-23 road race which he was forced to abandon. Tsgabu was in the last group to cross the finish line in the 2013 Milano–Torino. He made his UCI World Tour debut at the 2013 Il Lombardia, but did not finish the race. Tsgabu ended his season in Europe with three one-day races in Italy during October, abandoning two of them and finishing 78th in the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli. He then rounded off his season in December at the African Continental Championships, where he finished seventh in the time trial and 28th in the road race.

2014 season.

The 2014 season was Tsgabu's third season with and began in February at the 2014 Tour de Langkawi. He aimed for a podium finish but could not repeat the success he had the previous year, and finished 52nd overall. However, did manage to win the team classification for a second consecutive year. Tsgabu did little racing during the spring, and abandoned the Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie, the Tour de Picardie, and the 2014 Tour of Norway. At the end of May he participated in the Tour des Fjords, finishing 70th overall and coming in second in the mountains classification only seven points behind winner Amets Txurruka of.  At the Tour de Korea in June he finished 10th overall. Tsgabu abandoned on the second stage of the Route du Sud, and came 58th in the Giro dell'Appennino. At the end of June he won both the road race and the individual time trial at the Ethiopian 2014 national road cycling championships for a second time. In August Tsgabu finished 51st in the 2014 Vuelta a Burgos and 56th at the Tour du Limousin. He was 11th in the young rider classification in Limousin, 11 seconds behind Otto Vergaerde of who came in 10th. Tsgabu finished 65th in the final edition of the Châteauroux Classic. At the Memorial Marco Pantani Tsgabu was part of the initial five man breakaway. They gained four minutes on the peloton but were caught, and he didn't finish the race. Of the six other Italian one day races Tsgabu entered in September and October he only finished the final one, ending his time at MTN-Qhubeka with a second-to-last place in the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli.

2015 season.

Tsgabu left at the end of 2014 and joined the highest level of professional cycling at the Italian UCI ProTeam, becoming the first Ethiopian to ride for them. Joining Lampre meant he would be guaranteed to race at UCI World Tour races during the 2015 season. Tsgabu began the season in January as the team's candidate for the general classification at the 2015 Tour Down Under. He finished 11th overall and fifth in the young rider classification.  In February Tsgabu competed at the African Continental Championships in Wartburg, South Africa. He finished third in the team time trial, and two days later won the individual time trial. Tsgabu was the first Ethiopian to ever win an African Continental Championship. In the road race three days later Tsgabu finished fifth, 2' 35" behind winner and former team mate Louis Meintjes of. Tsgabu rode the 2015 Tirreno–Adriatico in March. He finished 51st overall, and came eighth in the young rider classification only 16 seconds behind Peter Sagan of. He started the 2015 Giro d'Italia in San Lorenzo al Mare, becoming the first Ethiopian rider to compete in a Grand Tour. For the third time in his career, he won the Ethiopian national championship in both road and time trial events. He was named in the start list for the 2015 Vuelta a España.

2016 season.

In July 2016 Tsgabu participated in the Tour de France for the team.

Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Tigrinya and ; born 25 August 1991) is an Ethiopian professional road cyclist from Tigray, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam. He is a two time national road race champion, two time national time trial champion, and one time African time trial champion. Tsgabu became the first Ethiopian professional cyclist when he joined in 2012. In 2013 Tsgabu became the first Ethiopian to win an international cycling event when he won the fifth stage of the Tour de Taiwan. He made his UCI World Tour debut at the 2013 Giro di Lombardia.


Early life.

Nuttall was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. She was educated at Bury Grammar School for Girls and trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She performed with the National Youth Music Theatre, notably playing the lead role of Princess Ismene in "Aurelius" at the Tyne Opera House, Newcastle and the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in August 1997.

Career.

Nuttall is credited as the youngest actress to ever understudy and play the lead role of Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera" (at age 17) (National tour), has sung at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Old Trafford and won an edition of "Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes" as Sarah Brightman.  Shortly before leaving "Emmerdale", Nuttall appeared in "Notes from New York" at the Trafalgar Studios opposite Jon Lee and Julie Atherton. In 2005, she released her début album as a Classical vocalist "Best Days" on EMI Classics and filmed music videos for her tracks "Best Days", "No Greater Gift" and a version of "Scarborough Fair", which was heavily requested on Classic FM TV. "Best Days" peaked at number four in the UK classical chart and was nominated for album of the year at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards.  In the same year, Nuttall took part in the Reality TV programme "Celebrity Shark Bait", which also featured Richard E Grant and Ruby Wax, and appeared in "Celebrate Oliver", a musical special for BBC1.  In the Autumn of 2005, Nuttall toured the UK extensively as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" to critical acclaim. She shared the role with Lisa O'Hare on the National Tour due to other commitments with her first album. The tour started on 5 October 2005 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester and ended on 12 August 2006 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. In October 2006 she made her West End début as Sister Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls" at the Piccadilly Theatre.  In January 2007, Nuttall performed on BBC Radio 2's "Friday Night is Music Night" with an 80-piece live orchestra and in May 2007, she joined the cast of the stage revival of "Boeing-Boeing" at the Comedy Theatre opposite Patricia Hodge, Mark Rylance and Roger Allam. On 2 October 2007, Nuttall replaced Kim Medcalf in the London production of "Cabaret" at the Lyric Theatre, transferring directly from her role in "Boeing-Boeing". In April 2008, Nuttall's initial six-month contract was extended until the production's closure on 21 June. Nuttall appeared in "Hotel Babylon" in 2009 as Melanie Hughes, the new hotel receptionist.  In June and July 2010, Nuttall played one of the lead roles in the revival of the hit musical "The Hired Man" at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Later that year she returned to the Octagon Theatre, Bolton to play Stella Kowalski in the Tennessee Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire. She shared the role of the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of "Spamalot", which began on 18 October 2010 at the Edinburgh Playhouse. From September 2011, Nuttall began appearing in series two of "Downton Abbey", appearing as the new maid, Ethel.  In December 2011 she appeared in "Noises Off" at London's Old Vic until March 2012. On 14 July 2011, Nuttall was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts by the University of Bolton. On 8 June 2013 Nuttall starred in the Saturday Drama on BBC Radio 4. Entitled The Weather Girl she played the lead role of Abigail, a prisoner whose mental state is assessed by a clinical psychologist.  In 2019, Nuttall lent her voice to "Olga" in HISTORY's podcast Letters of Love in WW2 - a series based on the real-life letters of a couple separated by the Second World War.

Personal life.

Nuttall dated fellow "Emmerdale" cast member Ben Freeman for four years. She married long-term boyfriend, the actor Andrew Buchan, on 8 September 2012. Their first child was born in 2015.

Amy Abigail Nuttall (born 7 June 1982) is an English actress and singer known for playing Chloe Atkinson in the ITV soap opera "Emmerdale" from 2000 until 2005, and housemaid Ethel Parks in ITV period drama "Downton Abbey".


Setting.

The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests cover an area of of the lower Narmada River Valley and the surrounding uplands of the Vindhya Range to the north and the western end of the Satpura Range to the south. The Narmada Valley is an east-west flat-bottomed valley, or graben, that separates the two plateaus. The Vindhya Range separates the valley from the Malwa plateau and Bundelkhand upland to the north. The Satpura Range reaches a height of 1,300m and encloses the valley on the south separating it from the Deccan plateau. The ecoregion includes the western portion of the Satpuras, and also extends to the southeast along the eastern flank of the Western Ghats' range. The uplands of this ecoregion are the northern limits of the Indian peninsula.  Rainfall in the ecoregion is highly seasonal; a seven- to eight-month dry season is followed by the June-to-September southwest monsoon, which brings 1,200-1,500 mm of rainfall in an average year. Many trees lose their leaves during the long dry season to conserve moisture.  The ecoregion lies between moister forests to the northeast, southeast, and southwest, which receive greater rainfall from the southeast monsoon, and the drier forests and scrublands of the Deccan to the south and Malwa and Gujarat to the west and northwest. The lowland Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests lie to the northeast, on the alluvial plain of the Ganges River and its tributaries below the eastern Vindhyas and the Bundelkhand upland. The Chota-Nagpur dry deciduous forests lie on the Chota Nagpur plateau to the east. The Eastern highlands moist deciduous forests, which receive more annual moisture from the Bay of Bengal, lie to the southeast. To the southwest, along the spine of the Western Ghats range, lie the wetter North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, which receive more moisture from the southwest monsoon winds off the Arabian Sea.  To the south, the Deccan Plateau of Maharashtra lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, and is home to the Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests of Vidarbha and the drier Deccan thorn scrub forests of Kandesh. The Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests cover most of Malwa to the northwest and the lowlands of Gujarat to the west.

Flora.

The natural vegetation of the region is a three-tiered forest adapted to the monsoon and dry season climate. The forests typically have an upper canopy at 15–25 meters, a 10-15 meter understory of smaller trees and large shrubs, and a 3-4 meter undergrowth. Teak "(Tectona grandis)" is the dominant canopy tree, in association with coromandel ebony "(Diospyros melanoxylon)," dhaora "(Anogeissus latifolia"), "Lagerstroemia parviflora", "Terminalia tomentosa", "Lannea coromandelica", "Hardwickia binata," and "Boswellia serrata".  Riparian areas along the regions rivers and streams, which receive year-round water, are home to moist evergreen forests, whose dominant tree species are "Terminalia arjuna, Syzygium cumini, Syzygium heyneanum, Salix tetrasperma, Homonoia riparia," and "Vitex negundo."

Fauna.

The ecoregion is home to 76 species of mammals, none of which are endemic, although several of which, including the Bengal tiger "(Panthera tigris tigris)", along with gaur "(Bos gaurus)", packs of dhole or Asiatic wild dog "(Cuon alpinus)", sloth bear "(Melursus ursinus)", chousingha "(Tetracerus quadricornis)", and blackbuck "(Antilope cervicapra)", are threatened.  The ecoregion is home to 276 bird species, none of which are endemic. Large threatened birds include the lesser florican "(Eupodotis indica)" and Indian bustard "(Ardeotis nigriceps)".

Conservation.

This area is densely populated and only about 30% of the ecoregion is covered in relatively intact vegetation, but this does include some large blocks of habitat in the amarkantak, Vindhya and Satpura ranges which are important for the preservation of the tiger.

Protected areas.

As of 1997, about 5% of the ecoregion (7,500 km2) lies within protected areas, the largest of which are Melghat Tiger Reserve and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary while others include Bandhavgarh, Panna, and Sanjay national parks. Plans to dam the Narmada River will impact on the wildlife of the ecoregion.

The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion of central India. The ecoregion lies mostly in Madhya Pradesh state, but extends into portions of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states.


Description.

The upperside of the wings is dark, iridescent purple in males. Females are grayish brown, sometimes having iridescent purple on the basal area of the wings. The underside of the wings is bright, lime green in both sexes. Both wings have a bright silvery-white postmedian band. The silver band on the hindwing juts out towards the margin and turns back in, forming a V shape. Beyond this band, there is a dark brownish-red patch with a variable amount of silvery-white frosting. The frosting extends across the entire edge of the hindwing. The hindwings have one pair of tails. The wingspan ranges from 2.2 to 3.2 cm.

Similar species.

The amethyst hairstreak ("Chlorostrymon maesites") is the only similar species in the silver-banded hairstreak's range.  The amethyst hairstreak is smaller. The upperside of the male is dark, vivid, purplish blue. The upperside of the female is bright blue with dark forewing apexes. The underside of the forewing lacks the silver band. The hindwing has a silver band but it does not stretch across the entire wing. The hindwings have two pairs of tails.  Another related butterfly species to "Chlorostrymon simaethis" found in North America is "Callophrys xami", which is commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or green hairstreak. Aesthetically, "C. simaethis" differs significantly from "C. xami" in regards to the postmedian white line running across the butterfly wings as the silver-banded species has a much broader silver-white postmedian line on the underside of the hindwing.

Habitat.

The silver-banded hairstreak is found in habitats such as subtropical woodlands, deserts, and hammock edges. It is found in these habitats only if its host plants are nearby.

Flight period.

The silver-banded hairstreak is seen from May to December in southern Florida and from June to December in southern Texas. It is seen from March to June and again from October to mid-November in southern Arizona. It will occasionally stray to southern California in October.  These butterflies are usually a very pretty light green with a white streak along the top of the wing. Some say this butterfly is a blue to a light brown.

Life cycle.

The female lays her eggs singly on the young fruits of the host plant. The eggs are shiny green. The caterpillar lives inside the seed pod of the host plant and feeds on the unripe seeds. The caterpillar is yellowish green to a brownish color. It has dark, wavy dorsal and subdorsal lines. There is a dark greenish middorsal stripe edged on each side with red ovals. The head is tan. The caterpillar will turn red just before pupating. The chrysalis is tan to grayish brown with a gray middorsal stripe. It is covered in black and brown spots. It is attached to a surface by a silk pad and girdle. The silver-banded hairstreak has two or three broods per year.

Host plants.

Host plants of the silver-banded hairstreak:

Chlorostrymon simaethis, the silver-banded hairstreak, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is also known as St. Christopher's hairstreak and the Key lime hairstreak.


Biography.

André Dekeijser lived in Port-Francqui (Ilebo/Congo), from 1926 to 1929, before moving to Belgium.  He quickly developed his artistic talent and studied graphic arts at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. After the Second World War, he worked for several years in the ceramics workshop of Alexandre Geufanstein before heading off in search of his (deceased) father's legacy in the Congo in 1952. There, he worked at the Geographical Institute of the Belgian Congo (I.G.C.B.). During this period, he created his first sculptures which were exhibited in Kinshasa in 1957. The influence of African art was already apparent in his work.  André Dekeijser started a family and returned to Belgium for 2 years where he worked as the cartographer of the provincial domain of Mirwart. Soon after he left with his wife and two children for an adventure in São Paulo, Brazil.  Upon his return 3 years later he decided to dedicate himself to sculpture. He joined his friend André Eijberg before establishing a workshop of his own where he returned to terracotta and patinas and began experimenting with new materials like blocks of Ytong (aerated concrete), whose low price allowed him to create oversized pieces. He also worked with wood and stone and began casting work in bronze, polishing some parts and creating patinas on others.

Work.

Having manipulated terracotta, wood, stone and Y'tong, André Dekeijser focused on copper and bronze. The polishing and application of patinas on bronze pieces increased their relief and rendered them tactile. His first monumental pieces were created in copper. He cut, soldered and applied patinas to red copper creating larger formats whose intertwining shapes evoke the notion of the couple. In order to ascertain pieces could withstand enlargement, small clay or wax models were submitted to a test of a series of figurines diminishing in size.  Having constructed several homes in the Congo and Brazil with his own hands, André Dekeijser created the project and built the model of a sculpture-home that was never completed despite the genuine interest of several architects. He also used his artistic talent to illustrate a textbook for students on the practice and techniques of Osteopathy. For his own pleasure he drew several comic strips with no intention of publishing. He also created bronze and silver jewelry using the lost-wax casting process.

Styles and influences.

Having lived far from modern civilization, in the large tropical forests of Central Africa and the immense high plateaus of southern Brazil, it's no wonder that his art is neither weak or timid, but rather massive, imposing yet understated, made to be enlarged. The forms are robust but gracious lacking aggressiveness despite sharp edges; influenced by African art. André Dekeijser admired the work of Constant Permeke, before turning to abstract art wherein he was profoundly inspired by Henry Moore. The empty spaces in his abstract work are as important as the relief.  In the early 1980s his study of forms took on a more sensual aspect. The duality of the sexes is present in this period. The duality of couples in shapes that interpenetrate, that embrace without touching that are nothing without the other is perhaps the subject most fully developed by the artist. Other themes explored include the mechanics of objects that make up a puzzle whereby the fun lies in studying the empty spaces and surfaces of each piece by taking them apart and trying to put them back in the correct order. These pieces require the spectator to touch and play with the objects in addition to looking at them. During this mechanical period, André Dekeijser created numerous drawings for astonishing machines that inevitably solicited the question : " what could they possibly be used for? »

André Dekeijser (Brussel 1 August 1924 – 9 December 2013) was a Belgian contemporary sculptor known for his abstract and monumental work primarily in copper and bronze.


First World War.

On the outbreak of the First World War, a subsection of the Directorate of Military Operations, MO5(h), was established with responsibility for press and cable censorship and the issuing of War Office communiques through the Press Bureau. Initially just two General Staff Officers (GSO2) were allocated to the subsection. It became immediately apparent that two men was insufficient for the task and within a fortnight the subsection was expanded to a senior General Staff Officer (GSO1) with eight assistant ‘censors’ working under him.  In February 1915, the Directorate of Special Intelligence was formed and consequently MO5(h) was upgraded and designated as the MO7 section. It was nominally under the command of Colonel Coleridge, the Military Assistant Director of the Press Bureau. As part of the War Office, MO7 was concerned with press publicity. It gave the first war correspondents permission to visit the Western Front in May 1915. Its duty was to ensure that the military authorities maintained control over the Press and correspondents' work. In January 1916, as part of a reorganisation of the Imperial General Staff, a new Directorate of Military Intelligence was created and MO7 became Military Intelligence Section 7.  MI7 was organised in a series of sub-sections distinguished by lower-case letters in brackets. The precise duties of these sub-sections varied with time, but may be roughly summarised as follows.  A.A. Milne, the author of Winnie the Pooh, served in MI7(b) after recovering from wounds sustained at the Battle of the Somme.

Location.

From April 1916 until early October 1917, most of MI7(b)'s staff worked from Adelphi Court, on the Strand, London, whereupon the whole section moved into Adastral House on the Victoria Embankment. Not to be confused with the later Air Ministry headquarters on Kingsway, the first Adastral House was the former De Keyser's Royal Hotel, located by Blackfriars Bridge. The bankrupt hotel was requisitioned in May 1916 for use as Government offices and was utilised by both the Royal Flying Corps and MI7.

Surviving source documents.

As a branch of military intelligence, paperwork was routinely destroyed to maintain strict security. A further large-scale destruction of papers was organised when MI7 was closed down at the end of WWI. A few important files are scattered amongst War Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Information records at the British National Archives. Also, some documents from MI7(b) have survived because they were retained by one of its operatives, Lieutenant James Price Lloyd. In 2012, relatives discovered after his death, when his property in Builth Wells, Wales was being sorted and cleared, that he had kept up to 150 files from his time at MI7(b). The archive consisted of two broad categories of articles written between 1917 and 1918 - the "Tales of the VC". More than 90 stories of individual heroism by men from all over the Empire can be viewed on the National Library of Wales website and on the Europeana 1914-18 website. Samples of the remaining 60 articles can be found in archives such as "MI7b-the discovery of a lost propaganda archive from the Great War".

Second World War.

In September 1939, MI7 was reformed at the outset of the Second World War as the largely civilian Press and Propaganda section of the War Office Directorate of Military Intelligence. It was transferred to the Ministry of Information in around June 1940.  The Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany served in MI7(b) during the early months of WW2 and was based at the Air Ministry building Adastral House (now known as No 1 Kingsway).

In fiction.

The name MI7 has often been used in fiction as the title for an intelligence agency or organisation similar to the actual MI5 or MI6.  In the Bond film "Dr. No" (1962) there are two explicit references to James Bond working for MI6; strangely, one of these (where the words are spoken by 'M') has been dubbed to "MI7", although the speaker's lips clearly say "MI6".  In the "Operation Susie" episode of "The Professionals", central organization CI5 comes into conflict with elements of MI7 working to a different agenda.  Rowan Atkinson's character of Johnny English from the spy spoof films "Johnny English", "Johnny English Reborn" and "Johnny English Strikes Again" is an MI7 agent. The character was originally presented in a series of adverts for Barclaycard as MI7 agent Richard Latham.  In "", former Head Girl Kelly Jones now works as an agent for MI7.

Contemporary.

There was public speculation in 2015 that Stephen Jolly, the UK's then Director of Defence Communications, an Under-Secretary of State or 2* official, at the Ministry of Defence, might be seeking to revive MI7.  Jolly was making waves in military circles at the time by driving forward a "full spectrum" approach to Defence communications, encompassing public relations, media operations, information operations and psyops. Defence commentators dubbed this "post-Afghan reset" of communications the "Rainbow in the Dark" doctrine. It was an approach that entailed the most radical shake-up in British Defence communications in more than thirty years.  Jolly was also instrumental in the creation of the Forster Review that led to reform of the D-Notice Committee in the same year. This unique combination of responsibilities positioned Jolly in the eyes of conspiracy theorists as an inheritor of the traditions of MI7.

MI7 was a branch of the British War Office’s Directorate of Military Intelligence with responsibilities for press liaison and propaganda. The branch was originally established in the First World War and disbanded after the signing of the Armistice. The branch was re-formed at the start of the Second World War. The new MI7, while less significant than its predecessor, acted as a necessary liaison link between the War Office and the Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive.


Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine

Release of documents.

On March 29, 2007, a book of documents was released by Japan's National Diet Library called "A New Compilation of Materials on the Yasukuni Shrine Problems" including declassified documents from the Occupational Government, the Japanese Health and Welfare Ministry and Yasukuni Shrine. The documents purportedly draw a connection between the Japanese Government and

War criminals.

The shrine enshrines and, according to Shinto beliefs, provides a permanent residence for the spirits of those who have fought on behalf of the emperor, regardless of whether they died in combat. 1,068 of the enshrined kami were POWs convicted of some level of war crime after World War II. Enshrinement typically carries absolution of earthly deeds.  One of the criteria for enshrinement at Yasukuni is that a person be listed as having died of any cause while on duty in

Yūshūkan War Museum.

Yasukuni Shrine operates a war museum of the history of Japan (the Yūshūkan), which some observers have criticized as presenting a revisionist interpretation. A documentary-style propaganda video shown to museum visitors portrays Japan's conquest of East Asia

Izokukai.

The political overtones of Yasukuni Shrine are attributed to two factors. One is the ideology of State Shinto, which regarded any wars waged in the name of the emperor as just and anyone who died fighting for the emperor as an. But another more immediate factor is the influence of various support organizations, especially the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association (, the largest organization representing the families of war dead from World War II.  Yasukuni Shrine considers the Izokukai as its "'de facto" lay organization. The Izokukai was formerly known as the, established in 1947. The original purpose of the Izoku Kōsei Renmei was "pursuing the end of warfare, establishing global peace and world prosperity and contributing to the welfare of the humanity." They

Politicians' visits.

Japanese politicians' visits to worship at Yasukuni Shrine have resulted in controversy.  This issue first surfaced when Emperor Hirohito refused to visit the shrine from 1978 until his death in 1989. According to a memorandum released in 2006 kept by Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita, Hirohito stated that the reason he stopped visiting the shrine was because of the decision to enshrine class A war criminals.  Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was one of the most outspoken and controversial visitors. On October 17, 2005, Koizumi visited the shrine for the fifth time since taking office. Although he claimed that his visit was a private affair, it came only days before Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura was scheduled to visit Chinese officials in Beijing to strengthen Sino-Japanese relations. The People's Republic of China responded by canceling the scheduled visit as they consider the shrine a glorification of Japan's past military aggression.  Koizumi's annual visits continued to draw criticism from around the world. During the 2005 APEC summit in Busan, South Korea, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing blasted Koizumi's visits, asking, "What would European people think if German leaders were to visit (memorials) related to Hitler and Nazis?" In 2006, Henry Hyde, chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, stated that

Political impact.

The controversial nature of the shrine has figured largely in both domestic Japanese politics and relations with other Asian countries. The controversy has been reignited nearly every year since 1975, when prime minister Takeo Miki visited the shrine as a private individual on August 15, the day that Japan commemorates the end of World War II. The next year, his successor Fukuda Takeo visited as a private individual yet signed the visitors' book as prime minister. Several other Japanese prime ministers have visited the shrine since 1979: Masayoshi Ohira in 1979; Zenko Suzuki in 1980, 1981 and 1982; Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1983 and 1985 (on the latter occasion, he offered flowers which had been paid for with government money); Kiichi Miyazawa in 1992, this visit was kept secret until 1996 (he had paid a visit in 1980 before becoming Prime Minister); Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1996; and Junichiro Koizumi, who visited six times (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006). Visits by Japanese prime ministers to the shrine have resulted in official condemnation by neighbouring countries since 1985, as they see it as an attempt to legitimize Japan's past militarism.  Visits to the shrine are also controversial in the domestic debate over the proper role of religion in Japanese government. Some Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politicians insist that visits are protected by the constitutional right to freedom of religion

Debate in Japan.

One controversy of political visits to the shrine is the constitutionality of visits by the Prime Minister. In the Constitution of Japan, the separation of state and religion is explicit. Because the clause was written for the express purpose of preventing the return of State Shintoism, many question the constitutionality of the Prime Minister visiting Yasukuni Shrine. Often the first question Japanese Prime Ministers are asked by journalists after a visit is, "Are you here as a private person or as Prime Minister?" In addition, whether the Prime Minister has signed the visitors' book indicating the position of signatory as or is diligently reported. All Prime Ministers have so far stated that their visit was private. However, although some leave the signature section blank or sign it as "shijin", others sign it as "shushō". The issue is somewhat different than that of visits by the German Chancellor to the Holocaust Memorial, which are explicitly made in the context of a state visit. Prime Minister Koizumi recently gave a somewhat cryptic answer, stating that he visited the shrine as Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan. Some consider such statement as a move towards making visits somewhat official; others consider that it is pointing out that the whole issue of "shijin" vs "shushō" is somewhat meaningless. Some journals and news reports, such as one made by Kyodo News Agency on August 15, 2006, question whether in the case of Koizumi's visits, which are consistently claimed by Koizumi to be private, can be considered individual in nature when they are part of a campaign pledge, which in nature is political. Currently, most of the Japanese public and most jurists have agreed that there have been no constitutional violations yet.  Shinzo Abe, 15 of the 18 members of his cabinet, and 289 of 480 Diet members are affiliated to the openly revisionist lobby Nippon Kaigi, which advocates the restoration of monarchy and State Shinto, negates Japanese war crimes, and recommends the revision of the Constitution and school textbooks as well as visits by

Textbook controversy.

In May 2005, in the aftermath of anti-Japanese protests over the Japanese history textbooks controversy, Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi cut short her visit to Japan and flew home before a planned meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. This was

Removal of the names.

In June 2005, a senior LDP member proposed moving the 14 Class A war criminals to a separate site. Shinto priests refused this proposal, quoting Japan's freedom of religion laws under the Japanese Constitution.  Also in the same month, a group claiming to represent Taiwanese aborigines led by politician Kao Chin Su-mei attempted to visit Yasukuni Shrine with the sponsorship of the Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace. Their intention was to peacefully request the removal of their relatives from the shrine, and to pray for the return of their ancestors'

Prime ministerial visits.

Junichiro Koizumi.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made widely publicized annual visits to the shrine while in office. The official position of the Japanese government was that he visited as an individual citizen "to express respect and gratitude to the many people who lost their lives in the war," and not for the sake of gratifying war criminals or to dispute the results of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Koizumi made his final visit as prime minister on August 15, 2006, shortly before his retirement.

Shinzo Abe.

Koizumi's successor Shinzo Abe visited the shrine several times before and after his first stint as prime minister, but did not visit at all during his first term as prime minister from September 2006 to September 2007. Abe not visiting the shrine prompted a Japanese nationalist named Yoshihiro Tanjo to cut off his own little finger in protest and mail it to the LDP.  In April 2007, he made a ceremonial offering to the shrine, but did not actually visit himself. According to official reports the offering was made by Abe as a private citizen rather than in an official capacity, although it was reported that the card attached to the floral offering was signed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Although Abe publicly supported his predecessor's visits to the

Other prime ministers.

In the wake of Abe's first term, his successor Yasuo Fukuda vowed never to visit the shrine, a commitment applauded by Japan's Asian neighbors. Fukuda's open political opposition to the shrine led to improved relations with China, North and South Korea. However, a group of 62 Diet members from the Liberal Democratic Party and the People's New Party, including former farm

Foreign dignitary visits.

In June 2007, former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui visited the shrine to pay his respects to his

Emperor Shōwa's visits.

Emperor Hirohito did not visit Yasukuni from 1978 until his death. His son, Emperor Akihito, has not visited the shrine since becoming emperor (and has since continued after abdication in 2019), instead choosing to send a lesser member of the royal household. It is unknown if Emperor Naruhito (Shōwa's grandson) will visit the shrine or not or as an alternative, would continue to send a lesser member in the household as his predecessor did. On July 20, 2006, "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" front-paged an article about the discovery of a memorandum detailing the reason Emperor Hirohito stopped visiting Yasukuni. The memorandum, kept by former chief of Imperial Household Agency Tomohiko Tomita, confirms for the first time the enshrinement of Class A War Criminals such as Yosuke Matsuoka and Toshio Shiratori was the reason. Tomita wrote down the contents of his conversations with the emperor in his diaries and notebooks in detail. He left 12 diaries (1975–1986) and some 20 notebooks (1986–1997).  According to the memorandum, the emperor Hirohito expressed his anger and strong displeasure in 1988 at the decision made by Yasukuni Shrine to include Class A war criminals in the list of war dead honored there by saying, "At some point, Class-A criminals became enshrined, including Matsuoka and Shiratori. I heard Tsukuba acted cautiously", Tsukuba is believed to refer to Fujimaro Tsukuba, the former chief Yasukuni priest at the time, who decided not to enshrine the war criminals despite receiving in 1966, the list of war dead compiled by the government containing their names. "What's on the mind of Matsudaira's son, who is the current head priest?". "Matsudaira had a strong wish for peace, but the

New memorial.

On October 28, 2005, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) agreed to set up a cross-party "group for pushing forward the establishment of a

Yasukuni documentary controversy.

In March 2008, a group of lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, featuring Tomomi Inada, called for boycott of a documentary made on Yasukuni by Chinese-born director Ying Li about the links between the shrine and right-wing movements

December 2011 arson attack.

On December 26, 2011, a man attempted to burn down a 13 meter high gate column at Yasukuni. The incident was captured on video and the fire quickly put out by security staff. Japanese police gained an arrest warrant for a 37-year-old Chinese man, who had been arrested earlier the same month for throwing Molotov cocktails at the Japanese embassy in Seoul. The

November 2015 bombing.

On November 23, 2015, at around 10 am, a restroom near the shrine's southern entrance was damaged by a bomb explosion. Chon Chang-han, a South Korean man, was arrested on December 9.

There are major controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine, a Japanese Shinto shrine to war dead who served the Emperor of Japan during wars from 1867–1951. The controversies involve civilians in service and government officials. Yasukuni is a shrine to house the actual souls of the dead as "kami", or "spirits/souls" as loosely defined in the English words. This activity is strictly a religious matter due to the religious separation of State Shinto and the Japanese Government. The priesthood at the shrine has complete religious autonomy to decide to whom and how enshrinement may occur. It is thought that enshrinement is permanent and irreversible by the current clergy. Due to the enshrinement of individuals found to be war criminals by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and an approach to the war museum considered by some to be nationalist, China, South Korea and North Korea have called the Yasukuni Shrine a microcosm of a revisionist and unapologetic approach to Japanese crimes of World War II.


Culture.

Murle in most cases practice a blend of animism and Christianity. Elders and witches often function as trouble fixers. But they are pastoralists in a country where localized and unpredictable shortages occur in rain, drinking water, bush fruits and cattle grass. This necessitates a partly nomadic lifestyle over large distances. As a result, in times of shortages they have frequently come into conflict with numerically larger groups, including the Dinka and Nuer.  The Murle (like the Dinka and Nuer) have a tradition in which men can only marry when they pay a bride wealth of several dozens of cows. Education and jobs are almost absent and there are very few possibilities to earn money by producing for domestic or foreign markets. As a result, the only way to acquire cows for marriage, quicker than through breeding them, is by stealing. With roads absent and normal policing almost impossible in a vast territory, Murle, Dinka and Nuer raid each other equally, unlike the more widespread notion by the Dinka and Nuer in the Government that only the Murle are the offenders.[no cite, and the contrary has been held true by at least one anthropologist who has studied the Murle]  The Murle have a historical tradition of migrating over the years in a clockwise direction around Lake Turkana (Arensen 1983). In the 1930s, they negotiated small pockets of 'homeland' in Pibor, where they are always allowed to graze their cattle and grow crops, even when in conflict with neighbors. This homeland is far too small for their survival, so they have a common interest in maintaining peace with Dinka and Nuer so that they can graze their cattle over wider areas. But the small size of their homeland and the near absence of police protection make them very vulnerable when conflicts do occur. When doubts arise that there will be peace and sufficient water and grazing rights, survival instincts align with 'bride hunger', sometimes driving the young men into risky cattle rustling adventures against their larger neighbors.  In the north-south war since, the Murle were mainly underrepresented and neglected by the SPLA. They sought protection by forming an armed group to protect themselves from the former rebel SPLA and the Northern Sudanese Militias.

Massacres.

In most South-Sudanese cattle cultures, the bride-wealth system, and illegal taxing by some unscrupulous local leaders stimulates young men to find excuses to steal cows from their own cousins. Local leaders then sometimes try to quell or prevent intra-tribal fighting, by directing that aggression outward, to other tribes. Also, Murle are feared and seen by surrounding larger tribes as having strong magical powers, and therefore they are often blamed for outbreak of diseases, theft and arson.  With the country still awash with machine guns from the north-south war, 'cattle rustling' quickly runs out of control, killing dozens or hundreds of people in tit for tat escalations. Many Nuer reason that Murle are the grand children of immigrants with much less rights to use land and graze cattle. So Murle cattle, argue some Nuer, were raised on stolen grass, so most of their cattle actually belong to the Nuer. Many Murle elders argue that often if the Dinka and Nuer are facing hunger or drought, they sell their children to the Murle in exchange for cattle, then later report to the authorities that their children have been kidnapped by the Murle.  In December 2011, about 6,000 Nuer Youths Army marched on the remote town of Pibor in Jonglei state, home to the rival Murle people, burning homes and looting facilities after overtaking a small South Sudan Army unit. The Lou-Nuer blame the Murle for cattle raiding and have vowed to wipe out the entire Murle Tribe on the face of the Earth. An estimated 3,000 people were killed, mainly children, women and the elderly. More than 1,000 people were killed in ethnic clashes within South Sudan in 2012, with Jonglei being one of the states worst affected by the violence. Thousands more civilians have been displaced from their homes.  Along South Sudan's border with Ethiopia, a rebellion is smouldering among the Murle, with civilians caught in the conflict. Civilians alleging torture by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) claim fingernails being torn out, burning plastic bags dripped on children to make their parents hand over weapons and the villages of Laor and the Tanyang people burned alive in their huts because rebels were suspected of spending the night in the village.  On August 18, 2011, to retaliate and retrieve cattle stolen from previous conflict, several young Murle sacked and burned the air strip village of Pierri and a dozen surrounding hamlets, killing over a hundred people, abducting dozens or hundreds of children and stealing up to tens of thousands of cattle. One explanation might also be the drought: Pierri has one of the very few functioning dry season drinking water wells, often with thousands of people queuing for its water. Nuer have often excluded Murle from using this water.  Because of the Dinka and Nuer domination in the South Sudan government and as well as in the State level, most problems are blamed on Murle; therefore it is difficult for journalists and researchers to check any claims against the Murle.  Some conflicts could be prevented by sinking more wells. Also, a national conference on drinking water, land use rights and land redistribution, might help, if Murle survival needs and all their arguments are taken seriously.  State intervention in bride wealth culture (moving it away from virtual slave trade to an exchange of intentions and nominal tokens) and strong state action against illegal taxation by local leaders in Nuer, Dinka and Murle society is also needed.  Also, South Sudan, with its enormous agricultural potential during the rainy season, needs to be connected to regional and world markets, so that through agriculture and cattle breeding, the economy can be based on something else than tit for tat theft.

The Murle are a Surmic ethnic group inhabiting the Pibor County and Boma area in Jonglei State, South Sudan, as well as parts of southwestern Ethiopia. They have also been referred as "Beir" by the Dinka and as "Jebe" by the Luo and Nuer, among others. The Murle speak the Murle language, which is part of the Surmic language family. The language cluster includes some adjoining groups in Sudan, as well as some non-contiguous Surmic populations in southwestern Ethiopia.


Playing career.

Pastore was born in Alhambra, California, and was valedictorian of the 1975 class of Damien High School in La Verne, California. That year, Pastore went to the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the amateur draft. Pastore continued to be promoted within the organization, with an impressive 3.28 ERA in the minor leagues. He made his major league debut on April 4, 1979, at Riverfront Stadium, pitching three scoreless innings in a loss to the San Francisco Giants. Used equally as a reliever and starter during his rookie season, he then moved full-time to the starting rotation in 1980.  Pastore's best statistical season came in 1980 with the Reds, as he posted a record of 13 - 7 with an ERA of 3.27 in 27 appearances. Pastore was hit on the elbow with a batted ball on June 4, 1984. That injury caused him to appear in only 41 games in the 1984 and 1985 seasons combined. He was then released by the Reds in 1986 following spring training. However, Pastore quickly signed with the Minnesota Twins, and spent the entire season coming out of the bullpen. Following the season, he signed with the Texas Rangers and was assigned to the AAA Oklahoma City 89ers. However, Pastore started four disappointing games with the team (compiling a 1-3 record and 8.46 ERA) before retiring.

Later life.

After baseball, Pastore (a former atheist) went back to school, graduating with a degree in business administration from National University in 1989. He then spent the next two years with the national leadership of Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. He then attended the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, graduating "summa cum laude" with an MA in philosophy of religion and ethics in 1994. In 2003, Pastore completed his second master's degree, in political philosophy and American government, from Claremont Graduate School.  On January 5, 2004, Pastore became the host of "The Frank Pastore Show" on KKLA-FM in Los Angeles, which became one of the largest Christian talk shows in the United States.  In 2011, Pastore authored "Shattered: Struck Down, But Not Destroyed", a book recounting how he became a born-again Christian during recovery from his 1984 pitching arm injury.  Pastore once held the record for the fastest time to finish eating the famous 72-oz steak dinner, "The Texas King", at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Pastore's record of 9 minutes 30 seconds stood for 21 years, until being broken by Joey Chestnut in 2008.

Death.

On November 19, 2012, during his radio show while discussing how his faith affects his view of death, Pastore said: ...you guys know I ride a motorcycle, don’t you? So, at any moment, especially with the idiot people who cross the diamond lane into my lane, all right, without any blinkers -- not that I’m angry about it, but at any minute I could be spread out all over the 210 (Freeway). That same day, he was critically injured on the Foothill (210) Freeway in Duarte, California, when a woman from Glendora, California, driving a Hyundai Sonata, collided with his Honda VTX 1800, throwing him off the motorcycle. He was hospitalized in critical condition with serious head injuries.  Less than a month later, on December 17, 2012, Pastore died from pneumonia and other complications of his injuries. Pastore is survived by his wife, Gina, children Frank Jr. and Christina, and one grandchild.

Frank Pastore (; August 21, 1957 – December 17, 2012) was an American Major League Baseball player and radio host. He pitched for the Cincinnati Reds from 1979 until 1985 and for the Minnesota Twins in 1986, and was in the Texas Rangers organization in 1987.