History.

Halters may be as old as the early domestication of animals, and their history is not as well studied as that of the bridle or hackamore. The word "halter" derives from the Germanic words meaning "that by which anything is held."

Uses.

A halter is used to lead and tie up an animal. It is used on many different types of livestock. Halters are most closely associated with Equidae such as horses, donkeys, and mules. However, they are also used on farm animals such as cattle and goats and other working animals such as camels, llamas, and yaks. Halters generally are not used on elephants or on predators, though there are halters made for dogs.  Halters are often plain in design, used as working equipment on a daily basis. In addition to the halter, a lead line, lead shank or lead rope is required to actually lead or tie the animal. It is most often attached to the halter at a point under the jaw, or less often, at the cheek, usually with a snap, but occasionally spliced directly onto the halter. A standard working lead rope is approximately long.  However, specially designed halters, sometimes highly decorated, are used for in-hand or "halter" classes at horse shows and in other livestock shows. When an animal is shown in an exhibition, the show halter is fitted more closely than a working halter and may have a lead shank that tightens on the head so that commands from the handler may be more discreetly transmitted by means of the leadline. A shank that tightens on the animal's head when pulled is not used for tying the animal.  Halters are designed to catch, hold, lead and tie animals, and nothing else. However, some people ride horses using a halter instead of a bridle. In most cases, it is not safe to ride in an ordinary stable halter because it fits loosely and provides no leverage to the rider should a horse panic or bolt. It is particularly unsafe if the lead rope is used as a single rein, attached to the leading ring under the jaw.

Construction.

Halters may be classified into two broad categories, depending on whether the material used is flat or round. Materials include cured leather, rawhide, rope, and many different fibers, including nylon, polyester, cotton, and jute. Leather and rawhide may be flat or rolled. Fibers may be woven into flat webbing or twisted into round rope. Flat or round dictates the construction method: flat materials normally are sewn to buckles or rings at attachment points; round materials are knotted or spliced. Knotted halters often are made from a single piece of rope.

Horse halters.

The Halter was patented in the United States by Henry Wagner of Toledo, Iowa February 13, 1894. Horse halters are sometimes confused with a bridle.The primary difference between a halter and a bridle is that a halter is used by a handler on the ground to lead or tie up an animal, but a bridle is generally used by a person who is riding or driving an animal that has been trained in this use. A halter is safer than a bridle for tying, as the bit of a bridle may injure the horse's mouth if the horse sets back while tied with a bridle, and in addition, many bridles are made of lighter materials and will break. On the other hand, a bridle offers more precise control.  One common halter design is made of either flat nylon webbing or flat leather, has a noseband that passes around the muzzle with one ring under the jaw, usually used to attach a lead rope, and two rings on either side of the head. The noseband is usually adjusted to lie about halfway between the end of the cheekbones and the corners of the mouth, crossing over the strong, bony part of the face. The noseband connects to a cheekpiece on either side that go up next to the cheekbone to meet with a ring on either side that usually is placed just above the level of the eye. These rings meet the throatlatch and the crownpiece. The crownpiece is a long strap on the right-hand side of the halter that goes up behind the ears, over the poll and is buckled to a shorter strap coming up from the left. The throatlatch goes under the throat, and sometimes has a snap or clip that allows the halter to be removed in a manner similar to the bridle. Many halters have another short strap connecting the noseband and the throatlatch.  The halter design made of rope also has the same basic sections, but usually is joined by knots instead of sewn into rings. Most designs have no metal parts, other than, in some cases, a metal ring under the jaw where the lead rope snaps, or, occasionally, a recessed hook attachment where the crownpiece can be connected. However, in many cases, a loop is formed in the left side of the crownpiece and the right side of the crownpiece simply is brought over the horse's head, through the loop and tied with a sheet bend.

Leading.

In addition to the halter, usually a lead (lead line, lead rope) or leash is used to lead or tie the animal. The lead is attached to the halter most often at a point under the jaw, less often at the cheek, and rarely above the nose. On horses, a lighter version of a headcollar or headstall is also used to attach a fly veil of waxed cotton strands or light leather strips onto a browband. Some fly masks are also made in a similar pattern to a headcollar and are often fastened with velcro tabs. These masks may also have ear and nose protection added to them. On both horses and dogs, halters may be used to attach a muzzle.

Safety and security issues.

For tying, it is disputed if a halter should be made strong enough not to break under stress, or if it should give way when tension reaches a certain point in order to prevent injury to the animal. Usually the issue is of minimal concern if a tied animal is attended and the lead rope is tied with a slip knot that can be quickly released if the animal panics. However, in cases where a non-slip knot is tied, or if a soft rope is drawn tight and the knot cannot be released, or if the animal is left unsupervised, an animal panicking and attempting to escape can be seriously injured. Those who argue that the risk of injury is more of a concern than the risk of escape recommend halter designs that incorporate breakaway elements, such as a leather crownpiece, breakaway buckles, or easily detachable lead rope. Those who believe that escape is the greater danger, either due to concerns about escape or creating a recurring bad habit in an animal that learns to break loose that could become unable to be kept tied at all, recommend sturdy designs that will not break unless the handler deliberately releases a slipknot or cuts the lead rope. Between the two camps are those who recommend sturdy halters that will not break under normal pressure from a momentarily recalcitrant or frightened animal, but ultimately will break in a true panic situation, such as a fall.  Some users have the animal wear a halter at all times, even when stalled or turned out. Others have the animal wear a halter only when being led, held, or tied. The advantages of leaving a halter on are that the animal is often easier to catch. The disadvantages are that an animal may catch the halter on an object and become trapped or injured in some fashion. While experts advise leaving halters off when animals are turned out, if halters are left on unattended animals, breakaway designs that still will hold for everyday leading are recommended.

A halter or headcollar is headgear that is used to lead or tie up livestock and, occasionally, other animals; it fits behind the ears (behind the poll), and around the muzzle. To handle the animal, usually a lead rope is attached. On smaller animals, such as dogs, a leash is attached to the halter.

Ohlávka je součást postroje, která slouží k vedení a uvazování koní, případně i dobytka a jiných zvířat. Od uzdy se ohlávka liší hlavně v tom, že ji užívá k vedení nebo vázání zvířete člověk, jdoucí po zemi, kdežto uzdu užívá jezdec, který na zvířeti jede.


Premise.

Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) lives at home with his parents (Andrew Airlie and Allison Hossack) in the Seattle area. Sam dropped out of college ("It made him sleepy", his Mom explains) and took a dead-end job at the Work Bench, a home-repair superstore. He spent the rest of his time hanging out, playing video games, and pining for his co-worker, Andi (Missy Peregrym).  On Sam's 21st birthday, his parents behave very strangely, and Sam himself sees hellish visions and experiences odd events. His father eventually claims that many years ago, he was very sick, and in return for restoring his health, he and his wife promised their firstborn child to the Devil (Ray Wise). Although the couple intended to cheat the Devil by not having children, this plan went awry when Satan persuaded their doctor to lie and tell the couple that

Development and production.

"Reaper" premiered on September 25, 2007 in the U.S., airing on Tuesday nights at 9:00PM Eastern/8:00PM Central on the CW, following "Beauty and the Geek". The series had a full 18 episode order for the 2007-2008 season, with 13 pre-strike episodes and 5 post-strike episodes.  "Reaper" stopped airing new episodes after the tenth episode due to the industry-wide 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. It resumed new pre-strike episodes for three weeks on Thursdays in March, and began airing post-strike episodes on April 22, 2008.  On May 12, 2008, "Reaper" was officially renewed for a 13-episode second and final season which premiered on March 3, 2009.  On May 19, 2009, "Reaper" was officially cancelled by The CW. However, ABC Studios was still in negotiations with CW affiliates to syndicate the show, or sell it to cable.  Tyler Labine who plays Sock posted on his Facebook account that "Reaper" is officially cancelled and will not be returning.

Conception.

The pilot script which was written by creators/executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters received a script commitment by The CW in September 2006. Mark Gordon and Deborah Spera also joined the project as executive producers under the former's production banner at Touchstone Television, The Mark Gordon Company. The network green-lighted a pilot order for the script in January 2007, and writer/director Kevin Smith agreed to direct the first hour

Casting.

Casting began in February 2007, when Bret Harrison won the lead role of Sam Oliver. At the time, his commitment to the series came second to his show at Fox, "The Loop", which had yet to air its second season on the network. The show was later canceled, leaving Harrison free to fully concentrate on "Reaper". Canadian actor Tyler Labine (formerly of the fan favorite sci-fi series "Invasion") was cast in the same month in the role of Bert "Sock" Wysocki, Sam's best friend and sidekick. Nikki Reed, actress and co-writer of the award-winning film "Thirteen", was originally cast as Sam's

Broadcast history.

The first showing of the pilot occurred on July 27, 2007 at Comic-Con International in San Diego. It received mostly positive responses from critics and audience members alike. The

Cancellation.

The CW cancelled the show near the end of the second season, airing the final episode on May 26, 2009. ABC Studios was initially in talks with CW affiliates to get a syndicated version of "Reaper" run on Sunday nights. It was later reported that syndication talks with CW affiliates fell through, as well as attempts to sell

Syndication.

In 2013, FEARnet made a syndication deal to air the entire series. It is FEARnet's first "off-network" series, meaning that it is the first third-party show they air that they didn't make for the network.

Cast and characters.

Main characters.

Samuel "Sam" Oliver.

Sam Oliver (played by Bret Harrison), the protagonist of the show, is a dropout and all-around slacker who, due to a deal that his parents made to save his father's life, is coerced into becoming a bounty hunter for the Devil after turning 21 years old. According to the terms of the contract, Sam would serve the Devil by using various tools, called vessels, to recapture souls who have escaped from Hell. After capturing an escaped soul with a vessel, he would then drop the vessel and soul at a portal to Hell, which was the local Department of Motor Vehicles in the show. Also, the Devil would grant Sam a unique power to aid in

Bert "Sock" Wysocki.

The lowest-performing salesperson at the Work Bench, Bert "Sock" Wysocki (played by Tyler Labine) spends most of his time sleeping in the stock shelves, planning his topless home supply store, and other time-wasting activities. He won the dog of the month award (the opposite of employee of the month) nine months in a row. He also regularly steals supplies from the Work Bench, both to aid Sam in capturing souls and for fun (like making a mechanical bull from paint mixers and lumber). Fortunately, he is braver and more athletic than his slacker personality suggests, and often provides the muscle of Sam's group. Sock assists Sam with collecting souls.  Sock lived with his mother for the majority of the first season but had to move out after she remarried in Las Vegas. After being kicked out, he first lives in the Work Bench but then he finds an apartment and forges Sam's and Ben's signatures on the lease and they live there for the rest of the season.  At the start of

Benjamin "Ben" Gonzalez.

One of Sam and Sock's co-workers and friends, Benjamin Casper Perez Gonzalez (played by Rick Gonzalez) knows Sam is working for Satan and helps him out. He seems to have a tendency to get hurt when assisting Sam in capturing escaped souls (though this tendency diminished as the series progressed, partially because he doesn't go soul-hunting along with Sam as extensively as Sock does). In the series pilot he is sent to the hospital by the fire soul and consumed by the blob monster in episode 5 ("What about Blob"), was held hostage in episode 10, ("Cash Out"), and hit by a 2x4 along with his friends while fighting

Andi Prendergast.

Andi Prendergast (played by Missy Peregrym in the series and Nikki Reed in the unaired pilot) is Sam's girlfriend and, for a time, manager. Initially unaware of Sam's Reaper duties, she is let down multiple times when Sam is called away from dates to capture souls. Chancing to see him on duty, Andi watches Sam behead an escaped soul from a distance, and initially threatens to go to the police. Sam is warned by the Devil to ensure she remains unaware of his activities, but eventually he receives permission to let her know what he does. With help from Sam's neighbor (and demon) Tony, as well as from the escaped soul at the time, Sam convinces Andi of his "job". Andi reacts poorly, but eventually accepts Sam's fate and

Josie Miller.

Josie Miller (played by Valarie Rae Miller) is Sock's ex-girlfriend who works at the district attorney's office. Despite her obvious dislike for Sock, Josie remains friendly with Sam and agrees to provide information that helps him track down different souls, unaware of his work for the Devil. However, after Sock used a share of stolen bank

John Oliver.

John Oliver (played by Andrew Airlie) is Sam's father. Though equally distressed by his son's predicament as his wife, he, in effect, works against Sam for the protection of his family. In one episode, John is seen burning a page from the contract which binds Sam to the devil, to hide information from Sam (which he later admits to in the season finale).  In the season two premiere ("Episode IV: A New Hope"), Sam is confident that the Devil is his true father, not John. After surviving being buried alive at the end of Season 1, John reappears as a zombie. Sam sees him again in "The Favorite" when delivering a freezer to his mother's house. John explains that he cannot die because of the deal with the Devil that cost Sam his soul. As a zombie, he cannot go out in public and needs to be kept cool. His deceased status

The Devil.

Smooth-talking and debonair, known as "Jerry Belvedere" to those who have no idea of his true identity, the Devil (played by Ray Wise) claims the rights to Sam's soul thanks to a deal he made with Sam's parents before Sam was even born. Although he knows how it all ends ("God wins"), he is determined to do as much as he can to oppose God until the end. He also convinces Sam that he (Sam) is doing good by clearing the world of the escaped evil souls. Aside from Sam, Morgan, Cady, and Andi at least once, the Devil never appears before any of Sam's friends face-to-face, despite the Devil knowing all about Sock and Ben, and them being aware that they know Sam's secret job of being a reaper for the Devil. In the

Ted Gallagher.

Played by Donavon Stinson, Ted was the Work Bench's pompous, imperious manager (and recovering gambling addict) who gave his employees, especially Sam, Andi, Ben, and Sock, a hard time. In episode 20 ("Dirty Sexy Mongol") Ted was fired from his job as manager at the Work Bench after sexually harassing a secret shopper sent from corporate. Corporate appointed Andi as the new store manager. She took pity on Ted and rehired him as a trainee for the Work Bench with Sock as his trainer. When Andi is demoted in "My Brother's Reaper", Ted reclaims his spot as manager.

Demons.

Demons, in the "Reaper" universe, are portrayed as seemingly neutral and non-aggressive (so far) entities who are either in the direct service of the Devil or plotting to overthrow his rule. It was stated that all demons were once angels who "fell" out of their place after joining up with the Devil's attempt to overthrow God and got banished along with him from Heaven.  Demons residing within

Reapers.

'Reapers' are beings tasked by the Devil to apprehend souls that have escaped the depths of Hell. Sam became one in the premiere episode of the series. The word was first used in the episode "Acid Queen", which implies that there may be others like him with a similar obligation (or predicament). Currently, it is not

Escaped souls.

These are fugitives from Hell whom the Devil has entrusted Sam to recapture. All of them were once mortals who committed various crimes or sold their souls that ultimately led to their damnation. When they come back to Earth, they are intent on finishing the jobs that they started.  After escaping Hell and returning to the earthly realm, not only do they regain a corporeal body with which to

Vessels.

As the souls that Sam is sent to apprehend have already died once (along with the fact that they have various paranormal abilities), an attempt to capture or even kill them by a mere mortal could prove almost impossible. The Devil provides Sam with vessels to help him do his work. The vessel is usually sent for Sam to open in a wooden box which varies in shape per episode, sometimes inappropriate for the vessel they hold (i.e. a large box contained a Zippo lighter vessel) and it's usually up to Sam to figure out how to use it to capture the escaped soul assigned for him to apprehend since the vessels don't usually come with an instruction manual. All vessels are unique because each of

The Ender.

Introduced in "The Good Soil", The Ender is The Devil's backup plan. When Sam refused to capture the soul and return it to Hell, The Ender was summoned to seek out and destroy the

Season 3 plans.

In February 2010, the show's creators gave an interview that detailed some of their ideas for season three. Included were plans to have

DVD releases.

On November 4, 2008, Lionsgate Home Entertainment (under license from ABC Studios) released Season

Reception.

The series, as shown on Metacritic, has been dubbed as having "universal acclaim" with a rating of 81 out of 100, out of 27 reviews.  Critics have compared "Reaper" to the NBC spy comedy "Chuck", which follows the story of another seemingly unremarkable, post-adolescent "big box" store employee (in Chuck's case it's a "Buy More") who also leads a secret double-life trying to save the world.

Weekly ratings.

Season 1.

As of May 12, 2008, "Reaper" has averaged 2.70 million American-based viewers

Season 2.

"Reaper" averaged 2.16 million American-based viewers for each new episode for its second season. Viewing figures from other countries are inconclusive so far.

Reaper is an American comedy television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.

Ďáblův sluha (v anglickém originále Reaper) je americký komediálně-dramatický televizní seriál, jehož autorkami jsou Michele Fazekas a Tara Butters. Premiérově byl vysílán v letech 2007–2009 na stanici The CW. Celkově bylo natočeno 31 dílů ve dvou řadách.


Notable isotopes.

Neptunium-235.

Neptunium-235 has 142 neutrons and a half-life of 396.1 days. This isotope decays by:  This isotope of neptunium has a weight of 235.044 063 3 u.

Neptunium-236.

Neptunium-236 has 143 neutrons and a half-life of 154,000 years. It can decay by the following methods:  This particular isotope of neptunium has a mass of 236.04657 u. It is a fissile material with a critical mass of 6.79 kg.

Neptunium-237.

decays via the neptunium series, which terminates with thallium-205, which is stable, unlike most other actinides, which decay to stable isotopes of lead.  In 2002, was shown to be capable of sustaining a chain reaction with fast neutrons, as in a nuclear weapon, with a critical mass of around 60 kg. However, it has a low probability of fission on bombardment with thermal neutrons, which makes it unsuitable as a fuel for light water nuclear power plants (as opposed to fast reactor or accelerator-driven systems, for example).

Use in plutonium-238 production.

When exposed to neutron bombardment can capture a neutron, undergo beta decay, and become, this product being useful as an thermal energy source in a radio-isotope thermoelectric generator for the production of electricity and heat in deep space probes (such as the New Horizons and Voyager probes) and, of recent note, the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity rover). These applications are economically practical where photovoltaic power sources are weak or inconsistent due to probes being too far from the sun or rovers facing climate events that may obstruct sunlight for long periods. Space probes and rovers also make use of the heat output of the generator to keep their instruments and internals warm.

Neptunium (Np) is usually considered an artificial element, although trace quantities are found in nature, so a standard atomic weight cannot be given. Like all trace or artificial elements, it has no stable isotopes. The first isotope to be synthesized and identified was Np in 1940, produced by bombarding U with neutrons to produce U, which then underwent beta decay to Np.

Neptunium (Np) je umělý prvek, v přírodě se téměř nevyskytuje (jen ve velmi nízkých koncentracích, vzniká když U zachytí neutron a přemění se na beta minus radioaktivní U).


Background.

Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics (), or Ruihai Logistics (), is a privately held logistics company established in 2011. It handles hazardous chemicals within the Port of Tianjin, such as flammable and corrosive substances, oxidizing agents, and toxic chemicals. The company, which employed 70, is designated by the Tianjin Maritime Safety Administration () as an approved agent for handling these hazardous chemicals at the port, and its operating license was renewed two months prior to the explosions. Its site contains multiple warehouses for hazardous goods, a fire pump and a fire pond.  The warehouse building, owned by Ruihai Logistics, is recorded in a 2014 government document as being a hazardous chemical storage facility for calcium carbide, sodium nitrate, and potassium nitrate. Safety regulations requiring that public buildings and facilities should be at least 1 kilometre away were not followed, and local inhabitants were unaware of the danger. The authorities stated that poor record keeping, damage to the office facilities and "major discrepancies" with customs meant that they were unable to identify the substances stored. State media revealed that Ruihai had only received its authorisation to handle dangerous chemicals less than two months earlier, meaning that it had been operating illegally from October 2014, when its temporary license had expired, to June 2015.

Explosions.

The first reports of a fire at a warehouse in the Binhai New Area began coming in at around 22:50 local time (14:50 UTC) on 12 August. The first responders were unable to keep the fire from spreading. Firefighters who first arrived on the scene proceeded to douse the fire with water as they were unaware that dangerous chemicals were stored on the site, thereby setting in motion a series of more violent chemical reactions.  At around 23:30 (15:30 UTC), the first explosion occurred and registered as a magnitude 2.3 earthquake, generating seismic shock-waves energetically equivalent to 2.9 tonnes of TNT. After 30 seconds, a second, much more powerful explosion occurred, causing most of the damage and injuries with shock-waves felt many kilometres away. The second explosion registered as a magnitude 2.9 earthquake and generated seismic shock-waves with energy equivalent to 21.9 tonnes of TNT. The resulting fireballs reached hundreds of meters in height. Around 23:40 (15:40 UTC) on 15 August, a series of eight smaller explosions occurred in the port as fire from the original blasts continued to spread. The total energy release was equivalent to 28 tonnes of TNT, or 100GJ.  The explosion was large enough to be photographed by Himawari, a geostationary meteorological satellite operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Chinese scientists subsequently estimated that the second more powerful explosion involved the detonation of about 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, based on crater size and lethality radius (336 tons TNT equivalent, based on relative effectiveness factor of 0.42).  One month after the explosion, official reports listed 173 deaths and 797 injuries. Media reported the area to be densely populated, with around 5,600 families living within 1.5 km radius of the plant, the closest being only 600 m away. Neither the developers nor the buyers were aware of the latent dangers of the activities at the nearby site; developers claimed also to be victims. According to the Tianjin government, more than 700 people were injured by the explosion, many with extensive injuries, mostly from burns and explosive blast injuries. Over a thousand firefighters were on scene, and 95 were killed. There was one surviving firefighter, a 19-year-old named Zhou Ti (), who was found on the morning of 14 August. The death toll of the incident, which also included 11 police officers, was the worst for Chinese front line responders since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, until the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020.

Damage.

Photographs and videos showed extensive destruction in and around the warehouse compound, with an enormous crater at the blast site. The buildings of seven more surrounding logistics companies were destroyed, and large quantities of intermodal container stacks were toppled and thrown by the forces of the explosions. More than eight thousand new cars from Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Renault, and Toyota, parked in lots located near the blast site, were largely burned as a result of the initial explosions. Multiple buildings surrounding the blast site were declared "structurally unsafe". In total, 304 buildings, 12,428 cars, and 7,533 intermodal containers were damaged. Beyond insurance, the cost to businesses of the break in the supply chain caused by the explosions was estimated at $9 billion, making it the third most expensive supply chain disruption of 2015.  Apartment blocks from the site sustained shattered glass, loss of roof tiles and damage to ceilings – with 17,000 units being affected. Nearby Donghai Road Station suffered severe damage as a result of the explosions and was closed until 2016, as was the rest of Line 9 of the Tianjin Metro beginning on 13 August. A Japanese department store four kilometres away reported damage to walls and ceilings. The explosions also affected the National Supercomputing Center of Tianjin several kilometres away, knocking out windows and causing some internal ceilings to collapse; the center's supercomputer Tianhe-1A itself was not damaged.

Cause.

It is not known what chemicals were being stored at the site. In addition to vast quantities of sodium cyanide and calcium carbide, paperwork was discovered showing that 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and 500 tonnes of potassium nitrate were at the blast site. On 17 August, the deputy director of the public security bureau's fire department told CCTV:  Ammonium nitrate, which is principally used in manufacturing fertilizer, has been implicated in a number of other fatal industrial explosions. A fire department spokesman confirmed that firefighters had used water in combating the initial fire, which may have led to water being sprayed on calcium carbide, releasing the highly flammable gas acetylene. This would have provided the fuel source for reaction with the oxidizer, ammonium nitrate, thus triggering its detonation.

Pollution.

At least 700 tonnes of highly toxic sodium cyanide was stored at the site – 70 times the legal limit. Sodium cyanide leakage was reported in the sewer. On 13 August, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, all of which are toxic, were detected within of the origin of the explosion, but the levels conformed with the national standards. The government maintained that gases were undetectable from the site during initial testing on 14 August.  With the first rains after the initial explosions, coming on 18 August, white chemical foam covered the streets. Citizens complained of burning sensations and rashes on sensitive skin parts after coming into contact with rain droplets. However, meteorologists sought to reassure the public that the rain was not directly harmful to health, whilst the Environment Protection Board advised against exposure to the rain due to traces of cyanide dust reacting with water.  Thousands of dead sticklebacks washed up on the banks 6 km from the explosion site on 20 August, fuelling fears of water contamination. Officials downplayed the fears, saying that there were not high levels of cyanide in the river and that the fish likely died due to oxygen depletion in the water.  Rain on 25 August 2015 in the Binhai New Area brought more complaints of skin burns from volunteers and journalists. A bright white foam also appeared on the streets. Deng Xiaowen, director of Tianjin's environmental monitoring centre, questionably stated that the foam was "a normal phenomenon when rain falls, and similar things have occurred before".

Immediate aftermath.

On Thursday morning, the Chinese leaders ordered officers in the city to make full effort in rescuing the injured, and search for those missing. Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Li Keqiang, the Premier of the People's Republic of China, also said police should investigate the cause of the incident and punish those responsible for the blast.  Tianjin officials, initially concerned at public response, announced that 14 people had perished in the explosions, but later raised the death toll to 44 once the scale of the explosions became clear. The "South China Morning Post" (SCMP) cited a Tianjin police source that officers had been instructed to remove bodies from the scene to deliberately understate the official death toll, which angered the Tianjin government.  The morning following the explosion military personnel began to arrive in Tianjin to help with the search and recovery efforts. Extra equipment, such as bulldozers, were brought in to help with the clean-up operation. Over 200 nuclear and biochemical experts, including a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency, began arriving in Tianjin to assess the health risks from the chemicals being released into the atmosphere. Government personnel set up twelve temporary monitoring stations near the blast site with above-normal levels of pollutants being detected. A nearby drainage outlet was also closed, and water quality tested.  Firefighting was suspended on the afternoon of 13 August due to the uncertainty of the content and quantity of hazardous materials being stored on site. A team of over 200 chemical specialists was deployed to the site to assess the hazardous materials on site and dangers to the environment, and to determine the best way to put out the remaining fires and proceed with search and rescue and clean-up operations. Later that day, rescue personnel were dispatched in an attempt to remove the 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide believed to be stored at the site, with hydrogen peroxide being prepared to neutralise the chemicals. Daily press conferences were organised. A press conference organised by local officials held on 14 August came to an abrupt end when a journalist began asking questions as to why such dangerous chemicals were stockpiled so close to housing estates.  Initially, more than 3,500 area residents were staying in temporary shelters, but the number surpassed six thousand within three days. The government issued an evacuation order over concerns of further explosions; not all residents complied.  On 15 August, local authorities ordered the evacuation of residents within a radius of the blast site, prompted by the threat of "toxic substances", including sodium cyanide.  The State Council ordered inspections of all businesses using dangerous chemicals and explosives across the country.

Company ownership.

Hong Kong media announced that Li Liang, the major shareholder – owning 55%, was the nephew of former chairman of the CPPCC National Committee Li Ruihuan, who had been de facto leader of the Tianjin clique, and that the company may have been named after his brother and Li Liang's father; the remaining 45% was owned by Shu Zheng. Reports in state media one week after the explosion were contradictory, holding that Ruihai was owned via proxies by Yu Xuewei, a former senior executive at Sinochem, and Dong Shexuan, who served as the company's vice-president and had been arrested by police by the time of the reports. Dong Shexuan is the son of Tianjin port's former police chief Dong Peijun, who was a colleague of Wu Changshun, the former chief of the public security bureau of Tianjin. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), CPC's anti-corruption body, charged Wu Changshun with bribery in 2014; Dong Peijun was also under investigation for corruption, but died that year.

Investigation.

After the explosions, the CCDI placed Yang Dongliang, Director of the State Administration of Work Safety and China's highest work-safety official, under investigation on 18 August 2015. Yang had previously served as Tianjin's vice mayor for 11 years. In 2012, Yang Dongliang had issued an order to loosen rules for the handling of hazardous substances, which may have enabled Ruihai to store toxic chemicals such as sodium cyanide.  On 27 August, Xinhua reported that police had arrested twelve people with suspected connections to the explosions, including Ruihai Logistics' chairman, vice-chairman, and at least three other managers, with the other seven people unnamed.  On 5 February 2016, the Chinese government issued the investigation report of the explosions. The report concluded the fire started in a container through auto-ignition of nitrocellulose, due to vaporization of the wetting agent during hot weather.  On 8 November 2016, various courts in China handed jail sentences to 49 government officials and warehouse executives and staff for their roles in circumventing the safety rules that led to the disaster. Yu Xuewei, the Chairman of Ruihai Logistics, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.

Response.

Media coverage.

News outlets.

Initially, Tianjin authorities banned editors and reporters from sharing information about the disaster on Weibo and WeChat, and websites were ordered to follow state media.  The Tianjin internet police warned social media users to use only official casualty figures.  Tianjin Television had reported the explosion on their early morning news at 7:00 am, but citizens complained that the station had not reported live nor updated on the event, instead showing soap operas eight hours later.

Social media.

A great deal of specific information on the event, including the majority of early stage video was first released over social media sites, and in particular microblogging platforms like Weibo. Major media has drawn heavily from social media sources, greatly widening the audience. "The Economist" noted, "Social media fills in the blanks left by official narratives of the Tianjin disaster. The most remarkable feature of the aftermath of the explosions in Tianjin, in northern China, has been the extraordinary contrast between the official reaction to the crisis, which has been profoundly flawed, and the online reaction, which has entirely dominated the agenda."

Censorship and criticism.

Professional and social media reports were censored by Chinese authorities. The censorship rate increased tenfold on the social media site Weibo, with users reporting the deletion of their posts regarding the blasts, with "Tianjin" and "explosion" being the most censored words. An article by "Caijing", which carried an interview with a firefighter who said that no-one on the front line had been informed of the dangerous chemicals on site that would react exothermically when mixed with water, was deleted after it had been reposted 10,000 times; many other posts mentioning the existence of deadly sodium cyanide were also expunged.  The Cyberspace Administration of China banned all journalists from posting to social media, and insisted on strict adherence to Xinhua copy. On 15 August, it announced that it had shut down 18 websites and suspended 32 more for spreading false information. More than 360 Weibo and public WeChat accounts which had allegedly been spreading such false rumors have been "punished according to laws". Of these accounts, over 160 were shut down permanently.  Press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accused the Chinese state media of playing up the heroic efforts of rescue workers and firefighters while downplaying the causes of the explosions and the number of casualties. RSF said that censorship by the Chinese authorities showed "a flagrant indifference to the public's legitimate concerns".  A CNN correspondent was interrupted by bystanders and forced to leave during a live report outside TEDA Hospital. A journalist from the Beijing News reported that he and two other reporters were chased by police, caught, searched, and made to delete photographs from their cameras and computers.

Reactions.

Immediately following the blasts the company website was taken down fuelling suspicions that an attempt was being made to shield owners with powerful political connections. For several successive days, local residents seeking compensation for their homes protested in front of the venue of the daily press conference, they were joined by distraught families of missing firefighters, and confronted police angrily.  The Chinese public security minister threatened severe punishment for those found to be responsible for the explosions. However, the authorities did not release any significant information for several days about the chemicals and circumstances, causing public anger to mount during this time. Marking an official change of tack that suggested top-level endorsement, the official "People's Daily" joined in to criticise local officials' lack of candour and their use of bureaucratic jargon. In addition, the "Global Times" remarked on the inadequacy of emergency response and the reluctance of high-ranking officials to answer the public's questions and address their concerns until four days after the blasts. The "People's Daily" acknowledged that public scepticism of the reported death toll was fuelling rampant rumours; there was also disquiet over the emergency assistance provided and the way the aftermath was being handled. Attempting to defuse widespread anger at the lack of official transparency, mouthpieces of the ruling party declared that investigations would be thorough and transparent. Former deputy mayor, Yang Dongliang, was put under investigation for corruption; mayor Huang Xingguo proclaimed his "unshirkable responsibility for this accident". Authorities also released information about the ownership of Ruihai, as well as a confession by one beneficial owner for the proxy shareholdings.  Meanwhile, Greenpeace Asia alleged that two Sinochem subsidiaries – Sinochem Tianjin Binhai Logistics Company (with a site) and Tianjin Port Sinochem Hazardous Goods Logistics Company Ltd. – had warehouses in the vicinity in close proximity to a primary and a nursery school, meaning that both were also in similar breach of laws.  Observers stated that top officials always attempt to show such disasters as isolated instances, have never accepted political accountability nor addressed the underlying governance issues, and have always heavily censored any criticism of the central government. Willy Lam, professor at CUHK and senior fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, noted the highly unusual 4 days it took for Li Keqiang to make an official visit, suggesting that the lack of a top-ranking visitor to a major disaster site within 48 hours despite the proximity to Beijing reflected "division among the leadership on who should be the fall guy."

Clean-up and redress.

Tianjin officials announced that as at the deadline on 3 September 2015, more than 9,000 households out of some 17,000 affected by the explosions had signed agreements to settle their damages claims. It was reported that some had chosen to sell their damaged apartments to private developers, who offered them around 130% of the original purchase price, while others accepted an offer from the local government promising to fix the damaged apartments. The local government offered an additional of ¥20,000 renminbi ($3,100) to those who agreed to settle their claims by the deadline. "New York Times" journalists, however, reported that some owners had faced heavy pressure from government officials to settle; similarly, owners who were employees in state-owned enterprises were under threat of dismissal from their bosses for not settling.  On 10 September 2015 China Daily reported that families of the firefighters killed in the explosions would each receive compensation of 2.3 million yuan (US$360,669), citing a report in Beijing News. It was also reported that a monument would be built on the site and that the government planned to compensate residents whose houses were damaged by repurchasing them at 130% of their purchase price.

On August 12, 2015, a series of explosions killed, according to official reports, 173 people and injured hundreds of others at a container storage station at the Port of Tianjin. The first two explosions occurred within 30 seconds of each other at the facility, which is located in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China. The second explosion was far larger and involved the detonation of about 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate (336 tons TNT equivalent). Fires caused by the initial explosions continued to burn uncontrolled throughout the weekend, resulting in eight additional explosions on 15 August. Of the 173 fatalities, 104 were firefighters.

Dne 12. srpna 2015 došlo k řadě explozí v přístavu Tchien-ťin v Čínské lidové republice. Bylo zabito 173 lidí a další stovky byly zraněny. První dvě exploze nastaly v 30 sekundovém rozmezí. Druhá exploze byla mnohem větší, jelikož detonovalo 800 tun dusičnanu amonného. Požáry způsobené počátečními explozemi nekontrolovaně hořely po celý víkend. Způsobovaly také sekundární exploze a osm dalších 15. srpna.


Characteristics.

Vaporwave is a hyper-specific subgenre (or "microgenre") that is both a form of electronic music and an art style, although it is sometimes suggested to be primarily a visual medium. The genre is defined largely by its surrounding subculture, with its music inextricable from its visual accountrements. Academic Laura Glitsos writes, "In this way, vaporwave defies traditional music conventions that typically privilege the music over the visual form."  Drawing primarily on musical and cultural sources from the 1980s and early 1990s, vaporwave builds upon the experimental and ironic tendencies of chillwave and hypnagogic pop, while also being associated with an ambiguous or satirical take on consumer capitalism and technoculture. The name derives from "vaporware", a term for commercial software that is announced but never released.  Creating a vaporwave track requires only the knowledge of rudimentary production techniques. It is composed almost entirely from slowed-down samples and subverts dance music from the 1980s and 1990s through the use of chopped and screwed techniques, repetition, and heavy reverb. Critic Adam Trainer writes of the style's predilection for "music made less for enjoyment than for the regulation of mood", such as corporate stock music for infomercials and product demonstrations. Academic Adam Harper described the typical vaporwave track as "a wholly synthesised or heavily processed chunk of corporate mood music, bright and earnest or slow and sultry, often beautiful, either looped out of sync and beyond the point of functionality."  Adding to its dual engagement with musical and visual art forms, vaporwave embraces the Internet as a cultural, social, and aesthetic medium. The visual aesthetic (often stylized as "", with fullwidth characters) incorporates early Internet imagery, late 1990s web design, glitch art, and cyberpunk tropes, as well as anime, Greco-Roman statues, and 3D-rendered objects. VHS degradation is another common effect seen in vaporwave art. Generally, artists limit their source material between Japan's economic flourishing in the 1980s and the September 11 attacks or dot-com bubble burst of 2001 (some albums, including "Floral Shoppe", depict the intact Twin Towers on their covers).

History.

Origins and precursors.

Vaporwave originated on the Internet in the early 2010s as an ironic variant of chillwave and as a derivation of the work of hypnagogic pop artists such as Ariel Pink and James Ferraro, who were also characterized by the invocation of retro popular culture. It was one of many Internet microgenres to emerge in this era, alongside witch house, seapunk, shitgaze, cloud rap, and others. Vaporwave coincided with a broader trend involving young artists whose works drew from their childhoods in the 1980s.  "Chillwave" and "hypnagogic pop" were coined at virtually the same time, in mid-2009, and were considered interchangeable terms. Like vaporwave, they engaged with notions of nostalgia and cultural memory. Among the earliest hypnagogic acts to anticipate vaporwave was Matrix Metals and his album "Flamingo Breeze" (2009), which was built on synthesizer loops. Around the same time, Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) uploaded a collection of plunderphonics loops to YouTube surreptitiously under the alias sunsetcorp. These clips were taken from his audio-visual album "Memory Vague" (June 2009). Washed Out's "Feel It All Around" (June 2009), which slowed down the 1983 Italian dance song "I Want You" by Gary Low, exemplified the "analog nostalgia" of chillwave that vaporwave artists sought to reconfigure.  Vaporwave was subsumed under a larger "Tumblr aesthetic" that had become fashionable in underground digital music and art scenes of the 2010s. In 2010, Lopatin included several of the tracks from "Memory Vague", as well as a few new ones, on his album "Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1", released in August under the alias "Chuck Person". With packaging that resembled the 1993 video game "Ecco the Dolphin", the album inspired a host of suburban teens and young adults to formulate what would become vaporwave. Seapunk followed in mid-2011 as an aquatic-themed Tumblr subculture and Internet meme that presaged vaporwave in its concern for "spacey" electronic music and Geocities web graphics. Like vaporwave, it was defined by its engagement with the Internet (sometimes described as post-Internet).  The musical template for vaporwave came from "Eccojams" and Ferraro's "Far Side Virtual" (October 2011). "Eccojams" featured chopped and screwed variations on popular 1980s pop songs, while "Far Side Virtual" drew primarily on "the grainy and bombastic beeps" of past media such as Skype and the Nintendo Wii. According to "Stereogum"s Miles Bowe, vaporwave was a fusion between Lopatin's "chopped and screwed plunderphonics" and the "nihilistic easy-listening of James Ferraro’s Muzak-hellscapes". A 2013 post on a music blog presented those albums, along with Skeleton's "Holograms" (November 2010), as "proto vaporwave".

Early scene.

Vaporwave artists were originally "mysterious and often nameless entities that lurk the internet," Adam Harper noted, "often behind a pseudo-corporate name or web façade, and whose music is typically free to download through Mediafire, Last FM, Soundcloud or Bandcamp." According to Metallic Ghosts (Chaz Allen), the original vaporwave scene came out of an online circle formulated on the site Turntable.fm. This circle included individuals known as Internet Club (Robin Burnett), Veracom, Luxury Elite, Infinity Frequencies, Transmuteo (Jonathan Dean), Coolmemoryz, and Prismcorp.  Numerous producers of this online milieu took inspiration from Ramona Xavier's "New Dreams Ltd." (credited to "Laserdisc Visions", July 2011). The first reported use of the term "vaporwave" was on an October 2011 blogpost by an anonymous user reviewing the album "Surf's Pure Hearts" by Girlhood, however, Burnett has been credited with coining the term as a way to tie the circle together. Xavier's "Floral Shoppe" (credited to "Macintosh Plus", December 2011) was the first album to be properly considered of the genre, containing all of the style's core elements.  Vaporwave found wider appeal over the middle of 2012, building an audience on sites like Last.fm, Reddit and 4chan. On Tumblr, it became common for users to decorate their pages with vaporwave imagery. In September, Blank Banshee released his debut album, "Blank Banshee 0", which reflected a trend of vaporwave producers who were more influenced by trap music and less concerned with conveying political undertones. "Bandwagon" called it a "progressive record" that, along with "Floral Shoppe", "signaled the end of the first wave of sample-heavy music, and... reconfigured what it means to make vaporwave music."  After a flood of new vaporwave acts turned to Bandcamp for distribution, various online music publications such as "Tiny Mix Tapes", "Dummy" and "Sputnikmusic" began covering the movement. However, writers, fans, and artists struggled to differentiate between vaporwave, chillwave, and hypnagogic pop, while Ash Becks of "The Essential" noted that larger sites like "Pitchfork" and "Drowned in Sound" "seemingly refused to touch vaporwave throughout the genre’s two-year 'peak'." Common criticisms were that the genre was "too dumb" or "too intellectual".

Mainstream exposure and "death".

In November 2012, seapunk aesthetics were appropriated in music videos by the pop singers Rihanna and Azealia Banks. The exposure catapulted the subculture to the mainstream, and with it, vaporwave. That same month, a video review of "Floral Shoppe", published by the YouTuber Anthony Fantano, helped solidify the album as the representative work of vaporwave. Soon after vaporwave was spotlighted in the mainstream, it was frequently described as a "dead" genre. Such pronouncements came from the fans themselves.  Following the initial wave, new terms were invented by users on 4chan and Reddit who sought to separate vaporwave into multiple subgenres. Some were created in jest, such as "vaportrap", "vapornoise" and "vaporgoth". Further subgenres included "eccojams", "utopian virtual", "mallsoft", "future funk", "post-Internet", "late-nite lo-fi", "broken transmission" (or "signalwave"), and "hardvapour". Joe Price of "Complex" reported that "most [of the subgenres] faded away, and many didn’t make sense to begin with.... The visual aspect formed faster than the sound, resulting in releases that look the same but fail to form a sonically cohesive whole."  In 2013, YouTube began allowing its users to host live streams, which resulted in a host of 24-hour "radio stations" dedicated to microgenres such as vaporwave and lo-fi hip hop. The Swedish rapper Yung Lean and his Sad Boys collective inspired a wave of anonymous DJs to create vaporwave mixes, uploaded to YouTube and SoundCloud, that appropriated the music and imagery of Nintendo 64 video games. Titles included "Mariowave", "Nostalgia 64", and "Z E L D A W A V E". "Dazed Digital"s Evelyn Wang credited Lean with "allowing vaporwave to leak IRL [and] encouraging its unholy coupling with streetwear". She cited their associated fashion staples as "frowny faces, Japanese and Arabic as accessories, sportswear brands, Arizona iced tea, and the uncanny ability to simultaneously communicate in and be a meme."  At the end of 2013, "Thump" published an essay headlined "Is Vaporwave the Next Seapunk?" Although the author prophesied that vaporwave would not end "as a joke" the way seapunk did, the genre came to be largely viewed as a facetious Internet meme based predominately on a retro visual style or "vibe", a notion that frustrated some producers who wished to be recognized as serious artists. Many of the most influential artists and record labels associated with the genre later drifted into other musical styles.  In 2015, "Rolling Stone" published a list that included vaporwave act 2814 as one of "10 artists you need to know", citing their album "Birth of a New Day" as "an unparalleled success within a small, passionate pocket of the internet." The album "I'll Try Living Like This" by Death's Dynamic Shroud.wmv was featured at number fifteen on the "Fact" list "The 50 Best Albums of 2015", and on the same day MTV International introduced a rebrand heavily inspired by vaporwave and seapunk, Tumblr launched a GIF viewer named Tumblr TV, with an explicitly MTV-styled visual spin. Hip-hop artist Drake's single "Hotline Bling", released on July 31, also became popular with vaporwave producers, inspiring both humorous and serious remixes of the tune.  As of 2016, vaporwave albums, including "Floral Shoppe", continued to rank among the best-selling experimental albums on Bandcamp. The scene also maintained a dedicated following on communities such as Reddit. Price reported that, for those outside of these arenas, the genre was generally considered to be "a big joke". He added that "Users of the various vaporwave sub-Reddits will always take it very seriously for the most part, but even there people are discussing whether or not vaporwave is still going strong." Despite their objections to the label, serious artists of the movement continued to be tagged as vaporwave.  In 2019, user comments that state "AESTHETIC" remained ubiquitous on YouTube videos concerning the Internet. George Clanton, a prominent figure in the genre, commented that the "vaporwave" banner still functioned well as a marketing tag for music that is not necessarily considered of the genre. In September, he organized the first-ever vaporwave festival 100% ElectroniCON, in New York City, where various artists associated with the genre such as Saint Pepsi, Vaperror, Nmesh, 18 Carat Affair, and Clanton himself performed live, most of them for the first time in their careers.

Political appropriations.

In December 2012, "Dummy" published what was considered the "definitive" article on vaporwave, authored by Adam Harper, in which he equated the genre to accelerationist political theory. The article had the effect of inspiring "a wave of content ambiguously celebrating a dystopian capitalism". In early 2016, the satirical publication Rave News reported that prominent vaporwave producers had scheduled an emergency summit in Montreal to discuss "creeping fascism" in the scene. Although the article was facetious, its comment section attracted many vaporwave fans who defended such political beliefs.  In 2017, "Vice" Penn Bullock and Eli Penn reported on the phenomenon of self-identified fascists and alt-right members appropriating vaporwave music and aesthetics, describing the so-called "fashwave" movement as "the first fascist music that is easy enough on the ears to have mainstream appeal" and reflective of "a global cybernetic subculture geared towards millennials, propagated by memes like Pepe the Frog, and centered on sites like 4chan". "The Guardian"s Michael Hann noted that the movement is not unprecedented; similar offshoots occurred in punk rock in the 1980s and black metal in the 1990s. Hann believed that, like those genres, there was little chance fashwave would ever "impinge on the mainstream".  By 2019, pink vaporwave-inspired hats that promoted 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang became popular among his supporters. "National Review" commentator Theodore Kopfre reported that it was part of a trend indicating that Yang had "replaced Donald Trump as the meme candidate."

Critical interpretations.

Parody, subversion, and genre.

Vaporwave was one of several microgenres spawned in the early 2010s that were the brief focus of media attention. Users on various music forums, as quoted by "Vice", variously characterized the genre as "chillwave for Marxists", "post-elevator music", and "corporate smooth jazz Windows 95 pop". Its circulation was more akin to an Internet meme than typical music genres of the past, as authors Georgina Born and Christopher Haworth wrote in 2017,  "Pitchfork" contributor Jonny Coleman defined vaporwave as residing in "the uncanny genre valley" that lies "between a real genre that sounds fake and a fake genre that "could" be real." Also from "Pitchfork", Patrick St. Michel calls vaporwave a "niche corner of Internet music populated by Westerners goofing around with Japanese music, samples, and language". "Vice" writer Rob Arcand commented that the "rapid proliferation of subgenres has itself become part of the "vaporwave" punchline, gesturing at the absurdity of the genre itself even as it sees artists using it as a springboard for innovation."  Speaking about the "supposedly subversive or parodic elements" of vaporwave in 2018, cultural critic Simon Reynolds said that the genre had become redundant, in some respects, to modern trap music and mainstream hip hop. He opined: "What could be more insane or morbid than the subjectivity in a Drake record or a Kanye song? The black Rap n B mainstream is further out sonically and attitudinally than anything the white Internet-Bohemia has come up with. Their role is redundant. Rap and R&B... is already the Simulacrum, is already decadence."  In a 2018 "Rolling Stone" article that reported the Monkees' Mike Nesmith's enthusiasm for the genre, author Andy Greene described vaporwave as a "fringe electronic subgenre that few outside irony-soaked meme enthusiasts have even heard of, let alone developed an opinion on." Nesmith praised the genre and attributed its sound to be highly reminiscent of psychedelic trips.  Music critic Scott Beauchamp wrote that vaporwave's stance is more focused on loss, the notion of lassitude, and passive acquiescence, and that "vaporwave was the first musical genre to live its entire life from birth to death completely online". He suggested that expressions of hypermodulation inspired both the development and downfall of vaporwave.

Capitalism and technology.

Vaporwave is cited for espousing an ambiguous or accelerationist relationship to consumer capitalism. Numerous academic books have been published on this subject, a trend that was provoked by Adam Harper's 2012 "Dummy" article and its attempt to link the genre to punk rock and anti-capitalist gestures. In the article, he wrote that vaporwave producers "can be read as sarcastic anti-capitalists revealing the lies and slippages of modern techno-culture and its representations, or as its willing facilitators, shivering with delight upon each new wave of delicious sound." He noted that the name itself was both a nod to vaporware and the idea of libidinal energy being subjected to relentless sublimation under capitalism.  Music educator Grafton Tanner wrote, "vaporwave is one artistic style that seeks to rearrange our relationship with electronic media by forcing us to recognize the unfamiliarity of ubiquitous technology... vaporwave is the music of 'non-times' and 'non-places' because it is skeptical of what consumer culture has done to time and space". Commenting on the adoption of a vaporwave- and seapunk-inspired rebrand by MTV International, Jordan Pearson of "Motherboard", "Vice" technology website, noted how "the cynical impulse that animated vaporwave and its associated Tumblr-based aesthetics is co-opted and erased on both sides—where its source material originates and where it lives". Beauchamp proposed a parallel between punk's "No Future" stance and its active "raw energy of dissatisfaction" deriving from the historical lineage of Dada dystopia, and vaporwave's preoccupation with "political failure and social anomie".  Michelle Lhooq of "Vice" argued that "parodying commercial taste isn't exactly the goal. Vaporwave doesn't just recreate corporate lounge music – it plumps it up into something sexier and more synthetic." In his 2019 book "Hearing the Cloud: Can Music Help Reimagine The Future?", academic Emilie Frankel wrote that vaporwave was reduced to "a commercial shell of itself" by those who fetishized the 1980s and "retro synth-pop". He likened the scene to PC Music, a label that "was seen to warp from an ironic affirmation of commercialism, to become just regular pop.... Anything that uses irony as a method of critique runs the risk of misrecognition."

Offshoots and subgenres.

Future funk.

Future funk expands upon the disco/house elements of vaporwave. It takes a more energetic approach than vaporwave and incorporates elements of French house, albeit produced in the same sample based manner as vaporwave. Most of these samples are drawn from Japanese city pop records from the 1980s.

Hardvapour.

Hardvapour emerged in late 2015 as a reimagination of vaporwave with darker themes, faster tempos, and heavier sounds. It is influenced by speedcore and gabber, and defines itself against the utopian moods sometimes attributed to vaporwave.

Mallsoft.

Mallsoft magnifies vaporwave's lounge influences. It may be viewed in connection to "the concept of malls as large, soulless spaces of consumerism... exploring the social ramifications of capitalism and globalization".

Fashwave.

Fashwave (from "fascist") is a largely instrumental fusion of synthwave and vaporwave that originated on YouTube circa 2015. With political track titles and occasional soundbites, the genre combines Nazi symbolism with the visuals associated with vaporwave and synthwave. According to Hann, it is musically derived from synthwave, while "Heavy" contributor Paul Farrell writes that it is "considered to be an offshoot from the harmless vaporwave movement." A similar offshoot, Trumpwave, focuses on Donald Trump.

Simpsonwave.

Simpsonwave was a YouTube phenomenon made popular by the user Lucien Hughes. It mainly consists of videos with scenes from the American animated television series "The Simpsons" set to various vaporwave tracks. Clips are often put together out of context and edited with VHS-esque distortion effects and surreal visuals, giving them a "hallucinatory and transportive" feel.

References.

Footnotes Citations Bibliography

Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped samples of smooth jazz, elevator, R&B, and lounge music from the 1980s and 1990s. The surrounding subculture is sometimes associated with an ambiguous or satirical take on consumer capitalism and pop culture, and tends to be characterized by a nostalgic or surrealist engagement with the popular entertainment, technology and advertising of previous decades. Visually, it incorporates early Internet imagery, late 1990s web design, glitch art, anime, 3D-rendered objects, and cyberpunk tropes in its cover artwork and music videos.

Vaporwave (stylizováno jako VAPORWAVE) je hudební a umělecký styl, který vznikl okolo roku 2010. Šíří se především po internetu, hlavně na stránkách jako je 4chan, Reddit, YouTube nebo Last.fm. Řadí se mezi elektronickou hudbu.


National Socialist League (United States)

History.

The league was founded in 1974 by Jim Cherry and several other California-based neo-Nazis. Early reports suggest that there were as many as 400 members of the National Socialist League in San Francisco, and organized across city and state lines.  The National Socialist League was unique in restricting its members to gay men. The group distributed membership applications declaring NSL's "determination to seek sexual, social, and political freedom" for Aryans. It argued that gay men had a role in maintaining the "white race" and that they were meant to be a military and cultural vanguard. They summarized this position in their 12 point credo.  The National Socialist League placed advertisements identifying themselves as the "Gay Nazis" that included their phone number in order to recruit new members during 1974 and 1975 in the classified ad section of the San Francisco gay newspaper the "Bay Area Reporter". The NSL also advertised in the leather magazine "Drummer", despite apprehension and personal dislike of Nazism by editor Jack Fritscher.  ""“If Homosexuals can be Capitalists, we can be Communists...then why can’t we be National Socialists? Join the first and only Homophile organization for National Socialists!!”" -NSL Pamphlet  In 1977 NSL applied for a free table at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade and was denied, although Christopher Street West – the organization which runs the event – had at that time a policy of total non-exclusion. This resulted in major debates within the community and coalesced in 1978 when Christopher Street West reversed its stance and said that as a private organization they could act to endorse their community principles.  During its span of operation, the National Socialist League put out a journal called "NS Kampfruf", later renamed "NS Mobilizer". The magazine contained Nazi rhetoric as well as drawings of scantily clad SS soldiers with swastikas covering their genitals to emphasize the "sexual trip" described by the recruiting pitch.  The NSL stirred a controversy in 1983 when it attempted to market the infamous 1930s Nazi anti-Semitic film "Jud Süß" ("Süss the Jew") which had been pirated by the group. An article in the Los Angeles-based "Heritage and S.W. Jewish Press", titled "'Gay Nazis Peddling Vile 'Jud Suss' Film", named Veh and the National Socialist League as responsible for pushing this. "We are most familiar with Mr. Veh (which is an alias, incidentally) and his notorious operations," said legitimate film distributor, David Calbert Smith III.  The National Socialist League disappeared in 1984, after which its periodical the "NS Mobilizer" was renamed to "Race & Nation". Although "Race & Nation" was still edited by Russell Veh and distributed by his "World Service", it stopped discussing the NSL and sexuality altogether.

The National Socialist League (NSL) was a neo-Nazi organization of gay men in the United States that existed from 1974 until 1984. It was originally founded by Jim Cherry, but was quickly taken over by Russell Veh, a neo-Nazi and transplant to Los Angeles, California from Ohio. Veh financed the party using the profits from his printing business. He also financed the league with a film distribution unit that specialized in Nazi propaganda films, including "Triumph of the Will". The "National Socialist League" had chapters in various parts of California, and implied in their mass mailing on July 4, 1978 that they had established an offshoot organization in Manhattan.

Národně sociální liga byla neonacistická politická strana působící od roku 1974 do poloviny 80. let ve Spojených státech amerických. Založil ji v roce 1974 v kalifornském Los Angeles Rusell Veh. Ten pak financoval její činnost ziskem ze svého podnikání v tiskařství a z distribuce filmů s neonacistickou propagandou, včetně "Triumfu vůle". Pobočky Národně sociální ligy se postupně rozšířily do dalších částí Kalifornie.


History.

Development until 2003 - Independent Companies.

The essential insurance companies, which belong to the VHV group are founded in 1875 and 1919 as mutual insurance companies. The "VHV" was established as a self-help institution for the construction industry in 1919. Today VHV is the market leader in the field of construction and is also known as an insurer of major projects such as the Elbphilharmonie, Düsseldorf Stadtbahn or the Reichstag building. In 1937, motor vehicle insurance was introduced at the VHV, which has developed into one of the most important lines of business today. In the 1950s, more than 24,000 companies signed an insurance policy with the VHV. This turned VHV insurance into the second largest liability insurer in Germany. In order to insure cross-border construction projects in Austria, VHV founded its subsidiary VAV in 1973. In 1991, VHV successfully established the guarantee service, which in particular allows clients of the construction industry to increase their financial scope. The "hanoverian life insurance" (in German: Hannoversche)has emerged from the Prussian Official Association in 1875 and is known as Germany's oldest direct insurer. In 1935, the VHV Life insurance also opened for people who were not Prussian officials. Each brand consists of independent companies.

Development 2004-2009 - Restructuring.

In 2004 the special insurer VHV Lebensversicherung AG was founded. As a result of restructuring after the merger, VHV solutions GmbH was founded in 2005. VHV solutions is the central service company of the Group and is responsible for claims settlement and contract handling. In 2006 VHV acquired the Wave Management AG headquartered in Hamburg,which carries out the group's asset management. The Group's asset management company, WAVE Management Inc., invests the funds that are generated by the insurance companies. In order to enter the direct insurance market, the Hannoversche Direktversicherung AG, was founded and since autumn 2007, it has also been selling motor vehicle products especially via internet. In 2007, VHV also founded the Al Ahli Takaful Company in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, as a joint venture with the National Commercial Bank and the FWU. In 2008 the VHV Group entered the French insurance market. In addition, a stake of 7.4 percent was acquired in the Swiss insurance company Nationale Suisse in 2008, which was the basis for a long-term cooperation. Due to the rising number of customers and employees, a new headquarter was built at VHV-Platz 1, which was completed in 2009.

Development since 2009 - Digitization and internationalization.

Since 2009 the VHV has strengthened its internationalization tendencies in order to reduce its dependency on the German insurance market. In 2011 the Wave Management AG moved to Hannover and concentrated its business activities there. Since 2012 VHV Group has had a liaison office in Turkey for 3 years, which has resulted in experience and overview regarding Turkish insurance market. In the Italian insurance market, VHV is intensifying its cooperation with the insurance company ITAS. In 2015 VHV-Group founded a reinsurance company, VHV Reasürans AŞ, in Istanbul to enter the Turkish insurance market. Moreover, the VHV Lebensversicherung was merged in 2015 with the Hannoverschen Lebensversicherung in order to reduce costs, which arise as a result of regulatory requirements. In 2015 the VHV Group was the first important car insurance company in Germany, which offered a telematics tariff. In addition the VHV Group is cooperating with various insurtechs e.g. wefox since 2017. In order to increase cost efficiency, Hannoversche Direktversicherung 2017 was merged with VHV Allgemeine Versicherung. At the same time, the largest digitization project "go digital" in the company's history was started. For the first time in 2017, more than 3 billion premiums were collected. One third of the premiums are for life insurance and two third for non-life insurance.

Subsidiaries.

The VHV is a multi-brand group. The main subsidiaries of the group include:

Significant shareholdings.

VHV holds a 34.02 per cent stake as a shareholder in NRV Rechtsschutz AG, located in Mannheim, which primarily offers legal expenses insurances. In addition the VHV is a shareholder of the E+S Reinsurance since 1995. Since 2000, VHV has held a 25 percent stake in Deutsche Rück Schweiz AG. The VHV has a sponsoring membership in the Italian ITAS insurance group. Both companies develop services and products especially for the Italian market.

Products.

VHV provides various composite insurance in the areas of property, liability, casualty and technical insurance as well as motor vehicle insurance. Moreover, credit insurance and cyber insurance are sold. Further VHV is the only German insurance company, which offers a ten-year warranty insurance (R.C. Décennale) according to French law. VHV Versicherungen's main sales channels are brokers/agencies (more than 14.000) as well as specialized inhouse sales force for their clients from the construction industry. In contrast, Hannover Life Insurance mainly sells its products directly via the Internet. In 2015,2017,2018, and 2019 VHV was one of the most popular German insurance brands.

Management.

The Chairman of the VHV Group has been Uwe H. Reuter since 2003. The Chairman of the Supervisory Board has been Peter Lütke-Bornefeld since 2014.

Foundation.

Since December 1, 2014 a VHV Foundation promotes projects in the fields of education, integration, culture and science.

VHV Group (United Hanoverian Insurance Group; in German: Vereinigte Hannoversche Versicherung) is a German insurance and reinsurance company based in Hanover, specialising in provision non-life and life insurance as well. Its core businesses are all insurance services. Today VHV Group operates primarily in Europe, Middle East and East Asia and especially in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria and Turkey. VHV is one of the twenty most important insurance companies in Germany, the leading German insurance company in the construction sector (market share of 23.6 percent) and one of the five major car insurance companies in Germany. Moreover, the VHV Group is the leading risk life insurer in Germany. VHV Group owns a network of subsidiaries, branches (e.g. Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Cologne) and representative offices with a total staff of roughly 3,200, including 2,400 employees in Hanover. Due to the earning power of the VHV-Group and its capitalization level Standard and Poor's raised the rating on A+ Level in April 2017. In 2016 the VHV was able to expand its contractual figures to over 10 million insurance contracts for the first time.

VHV Gruppe je globální společnost poskytující finanční služby se sídlem v Hannoveru. VHV je jednou z 20 nejdůležitějších primárních pojišťovacích skupin, stejně jako jedna z pěti největších automobilových pojišťoven v Německu. Kromě toho je VHV přední pojišťovnou ve stavebnictví. VHV se stala známou jako pojišťovna důležitých projektů, jako je Elbphilharmonie nebo Budova Říšského sněmu v Berlíně. VHV se objevil v roce 2003 od fúze mezi VHV (založená v roce 1919) a Hannoverschen (založená v roce 1875). Od 1973 VHV spolupracuje s pojišťovací společností VaV v Rakousku.Předsedou správní rady je Uwe H. Reuter od roku 2003. V roce 2006 byla převzata společnost Wave Management AG. V roce 2007 společnost VHV založila společnost Al Ahli Takaful v městě Jeddah v Saúdské Arábii jako společný podnik s National Commercial Bank a FWU. Díky rostoucímu počtu zákazníků a zaměstnanců byla postavena nová budova na VHV-Platz 1, která byla dokončena v 2009. V roce 2011 se ředitelství společnosti Wave Management AG přestěhovalo z Hamburku do Hannoveru. Od roku 2012 spolupracuje VHV s italskou pojišťovnou ITAS. VHV je skupina s více značkymi. V Turecku působí VHV Reasürans jako zajistitel. V roce 2016 se počet uzavřených smluv poprvé zvýšil na více než 10 milionů. V letech 2015 a 2017 byla VHV jednou z nejoblíbenějších německých pojistných značek. Dne 1. prosince 2014 založil VHV nadaci na podporu projektů v oblasti vzdělávání, integrace, kultury a vědy. V roce 2017 se společnost Hannoversche Direktversicherung spojila se společností VHV Allgemeine, aby snížila náklady. Současně byl zahájen největší digitalizační projekt v historii společnosti. Poprvé bylo ve finančním roce 2017 provedeno více než 3 miliardy příspěvků.


Law regarding same-sex sexual activity.

The Gambia Criminal Code, as amended by the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2005, provides as follows:  Section 144. Unnatural offenses.  (1) Any person who – (a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or (c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for a term of 14 years.  (2) In this section - "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" includes - (a) carnal knowledge of the person through the anus or the mouth of the person; (b) inserting any object or thing into the vulva or the anus of the person for the purpose of simulating sex; and (c) committing any other homosexual act with the person. Section 145 provides that any person who attempts to commit any of the offenses specified in Section 144 is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for a term of seven years.  Section 147 states that a male person who, whether in public or private, commits an "act of gross indecency" with another male person or procures another male person to commit an act of this kind with him, or attempts to procure another male person to commit such an act with himself or another male person, is guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for a term of five years. The statute also states that a female person who, whether in public or private, commits an "act of gross indecency" with another female person or procures another female person to commit an act of this kind with her, or attempts to procure another female person to commit such an act with herself or another female person, is guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for a term of five years. The term "act of gross indecency" includes any homosexual act.

Recognition of same-sex relationships.

Same-sex couples have no legal recognition.

Adoption of children.

The Gambia prohibits LGBT persons from adopting children.

Discrimination protections.

There is no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Living conditions.

Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said in May 2008 that laws "stricter than those in Iran" against homosexuals would soon be introduced and vowed to "cut off the head" of any homosexual caught in the country. On 15 May 2008, Jammeh gave homosexuals 24 hours to leave the country. He also commanded "all those who harbour such individuals to kick them out of their compounds, noting that a mass patrol will be conducted on the instructions of the [Inspector General of Police]... and the director of the Gambia Immigration Department to weed bad elements in society". He said, "Any hotel, lodge[,] or motel that lodges this kind of individuals will be closed down, because this act is unlawful. We are in a Muslim dominated country and I will not and shall never accept such individuals in this country".  President Jammeh said in a speech before newly promoted army chiefs on 7 December 2009, "We will not encourage lesbianism and homosexuality in the military. It is a taboo in our armed forces. I will sack any soldier suspected of being a gay or lesbian in the Gambia. We need no gays in our armed forces." Jammeh advised the army chiefs to monitor the activities of their men and deal with soldiers bent on practicing lesbianism in the military.  In a cable to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from Barry L. Wells, the U.S. ambassador to the Gambia, he recounted his meeting with Jammeh on 26 February 2010. [The ambassador]... suggested to President Jammeh that perception of him by outside observers could be attributed in large part to some of his more incendiary comments such as those related to... "cutting off homosexual's [sic] heads". The President responded, "Yes I did make those comments but did I actually cut off anyone's head? Have I ever arrested anyone for being gay? No, but Senegal has arrested and imprisoned someone for being gay and they receive the [Millennium Challenge Corporation]... There are gays here in the Gambia, I know that. But they live in secret and that is fine with me, as long as they go about their business in private we don't mind. But if you are talking about marrying in this country, that will never happen. We will never accept gays."  Two Spanish men alleged to be gay, Pere Joan, 56 and Juan Monpserrat Rusa, 54, were arrested by Gambian police and detained at Kotu police station in June 2008. "According to... sources, the Spanish contacted two taxi drivers and asked to be taken to where they can meet with homosexuals, saying they were willing to pay any amount, which the drivers agreed. The sources further said the drivers asked the Spanish to wait, that they were going to search for homosexuals. When they left, the men changed their minds and decided to contact the police at the Kotu Police Station, who arrested the Spanish." The men were subsequently released, reportedly after the Spanish government intervened.  On 23 December 2008, Frank Boers, a 79-year-old man from the Netherlands, was arrested at Banjul International Airport when officials found him in possession of pornography, including nude pictures of himself and some Gambian men. A Banjul court found Boers guilty of indecency with those men and sentenced him to pay 100,000 Gambian dalasis (£2,500) in lieu of a two-year prison sentence. After the sentencing, Boers told the prosecutor that he would prefer prison to the fine because he had no means to pay the fine.  On 10 April 2012, a court remanded 18 alleged homosexuals (16 from Senegal, 1 from the Gambia, and 1 from Nigeria) who were arrested on 9 April at a bar in the Tourism Development Area. They were "charged with indecent practice among themselves at a public place". According to police testimony in court in July 2012, the arrests were made because men were wearing women's clothes, carrying handbags, and "walking like ladies". On 1 August 2012, the prosecutor dropped all charges in the case.  The U.S. Department of State's 2011 Human Rights Report found that "there was strong societal discrimination against LGBT individuals, some of whom were shunned", although "there were no reported incidents of physical violence against LGBT individuals during the year". The report also found that there were no LGBT organizations in the country.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Gambia face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal in the Gambia.

Lesby, gayové, bisexuálové a translidé (LGBT) žijící v Gambii se setkávají s právními komplikacemi neznámými pro většinové obyvatelstvo. Mužská i ženská stejnopohlavní sexuální aktivita je v Gambii nezákonná.


Professional career.

2013.

Sanders began her year ranked 674 in the world. Her first tournament was the Apia International Sydney, where she received a wildcard into qualifying. She stunned Eugenie Bouchard in the first round in two tiebreak sets, but lost in the second round against Misaki Doi. Sanders then received a wildcard into qualifying at the Australian Open where she lost in the first round against Yuliya Beygelzimer. In February, after failing to qualify for the McDonald's Burnie International, Sanders celebrated a breakthrough victory, winning the $25,000 Launceston Tennis International tournament. She won through both, the qualifying and main draws, without dropping a set. She also achieved the rare feat of defeating the top seeds in both the qualifying draw (Mari Tanaka) and the main draw (Olivia Rogowska) en route to victory. Sanders reached the top 500 in the WTA rankings for the first time after the tournament win. A month later, she reached the final of the $25,000 event in Ipswich, Queensland, losing to Jelena Pandžić in three sets.  In July, together with her British partner Naomi Broady, Sanders won the $50,000 Gold River Women's Challenger, defeating Robin Anderson and Lauren Embree in straight sets.  In US Open qualifying, Sanders lost in the first round to Uzbekistan's Nigina Abduraimova.

2014.

Sanders began the season at the Brisbane International, after receiving a wild card into qualifying. She opened with a three set win over Irina-Camelia Begu. Although taking the opening set, Sanders lost against third seed Hsieh Su-wei in three sets in the second round.  The following week, Sanders was awarded a wild card to the main draw of the Hobart International. A first-round win over Peng Shuai saw her match up with second seed Kirsten Flipkens in the second round. Pushing the top-20 ranked Belgian to the brink, Sanders lost in a tough three set match, lasting over two and a half hours. Despite the close loss, it was announced that Sanders had been given a wildcard into the singles main draw of the Australian Open, having been given wild cards for the doubles draw the previous two years. She played Camila Giorgi in round one, losing on her Grand Slam singles debut in three sets. She also lost in the first round of women's and mixed doubles.

2015.

Given a wild card for the Hobart International, Sanders lost in round one to Camila Giorgi in three sets. She was then given a wild card for the Australian Open, but lost at the first stage again, this time to world No. 46 Klára Koukalová in straight sets.

2016.

In July, she qualified for the Jiangxi International - the first time Sanders has come through qualifying at a WTA-level event.

Storm Sanders (born 11 August 1994 in Rockingham) is an Australian tennis player. Sanders has won one singles title and twelve doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 10 February 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 202. On 9 October 2017, she peaked at No. 63 in the doubles rankings.

Storm Sandersová (* 11. srpna 1994 Rockhampton) je australská profesionální tenistka hrající levou rukou. Ve své dosavadní kariéře na okruhu WTA Tour vyhrála dva deblové turnaje. V rámci okruhu ITF získala do března 2020 dva tituly ve dvouhře a dvanáct ve čtyřhře.


Geography.

Vernier has an area,, of. Of this area, or 13.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 9.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 72.5% is settled (buildings or roads), or 4.3% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.1% is unproductive land.  Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 32.8% and transportation infrastructure made up 15.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 7.6% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 6.3%. Out of the forested land, 8.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.4% is used for growing crops and 5.9% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.  The municipality of Vernier consists of the sub-sections or villages of Champs-Prévost, Bel-Ebat, Etang-des-Tritons, Blandonnet, Les Avanchets, Balexert - centre, Vernier - Cointrin, Balexert - Crozet, Châtelaine - SIMONET, Châtelaine - village, Etang - Philibert-de-SAUVAGE.

Demographics.

Vernier has a population () of., 43.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of 13.2%. It has changed at a rate of 6.3% due to migration and at a rate of 7.1% due to births and deaths.  Most of the population () speaks French (21,767 or 73.6%), with Portuguese being second most common (1,582 or 5.4%) and Italian being third (1,452 or 4.9%). There are 908 people who speak German and 23 people who speak Romansh. , the gender distribution of the population was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. The population was made up of 8,712 Swiss men (26.0% of the population) and 7,916 (23.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 9,741 Swiss women (29.1%) and 7,148 (21.3%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 5,327 or about 18.0% were born in Vernier and lived there in 2000. There were 5,528 or 18.7% who were born in the same canton, while 3,890 or 13.2% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 13,422 or 45.4% were born outside of Switzerland.  In there were 184 live births to Swiss citizens and 164 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 111 deaths of Swiss citizens and 36 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 73 while the foreign population increased by 128. There were 74 Swiss men and 87 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 318 non-Swiss men and 333 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 205 and the non-Swiss population increased by 391 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.9%.  The age distribution of the population () is children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.4% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 62.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 12.3%. , there were 12,250 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 13,922 married individuals, 1,262 widows or widowers and 2,125 individuals who are divorced. , there were 12,211 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 4,296 households that consist of only one person and 793 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 12,471 households that answered this question, 34.4% were households made up of just one person and there were 49 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 2,754 married couples without children, 3,917 married couples with children There were 1,040 single parents with a child or children. There were 155 households that were made up of unrelated people and 260 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.  The historical population is given in the following chart:

Politics.

In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SVP which received 26.04% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (21.89%), the Green Party (14.91%) and the LPS Party (9.17%). In the federal election, a total of 5,690 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 41.4%.  In the 2009 Grand Conseil election, there were a total of 14,102 registered voters of which 5,009 (35.5%) voted. The most popular party in the municipality for this election was the MCG with 25.6% of the ballots. In the canton-wide election they received the third highest proportion of votes. The second most popular party was the Les Socialistes (with 14.8%), they were fourth in the canton-wide election, while the third most popular party was the Les Verts (with 12.0%), they were second in the canton-wide election.  For the 2009 Conseil d'Etat election, there were a total of 14,120 registered voters of which 5,858 (41.5%) voted.  In 2011, all the municipalities held local elections, and in Vernier there were 37 spots open on the municipal council. There were a total of 22,129 registered voters of which 7,271 (32.9%) voted. Out of the 7,271 votes, there were 45 blank votes, 105 null or unreadable votes and 394 votes with a name that was not on the list.  Its current mayor is M. Thierry Apothéloz, but a mayor is elected every year on the first of June between the administrative council, composing of three members, currently M.Thierry Apothéloz, the mayor, M. Yvan Rochat, the vice president and M. Thierry Cerutti, another member.

Economy.

, Vernier had an unemployment rate of 8.7%., there were 41 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 7 businesses involved in this sector. 5,192 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 316 businesses in this sector. 8,295 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 809 businesses in this sector. There were 13,822 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 44.6% of the workforce. , there were 10,414 workers who commuted into the municipality and 10,942 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.1 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 12.7% of the workforce coming into Vernier are coming from outside Switzerland, while 0.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 34.5% used public transportation to get to work, and 48.5% used a private car.

Religion.

From the, 12,656 or 42.8% were Roman Catholic, while 3,935 or 13.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 408 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.38% of the population), there were 46 individuals (or about 0.16% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 556 individuals (or about 1.88% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 64 individuals (or about 0.22% of the population) who were Jewish, and 2,362 (or about 7.99% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 120 individuals who were Buddhist, 89 individuals who were Hindu and 55 individuals who belonged to another church. 5,990 (or about 20.26% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 3,278 individuals (or about 11.09% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education.

In Vernier about 8,149 or (27.6%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 3,058 or (10.3%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a "Fachhochschule"). Of the 3,058 who completed tertiary schooling, 38.3% were Swiss men, 28.2% were Swiss women, 20.4% were non-Swiss men and 13.2% were non-Swiss women.  During the 2009-2010 school year there were a total of 6,827 students in the Vernier school system. The education system in the Canton of Geneva allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten. During that school year, there were 413 children who were in a pre-kindergarten class. The canton's school system provides two years of non-mandatory kindergarten and requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In Vernier there were 1,181 students in kindergarten or primary school and 197 students were in the special, smaller classes. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. There were 1,181 lower secondary students who attended school in Vernier. There were 1,724 upper secondary students from the municipality along with 277 students who were in a professional, non-university track program. An additional 194 students attended a private school. , there were 449 students in Vernier who came from another municipality, while 2,114 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Primary and secondary schools.

Public schools in Vernier include the following:  The "Deutsche Schule Genf" (DSG), the Geneva area's German international school, is located in the municipality.

Public libraries.

Vernier is home to the "Bibliothèque Municipale de Vernier" library.

International relations.

Vernier is twinned with :

Vernier () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It is divided into different sections: Vernier Village, Le Lignon, Aïre, Les Avanchets, Cointrin and Châtelaine.

Vernier je město nacházející se v jihozápadním Švýcarsku, severně od řeky Rhôny, v kantonu Ženeva. V roce 2017 zde žilo 35408 lidí. Sousedí s několika městy, včetně hlavního města kantonu Ženevou.