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James Durand | He was born in Abergavenny, Wales in 1775 and came to Upper Canada in 1802 to deal with delinquent accounts on behalf of a group of London merchants. Having seized the Bridgewater Works at Chippawa, Durand purchased the operation from his employers. He also established a trading depot near Long Point. In 1810, he sold the operation at Chippawa due to a downturn in the produce market. He served in the Lincoln Militia during the War of 1812. In 1815, he became the representative for West York in the 6th Parliament of Upper Canada in a by-election after Abraham Markle joined the Americans. Durand criticized the introduction of martial law during the war. With John Willson, he drafted the Common Schools Act of 1816, which introduced public support of elementary schools. He also helped establish the Gore District with Hamilton as the district town. In 1817, he was elected in the riding of Wentworth and served until 1820. He was a partner in the Desjardins Canal Company, expanded his land holdings and built sawmills to process his timber holdings. |
Arsendescloizite | Arsendescloizite belongs to the adelite-descloizite group. It is the arsenate analog of the lead-zinc vanadate mineral descloizite. It grows crystals that are platy to wedge-shaped. Its composition consists of lead (48.35%), oxygen (18.67%), arsenic (17.48%), zinc (18.99%), and contains a negligible amount of hydrogen (0.24%). Crystals are tabular on {001}. These tabular crystals tend to intergrow into rose-like shaped aggregates. Observed forms are {001}, {011}, {101} and {111}. Unlike descloizite, arsendescloizite has no trace of vanadium in its composition whatsoever, thus it became quickly obvious that the mineral was from a new species. From the composition alone, this mineral could have also been the lead analog of austinite or the zinc analog of duftite. The specimen Pete and Paul were studying was found on a matrix of a copper ore that mainly consisted of tennantite. When studying the specimen, they found no trace of calcium or copper in its formula. This was weird due to the fact that it occurs with the calcium-rich mimetite and was found on a copper ore. |
18th North Carolina Infantry Regiment | The 18th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 8th Volunteers, was organized at Camp Wyatt, near Carolina Beach, North Carolina, in July, 1861. Its members were from Wilmington and the counties of Robeson, New Hanover, Bladen, Columbus, and Richmond. It was commanded by Colonel James D. Radcliffe, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver P. Meares, and Major George Tate. It moved to South Carolina, returned to North Carolina, then in the spring of 1862 proceeded to Virginia. The 18th served in General Branch's and Lane's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. After fighting at Hanover Court House, it participated in various conflicts of the army from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor. It continued the fight in the trenches of Petersburg south of the James River and ended the war at Appomattox. This unit was organized with 1,100 men, lost fifty-seven percent of the 396 engaged during the Seven Days' Battles, and reported 14 casualties at Cedar Mountain and 12 at Second Manassas. There were 13 killed and 77 wounded at Fredericksburg and 30 killed and 96 wounded at Chancellorsville. Of the 346 in action at Gettysburg, about twenty-five percent were disabled. It surrendered 11 officers and 73 men at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, including Major Thomas J. Wooten and captains Benjamin F. Rinaldi and John J. Poisson. |
Abortion in Idaho | The state passed a law in the 2000s banning abortions after 22 weeks because they alleged that fetus can feel pain. The state was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement. In the informed consent materials given to women in Idaho, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas required by statute, the materials used graphic and inflammatory language. Idaho was the only state of 23 with detailed informed consent requirements by statute that did not require the woman be told how far advanced her pregnancy was. Georgia, Michigan, Arkansas and Idaho all required in 2007 that women must be provided by an abortion clinic with the option to view an image of their fetus if an ultrasound is used prior to the abortion taking place. As of May 14, 2019, the state prohibited abortions after the fetus was viable, generally some point between week 24 and 28. This period uses a standard defined by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade ruling. On March 24, 2020, Governor Brad Little signed into law S1385, which is a trigger law stating that if and when states are again allowed to ban abortion on their own authority then abortion would be illegal in Idaho except for cases of the life of the mother, rape or incest. |
Abortion in Idaho | In the period between 1972 and 1974, there was only no recorded illegal abortion death in the state. In 1990, 106,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy. The lowest number of legal induced abortions by state in 2000 occurred in Idaho with 801, while South Dakota was second with 878, and North Dakota was third with 1,341. Idaho had the fewest induced abortions in 2001 with 738, while South Dakota was second with 895, and North Dakota was third with 1,216. Idaho had the lowest induced abortion to live birth ratio at 36 per 1,000 live births while New York City had the highest at 767. Based on the ratio of number of women aged 15–44 years, Idaho had the lowest rate of induced abortions at 3 per 1,000 women while the District of Columbia had the highest at 37 per 1,000. In 2003, the state of South Dakota had the lowest number of legal induced abortions with 819. Idaho was second with 911, while North Dakota was third with 1,354. Idaho had the lowest ratio of induced abortions to live births at 42 per 1,000 in 2003 while New York City had the highest at 758 to 1,000. In 2010, the state had zero publicly funded abortions. In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 170 abortions, zero abortions for black women aged 15–19, 40 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 20 abortions for women of all other races. In 2014, 49% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases vs. 45% believing it should be legal. In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 4.6 deaths per 1,000 live births. |
Gerold, Prefect of Bavaria | Gerold (died 1 September 799) was a franconian nobleman who served the Frankish King, Charlemagne, as Margrave of the Avar March and Prefect of Bavaria in what is now South-Eastern Germany. Gerold played a significant role in the integration of Bavaria into the Frankish Kingdom during Carolingian expansion in the late 8th, and early 9th centuries. Gerold both aided the continuity of Agilofing rule of Bavaria, as well as took steps to integrate Bavarians into the wider scope of the Frankish Kingdom. Gerold was related both to the Agilofing family, the ruling class of Bavaria, as well as the Carolingian family. The Agilofings had ruled Bavaria since Duke Garibald I in 548. Gerold was born into the Agilofings, and his sister Hildegard was married to Charlemagne in 771. From these familial connections, he was appointed Prefect of Bavaria following the deposition of Duke Tassilo III in 788. Gerold was heralded as a superb military commander, giving rise to his promotion to Prefect as a defender of the eastern border of the Frankish Kingdom. In 799, Gerold is said to have fallen in battle against the Avars, shortly after the same Avars killed his ally, Eric, Duke of Friuli, through treachery. |
Gerold, Prefect of Bavaria | The Agilofing family had dominated the position of Duke of Bavaria from 548 until 788, when Duke Tassilo III was deposed in the wake of his surrender of the Duchy of Bavaria. In 787, following the conquests of both Lombardy and Saxony by the Franks, the Frankish King, Charlemagne, invaded Bavaria from Pannonia, determined to seize it as a buffer state against the Avars, much like he had done in Friuli. In October of 787, having been unable to mount a suitable defense against the Franks, Tassilo III was forced to capitulate, surrendering to Charlemagne both himself and his Duchy, in the hope of continued rule as a vassal to the Frankish King. No such good will was to be found. In 788, following a brief continued rule by Tassio, Charlemagne had him retroactively accused and denounced as an oath-breaker, as he had betrayed the Franks, and namely Charlemagne's father Pippin, years earlier. Tassilo III was sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted, and Tassilo III was sentenced to monastic exile. Tassilo would eventually be called out of exile to surrender all claim to his Ducal title. |
Gerold, Prefect of Bavaria | Charlemagne appointed Gerold as Prefect of Bavaria in 788, after Tassilo III was exiled. Gerold was an ideal candidate as he was Charlemagne's brother-in-law; his sister Hildegard had married Charlemagne in 771, as it was common for Carolingian kings to take their wives from the aristocracy of neighboring states. Gerold was also part of the Agilofing family, the traditional rulers of the region. This would aid Bavaria, and particularly the Bavarian aristocracy, in making a smooth transition from Duchy to Frankish Prefecture. Bavaria had long seen itself an independent state, yet throughout the reign of the Merovingian as well as the Carolingian Frankish dynasties, they saw it as a far-flung, unruly, yet still Frankish duchy. With Gerold in power, with ties to both the Agilofing Bavarian aristocracy, as well as the Carolingians through Charlemagne, Bavaria would be brought more into the fold of the Frankish Kingdom. Gerold made his seat of power at Lorch. From here he was granted considerable power in comparison with other counts throughout the Frankish Kingdom, making final rulings on matters such as church inheritances, as well as being in charge of the Bavarian army in times of war. Gerold would go on to battle the Avars to the south-west, as Charlemagne appointed Gerold to prefect of Bavaria well aware of his military prowess, with his main focus during his rule as prefect to be that of a military commander rather than a civil administrator. |
Gerold, Prefect of Bavaria | The Avars, a nomadic, slavized central Asian people, were situated along what is referred to as the eastern Marches of Bavaria, and where Gerold's military command was to be focused for the entirety of his career as prefect of Bavaria. He was, for instance, described in the Royal Frankish Annals as "guard of the Avar border". Historians have referred to the Avar War as one of Charlemagne's greatest wars he ever waged. This is due to the zeal and tenacity with which the Franks, and specifically the Bavarian contingent under Gerold, fought. The war with the Avars began after the deposition of Tassilo III, the last Duke of Bavaria, prior to the full takeover of the state by the Franks, in 787. Tassilo was accused of inciting the Avars into a war with the Franks, promising to attack them with his Bavarian soldiers if the Avars would invade. This accusation led to a charge of treason and treachery against the Franks, which culminated in his exile. Despite Tassilo III's deposition, the Avars decided to wage this war all the same. The Avars led two campaigns against the Franks, invading Bavaria, and both times were beaten back by Gerold, who had newly taken command of the army in the eastern Marches of Bavaria, and his Bavarian contingent. As the war dragged on, the Franks successfully raided the Avars in 791, beating them continually in battle, but never decisively. Eventually the 'Rings of the Avars', a collection of grand fortresses that the Avars were famous for having constructed, were breached by collective efforts from Gerold and his Bavarians, Eric of Friuli, and King Pepin of Italy. The Franks razed the fortresses, plundered them, sending many great riches back to Aachen, Charlemagne's capital, and proceeded to drive the Avars off, considerably weakening their hold in the Avarian marches and western Pannonia, though not breaking the back of their military capabilities completely. This plunder taken from the Avars was to be sent by the Carolingians to many other states, such as that of Mercia, as a show of good faith. The Bavarian troops under Gerold, in combination with Pepin, King of Italy, Charlemagne's son, were later successful in pushing the Avars across the Theiss River, deeper into Pannonia, as the Avars were not inclined to fighting large scale, pitched battles with the Franks, who, with the support, manpower, and arms Charlemagne had collected at Regensburg, were now fully prepared to strike the death-blow at the Avars. In 797 and 799 Charlemagne came to Bavaria, mustering a large force of Franks, Allemans, Bavarians, and soldiers fighting under King Pepin of Italy, at Lorch, where Gerold held his court as prefect. These two campaigns were exceedingly successful in pushing the Avars continually eastwards towards the Danube River. |
Gerold, Prefect of Bavaria | After Gerold's death in 799 in battle with the Avars, his name lived on. Bavaria, newly brought into the Frankish Kingdom under Charlemagne, would continue to serve as the eastern bulwark of the Franks. It would also see an increased importance within the Frankish Kingdom, being given over to Louis the Pious as his part of the kingdom, after Charlemagne divided it among his heirs. Gerold, while in power, was able to wield traditional Bavarian Law as well as new Frankish customs, allowing the land he presided over to change from an unruly and rebellious duchy into an integrated and functioning cog in the machine of the Frankish kingdom. Gerold was also seen by medieval authors as a champion of the faith, being likened to a Christian martyr, fighting for the peace of the church, in Walafrid Strabo's Visio Wettini, where it says "Since he had such zeal for the Lord, he attacked the heathens to defend the Christian people, suffered the loss of his life; as such he deserved to gleam with eternal trophies, seizing hold of the great gifts of everlasting life". This can be seen as a start of the tradition of fighting to extend the bounds of Christendom by fighting heathen groups such as the Avars; conquering new lands to spread the Christian religion. Gerold also gave much of his own lands to the Church. This was a considerable portion, given that Gerold was descended from some of the richest Allemanian aristocrats at the time. This is again referenced in the Visio Wettini, whereby Gerold is said to have stated that: "The Lord denies me an heir, He will remain as my survivor. What he gave me, he will receive back; I commend to blessed Mary." This may be reference to an altar he dedicated to St. Mary at Reichenau, upon which is written: "Hanc quique devote convenitis ad aulam, Poplitibusque flexis propiatis ad aram, Cernite conspicuum sacris aedibus altar, Geroltus quod condidit lamina ninenti, Virgineo qoud condecent alvo pudoris, Subque voto Mariae intulit in aulam. Hic agni cruor caroque propinatur ex ara, Cuius tactu huius sacrantur lamina axis. Huc quicumque cum prece penetrates ad aram, Dicite, rogo: 'Alme miserer Gerolto', Titulo qui tali ornovit virginis templum, Aetherio fruatur sede felix in aevum!" This translates to: 'You, who have come devotedly to this hall, approach the altar on bent knees, and look at this wondrous altar in this sacred place, which Gerold built, with gleaming giltwork that becomes the virginal womb of chastity. As an offering to Mary he brought it into the hall. Here the blood and flesh of the lamb is set out, By whose touch the giltwork of the is sanctified. Whoever ventures with a prayer to this altar, Say, I beg, "Kindly , take pity on Gerold, Who decorated the temple of the Virgin with such a glorious thing, And may he happily enjoy a heavenly seat forever!'" |
Sack of Rome (455) | Since its founding in 395 AD, the Western Roman Empire was in a prolonged state of decline. One of its major issues was a mass migration of Germanic and other non-Roman peoples known as the Migration Period, which led to the sack of Rome in 410 by the Germanic Visigoths under Alaric. They were increasingly threatened by the Vandals, a Germanic people who established the Vandal Kingdom in 435 in the empire's southern provinces in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Western Romans, preoccupied with war in Gaul, secured a peace treaty with the Vandals in 442. The Vandal king Genseric and the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III had betrothed their children, Huneric and Eudocia, to strengthen their alliance. The marriage was delayed as Eudocia was too young, and Valentinian was killed due to his personal rivalry with Flavius Aetius in 455. Petronius Maximus became emperor and married Valentinian's widow, Licinia Eudoxia, and had his own son Palladius marry Eudocia to strengthen his bond with the Theodosian dynasty. Licinia Eudoxia, however, in revenge for her husband's murder and the usurpation of the throne, conspired with the Vandals against Maximus. Genseric proclaimed that the broken betrothal between Huneric and Eudocia invalidated the peace treaty and exploited the situation as a casus belli to invade Rome, gathering a large force and sailing from Carthage. News of a Vandal invasion reached Rome early, causing the city to enter a state of panic and thousands of its residents fleeing into the countryside. Support from the Visigoths, which Maximus had earlier sent Avitus to acquire, failed to materialise in time. Maximus decided not to mount a defence and began organising his own escape. |
Sack of Rome (455) | On 31 May, the Vandals landed at Ostia, located at the mouth of the Tiber only a few miles southwest of Rome. Before approaching, they knocked down the aqueducts that supplied water to the city. At the sight of the approaching Vandals, Maximus tried to flee Rome, but he was abandoned by his soldiers and left to fend for himself. The emperor was spotted by an angry mob and lynched outside the city, possibly together with his son Palladius. According to the chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine, upon the Vandal arrival, Pope Leo I pleaded for mercy for the ancient city and its inhabitants. Genseric agreed and the gates of Rome were thrown open for his forces to enter the city. While Genseric kept his promise not to burn and slaughter, he did carry off some inhabitants as slaves, and also managed to capture Eudoxia and her daughters Eudocia and Placidia as they tried to escape. The Vandals sacked the city for two weeks before returning to Africa, during which the imperial government of the Western Roman Empire was effectively paralysed. They marched south through Campania, devastating the region, and attempted to sack Neapolis but failed as the city had better defences. |
Asterivora exocha | ♂. 20 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax grey-whitish mixed with blackish. Antennae pale grey, ringed with blackish. Abdomen fuscous, segmental margins mixed with whitish. Fore-wings elongate, moderate, posteriorly rather dilated, costa gently arched, apex obtuse, termen faintly sinuate, oblique; 7 and 8 connate; olive-fuscous, costa and dorsum broadly suffused with dark fuscous; basal area irrorated with whitish except a narrow fascia preceding first line; first line whitish, acutely angulated near costa, followed by a very irregular fascia of whitish irroration, which sends a triangular projection above middle to centre of disc; second line white, sharply defined, running from middle of costa to 3⁄4 of disc, thence acutely angulated to beyond middle of dorsum, somewhat sinuate inwards towards costa and dorsum; an evenly broad fascia of white irroration from 4⁄5 of costa to 4⁄5 of dorsum, resting on second line in discal portion, terminating in a white spot on costa, and edged with a white line from this to angle of second line: cilia grey mixed with whitish, and indistinctly barred with dark fuscous irroration. Hindwings grey, darker posteriorly; indications of a cloudy whitish dot towards termen below middle; cilia grey mixed with whitish, with dark grey basal line. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | It took the team 36 seasons to make the playoffs and they have made nine appearances since, seven following division championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016 and as a wild card team in 2012 and 2023. In 2010, the Rangers advanced past the Division Series for the first time, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. The team then brought home their first American League pennant after beating the New York Yankees in six games. In the 2010 World Series, the franchise's first, the Rangers fell to the San Francisco Giants in five games. They repeated as American League champions the following year, then lost the 2011 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. The team won the 2023 World Series, effectively ending the longest drought amongst all North American pro sports franchises that are yet to win their first championship. The Rangers are in the American League West Division along with the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels and the Houston Astros. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | However, this would not last. Short had borrowed most of the $9.4 million he had paid for the team. Serving as his own general manager, Short was forced to make many questionable trades to service the debt and bring in much-needed revenue. As a result, the team rapidly fell back into the American League's cellar. Moreover, like their predecessors in their final few years in the nation's capital, the new Senators had to compete for an audience with the Baltimore Orioles, 45 miles (72 km) to the northeast, who by the 1960s were perennial contenders. Fans kept their distance from the Senators while the Orioles won four American League pennants and two World Series from 1966 through 1971. As it turned out, the 1969 season would be the only time the franchise would manage so much as a .500 record in its first 12 years. As well, the Senators would never approach their 1969 gate again during their stay in Washington; it would remain the franchise record for attendance until 1974–the franchise's fourth year in Texas. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | Bobby Valentine, who would eventually become the Rangers' longest-serving manager at 1,186 games, took on the managerial reins of the team late in the 1985 season and became steward over an influx of talent in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A winning season in 1986 was a shock to pundits and fans alike as the Rangers remained in the race for the American League pennant for the entire season. With a team consisting of many stellar young rookies such as Rubén Sierra, Pete Incaviglia, Mitch Williams, Bobby Witt, and Edwin Correa, the Rangers finished in 2nd place with an 87–75 record, just five games behind the division champion California Angels. The season marked a dramatic 25-win improvement over the 1985 season, which resulted in a yet another last-place finish in the West. The signing of 41-year-old star pitcher Nolan Ryan prior to the 1989 season allowed Ryan to reach his 5,000th strikeout, 300th win, and sixth and seventh no-hitters with the Rangers before his long career ended in 1993. Coupled with powerful batters like Juan González, Rubén Sierra, Julio Franco, and Rafael Palmeiro and a pitching staff that also included Charlie Hough, Bobby Witt, Kevin Brown, and Kenny Rogers, fans held high expectations for the Rangers. However, the team never posted a finish higher than second place and Valentine was relieved of his duties during the 1992 season. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | The year 1995 saw the beginnings of promise for the Rangers. With a brand new ballpark that hosted its first All-Star Game that year, Johnny Oates was hired as the Rangers' manager. Oates and company promptly helped to bring home the 1996 AL Western Division championship, the first division championship in team history, finally reaching the playoffs in the franchise's 36th season, taking longer than any other team in North American professional sports history to accomplish the feat, 24 years after the franchise came to Texas. The series ultimately saw the Rangers lose to the burgeoning late-1990s New York Yankees, three games to one. Oates was named AL Manager of the Year and Juan González was named A.L. MVP. The team featured a powerful lineup of hitters with Iván Rodríguez, Will Clark, Mark McLemore, Dean Palmer, Rusty Greer, Juan González, and Mickey Tettleton but continued to struggle with pitching—a common stereotype of Rangers teams—despite having Rick Helling, and Aaron Sele on their roster. Oates led the team to consecutive A.L. West championships in 1998 and 1999. Neither of Oates' last two playoff teams could win a single game, losing all six in back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Yankees, a team that won three world championships in the 1990s after defeating Rangers teams in the first round. The 1999 team would be the last playoff-bound team for over a decade, as the Rangers took a step backwards at the beginning of the new millennium. En route to a second straight last-place finish, Oates resigned his position 28 games into the 2001 season. The Rangers finished the decade going 1–9 in the postseason, without a single home win. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | Prior to the 2004 season, little hope was held out for the Rangers to improve on their losing ways. However, the Rangers battled with the Anaheim Angels and Oakland Athletics for first place in the American League West for much of the season. Mark Teixeira, Alfonso Soriano, Michael Young, and Hank Blalock became some of the best-hitting infielders in the league, with Young, Blalock, and Soriano were named to the 2004 All-Star Game. Soriano was named the All-Star MVP after going 2 for 3 with a three-run home run. Late in September, the Oakland Athletics visited Arlington for a three-game series. After taking the first two games of the series, the Rangers trailed 4–2, in the bottom of the ninth. A loss would have dropped them to four games behind the Athletics. A home run by Hank Blalock and a dramatic two-out, two-run double by David Dellucci (known amongst fans as the "Dellucci Double") gave the Rangers a 5–4 win, one of the most memorable in club history. It also allowed the Rangers to sweep the first-place Athletics and leave them just two games behind with ten to play. Unfortunately, the Rangers ended up losing six of the final ten games and another turnaround season came up short. The club finished in third place behind the Angels and Athletics, a mere three games out of first place. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | The Rangers previously negotiated a 30-year, $75 million stadium naming rights agreement with Ameriquest Mortgage Company in 2004, renaming the Ballpark "Ameriquest Field". Under the Ameriquest moniker, the Ballpark featured a replica of the Liberty Bell in the stands above the Diamond Club (representing Ameriquest's logo) that rang after home runs. In 2007, though, the Rangers announced the termination of the agreement with Ameriquest, and changed the name to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Club president Jeff Cogen cited that the team was more concerned about getting their name back on the ballpark than Ameriquest's public financial troubles. "It's all about the brand", Cogen said. The Rangers lost a reported $2.5 million per year from the lack of naming rights but regained advertising space given over to Ameriquest in the naming rights deal. Regardless of Cogen's comments, Ameriquest dissolved within months after the naming rights were terminated, and the company ended most business operations in September 2007. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | The Rangers struggled offensively early in the season, despite playing in a notoriously hitter-friendly park. On June 20, Sammy Sosa hit his 600th career home run against the Chicago Cubs at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Hank Blalock, the starting 3rd baseman who had been enjoying a good season, was placed on the 60-day disabled list on May 19 due to thoracic outlet syndrome, and Mark Teixeira followed him onto the disabled list on June 9 (for the first time in his career) with a strained left quadriceps muscle. With a record of 46–59 at the July 31 trade deadline, the team traded Mark Teixeira and Ron Mahay to the Atlanta Braves in a deal that would eventually bring five prospects to the Rangers organization, including four of Atlanta's top prospects Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, and Neftalí Feliz. The team also traded closer Éric Gagné to the Boston Red Sox for left-hander Kason Gabbard and Minor League outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre. These moves were the beginnings of a rebuilding project headed by Jon Daniels with a focus on the acquisition and development of young players. In the coming years, more club resources would be dedicated to improving the quality of the farm system and scouting departments, most notably in Latin America and the Far East. The objective of Daniels' plan was to field a legitimately competitive team by the 2010 season. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | The 2009 season saw the Rangers soar into playoff contention for the first time since 2004. Despite injuries to Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler, the Rangers held first place in their division for long stretches of the summer before fading after September 1, losing the division to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Rangers finished the season at 87–75, their first winning season since 2004 and good enough for second place in the American League West. Michael Young responded to his move to third base by posting one of his best offensive seasons ever while committing just nine errors and earning a sixth straight All-Star appearance. Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz were also named 2009 American League All-Stars. Several young stars with the club broke out including the debuts of highly rated rookies Elvis Andrus, Derek Holland, and Neftalí Feliz. Second baseman Ian Kinsler hit for the cycle in April, while having a 30–30 season in home runs and stolen bases. Starting pitcher Scott Feldman posted a fantastic season as well in 2009, finishing 3rd in the American League in wins with 17. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | After stumbling out of the gates with a sub-.500 start in April, the Rangers took the division lead with a franchise-best month of June, going 21–6. The Rangers would never relinquish first place after an 11-game winning streak. On July 9, the club dealt one of its top prospects, Justin Smoak, with two other minor leaguers to the Seattle Mariners for former Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe. The Rangers also made moves to acquire veterans Bengie Molina, Jorge Cantú, Cristian Guzmán, and Jeff Francoeur. In the 2010 All-Star Game, the team was represented by Lee, Guerrero, Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, Elvis Andrus, and Neftalí Feliz. After the All-Star Game, came the debut of the claw and antler hand gestures, which gained much popularity, especially after the release of various apparel and souvenir options for the fans. Foam claws and helmets with deer antlers became quite commonplace in the ballpark as the Rangers played further into the fall. The Rangers won the A.L. West on September 25, advancing to the postseason for the first time since 1999. |
History of the Texas Rangers (baseball) | After winning the AL West with a 90–72 record, the Rangers entered the playoffs for the first time since 1999, and faced the Tampa Bay Rays for the first round, which ultimately resulted in a 3–2 series victory and marked the first postseason series victory in the 50-year history of the Rangers/Washington Senators franchise. Facing the Rangers in the American League Championship Series were the defending World Champion New York Yankees, the team the Rangers failed against three separate times in the 1990s. In the playoffs, the Rangers record against the Yankees was 1–9. In a 6-game series, the Texas Rangers came out victorious, winning the first Pennant in franchise history in front of an ecstatic home crowd. Josh Hamilton was awarded ALCS MVP after setting a series record for intentional walks. The Texas Rangers faced the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series. The Rangers offense struggled against the Giants' young pitching and eventually lost the Series 4–1, the lone win coming in Arlington on October 30. For the first time, the Rangers ended their season in the month of November. |
Fracture (geology) | where K {\displaystyle K} is the stress intensity factor for Mode I, II, or III cracking and f i j {\displaystyle f_{ij}} is a dimensionless quantity that varies with applied load and sample geometry. As the stress field gets close to the crack tip, i.e. r → 0 {\displaystyle r\rightarrow 0} , f i j {\displaystyle f_{ij}} becomes a fixed function of θ {\displaystyle \theta } . With knowledge of the geometry of the crack and applied far field stresses, it is possible to predict the crack tip stresses, displacement, and growth. Energy release rate is defined to relate K to the Griffith energy balance as previously defined. In both LEFM and energy balance approaches, the crack is assumed to be cohesionless behind the crack tip. This provides a problem for geological applications such a fault, where friction exists all over a fault. Overcoming friction absorbs some of the energy that would otherwise go to crack growth. This means that for Modes II and III crack growth, LEFM and energy balances represent local stress fractures rather than global criteria. |
Fracture (geology) | Cracks in rock do not form smooth path like a crack in a car windshield or a highly ductile crack like a ripped plastic grocery bag. Rocks are a polycrystalline material so cracks grow through the coalescing of complex microcracks that occur in front of the crack tip. This area of microcracks is called the brittle process zone. Consider a simplified 2D shear crack as shown in the image on the right. The shear crack, shown in blue, propagates when tensile cracks, shown in red, grow perpendicular to the direction of the least principal stresses. The tensile cracks propagate a short distance then become stable, allowing the shear crack to propagate. This type of crack propagation should only be considered an example. Fracture in rock is a 3D process with cracks growing in all directions. It is also important to note that once the crack grows, the microcracks in the brittle process zone are left behind leaving a weakened section of rock. This weakened section is more susceptible to changes in pore pressure and dilatation or compaction. Note that this description of formation and propagation considers temperatures and pressures near the Earth's surface. Rocks deep within the earth are subject to very high temperatures and pressures. This causes them to behave in the semi-brittle and plastic regimes which result in significantly different fracture mechanisms. In the plastic regime cracks acts like a plastic bag being torn. In this case stress at crack tips goes to two mechanisms, one which will drive propagation of the crack and the other which will blunt the crack tip. In the brittle-ductile transition zone, material will exhibit both brittle and plastic traits with the gradual onset of plasticity in the polycrystalline rock. The main form of deformation is called cataclastic flow, which will cause fractures to fail and propagate due to a mixture of brittle-frictional and plastic deformations. |
Fumitaka Konoe | The following year, in 1939, he became a lecturer at Toa Doubunin University (The Tung Wen College) in Shanghai concurrently becoming became a student director (salary: ¥ 117.60 per month, overseas allowance: ¥ 54.40 per month). With the diplomatic situation in China between the Kuomintang government and the Imperial Japanese Army becoming increasing strained, Konoe felt the need for direct negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek to avoid open warfare. He cultivated an association with the daughter of an important government official who guided him to Chongqing; this private diplomacy was discovered by the Kempeitai, and he was then recalled to Japan because this was seen by the cabinet as a problem. The woman he had made an acquaintance with was a Chinese spy - there is also a theory that he was ordered to return home for fear that he would leak confidential information to Zheng Pingru. After his return to Japan, Konoe created a youth political organization called the Shonen Doshi-kai (青年同志会) to continue to insist on direct negotiations to prevent war in China. His actions were regarded as a problem by military authorities, in February 1940 he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army. Due to his family connections, he was fast track promoted to First Lieutenant and was assigned to a Manchukuo-based artillery regiment. |
Fumitaka Konoe | In the midst of the Pacific War, he was married in Harbin in 1944 to Empress Teimei's niece, Masako Otani. On August 19, 1945, four days after the official end of the war, he was arrested by a Soviet GRU Smersh unit and taken as a prisoner to the Soviet Union. He was moved through 15 different detention camps in Siberia over the next ten years. During his detention, he refused to use his rank as an officer as a shield against labor, and abuse. In 1955, during Japanese-Soviet diplomatic normalization negotiations, Prime Minister Ichirō Hatoyama made a formal request for his release, and presented a petition signed by hundreds of thousands of people from Japan; however, the Soviet Union refused. In 1956 it was reported that he had died in NKVD special camp No. 48 Ivanovo Oblast, Lezhnevsky district, Cherntsy village. The cause of death is thought to be cerebral hemorrhage due to arteriosclerosis and acute nephritis, but there is also a theory he was poisoned by the Soviet secret services. His remains were returned to Japan in 1958 due to the efforts of his wife Masako. |
Sacapulas | After the western portion of the Cuchumatanes fell to the Spanish, the Ixil and Uspantek Maya were sufficiently isolated to evade immediate Spanish attention. The Uspantek and the Ixil were allies and in 1529, four years after the conquest of Huehuetenango, Uspantek warriors were harassing Spanish forces and Uspantán was trying to foment rebellion among the K'iche'. Uspantek activity became sufficiently troublesome that the Spanish decided that military action was necessary. Gaspar Arias, magistrate of Guatemala, penetrated the eastern Cuchumatanes with sixty Spanish infantry and three hundred allied indigenous warriors. By early September he had imposed temporary Spanish authority over the Ixil towns of Chajul and Nebaj. The Spanish army then marched east toward Uspantán itself; Arias then received notice that the acting governor of Guatemala, Francisco de Orduña, had deposed him as magistrate. Arias handed command over to the inexperienced Pedro de Olmos and returned to confront de Orduña. Although his officers advised against it, Olmos launched a disastrous full-scale frontal assault on the city. As soon as the Spanish began their assault they were ambushed from the rear by more than two thousand Uspantek warriors. The Spanish forces were routed with heavy losses; many of their indigenous allies were slain, and many more were captured alive by the Uspantek warriors only to be sacrificed on the altar of their deity Exbalamquen. The survivors who managed to evade capture fought their way back to the Spanish garrison at Q'umarkaj. |
Sacapulas | A year later Francisco de Castellanos set out from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (by now relocated to Ciudad Vieja) on another expedition against the Ixil and Uspantek, leading eight corporals, thirty-two cavalry, forty Spanish infantry and several hundred allied indigenous warriors. The expedition rested at Chichicastenango and recruited further forces before marching seven leagues northwards to Sacapulas and climbed the steep southern slopes of the Cuchumatanes. On the upper slopes they clashed with a force of between four and five thousand Ixil warriors from Nebaj and nearby settlements. A lengthy battle followed during which the Spanish cavalry managed to outflank the Ixil army and forced them to retreat to their mountaintop fortress at Nebaj. The Spanish force besieged the city, and their indigenous allies managed to scale the walls, penetrate the stronghold and set it on fire. Many defending Ixil warriors withdrew to fight the fire, which allowed the Spanish to storm the entrance and break the defences. The victorious Spanish rounded up the surviving defenders and the next day Castellanos ordered them all to be branded as slaves as punishment for their resistance. The inhabitants of Chajul immediately capitulated to the Spanish as soon as news of the battle reached them. The Spanish continued east towards Uspantán to find it defended by ten thousand warriors, including forces from Cotzal, Cunén, Sacapulas and Verapaz. The Spaniards were barely able to organise a defence before the defending army attacked. Although heavily outnumbered, the deployment of Spanish cavalry and the firearms of the Spanish infantry eventually decided the battle. The Spanish overran Uspantán and again branded all surviving warriors as slaves. The surrounding towns also surrendered, and December 1530 marked the end of the military stage of the conquest of the Cuchumatanes. |
Sacapulas | On his second visit to Guatemala, in 1537, friar Bartolomé de las Casas, O.P. wanted to employ his new method of conversion based on two principles: 1) to preach the Gospel to all men and treat them as equals, and 2) to assert that conversion must be voluntary and based on knowledge and understanding of the Faith. It was important for Las Casas that this method be tested without meddling from secular colonists, so he chose a territory in the heart of Guatemala where there were no previous colonies and where the natives were considered fierce and war-like. Because it had not been possible to conquer the land by military means, the governor of Guatemala, Alonso de Maldonado, agreed to sign a contract promising that if the venture was successful he would not establish any new encomiendas in the area. Las Casas's group of friars established a Dominican presence in Rabinal, Sacapulas and Cobán, reaching as far as Chahal. Through the efforts of Las Casas' missionaries the so-called "Land of War" came to be called "Verapaz", "True Peace". Las Casas's strategy was to teach Christian songs to merchant Indian Christians who then ventured into the area. In this way he was successful in converting several native chiefs, among them those of Atitlán and Chichicastenango, and in building several churches in the territory named Alta Verapaz. These congregated a group of Christian Indians in the location of what is now the town of Rabinal. In 1538 Las Casas was recalled from his mission by Bishop Francisco Marroquín who wanted him to go to Mexico and then on to Spain in order to seek more Dominicans to assist in the mission. |
Sacapulas | During the Guatemalan Civil War Sacapulas found itself in the area where the Ejército Guerrillero de los Pobres -one of the guerrilla organizations that operated in Guatemala- was active. This organization justified its terrorist attacks against private and public infrastructure by saying that they only impacted the economic interests of both State and the country's productive sector and that it made the Guatemalan Army more vulnerable. In the Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico final report, former EGP members said that "destroying infrastructure just under the concept of destroying the country's infrastructure, to damage the country, that did not happen. There was always an explanation... in context with the war that we were sustaining at the time and in context within the tactic moment when we were going to blow up a bridge, yes, we were going to blow it up so that the Army could not go through and to stop it from its barbarism... to cut its advances and withdraws- But from Nentón to the North, the highway was closed , the Army did not get in, not a single authority would come in, and the telegraph posts -which were the other communication device that existed- were taken down". "When we cut power to some (Army) barracks the power to the closest towns and village was cut as well, creating resentment in the population. Afterwards, the sabotages were commonplace in order to create chaos along the country and preparing the conditions of a pre insurrection state". |
Sacapulas | In several cases, massacres occurred either at a special day for a community or during large scale operatives with large military force displays and aviation backup. The airplanes bombed certain zones; at least one of each nine communities suffered a bombing associated to a massacre, either in the previous or following days. The areas more heavily bombed were the Ixil triangle and Sacapulas, some parts of Baja Verapaz Department and also from Huehuetenango Department. After an attack of this kind it was common that up to 40% of the surviving population left town to survive, going into the mountains, into exile in Mexico or to another community. The maya k'iche' population that looked for refuge in the mountains was labeled as "guerrilla" by the Army, which tighten military controls around them and continuous attacks that made extremely had to get food or medical attention. These people remained in the mountains for almost two years until they finally moved to Las Guacamayas, where they became isolated due to the military pressure. A lot of people died of starvation. |
Show Me Love (album) | AllMusic editor Alex Henderson named the album "one of 1993's more memorable R&B/dance music collections", complimenting Robin S. as "a sassy, big-voiced belter who knows how to make sparks fly". He added further, "The success of her sleek yet gritty hits "Show Me Love" and "Back It Up" led many to think of Robin as a dance-floor diva. But as much as she excels in that area, "My Kind of Man" and "I'm Gonna Love You Right (Tonight)" demonstrate that she has no problem handling the silkiest of slow jams." J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun wrote, "Because dance music is usually judged on a single-by-single basis, few house divas ever have much success on the album end of things. Robin S. may prove an exception to that rule." He picked the "stomping, bass-driven" "Show Me Love" and the "equally danceable" "Love for Love" as the "best moments" on the album. He also highlighted the "luscious balladry" of "What I Do Best" and the "gospel-inflected intensity" of "Who's Gonna Raise the Child". Chuck Arnold from Philadelphia Daily News opined that of the dance cuts on the album, "only "Show Me Love" and the spiritual stomper "I Want to Thank You" (co-produced by fierce New York club DJ Junior Vasquez) hold up at home." |
Drosophila mettleri | The species is most commonly found in North American deserts, specifically, in Mexico and Arizona. The species is also found on the southern coast of California, where they inhabit prickly pears. Of the four species of Drosophila found in the Sonoran Desert, D. mettleri have the lowest heat tolerance. D. mettleri are abundant through all seasons but are less prevalent during the summer period. Because the necrotic tissue of cacti in the arid environment of the desert characterizes intense heat conditions, the ability of D. mettleri to exploit the nearby soil of the cacti for breeding purposes provides a selective advantage wherein the pupa of this species have a higher survival rate than other Drosophila desert species. Other species of Drosophila are less successful in the heat of the Sonoran Desert in rearing young due to the intense conditions. Their inability to burrow into the soil has been shown to prove detrimental in increasing pupa survival, yet D. mettleri has an evolutionary advantage in their ability to exploit a niche environment for breeding. The hypothesis that the necrotic tissue of cacti serves as a similarly protective environment as the soil of the Sonoran Desert for other species of Drosophila has been disproven. While other Drosophila have higher heat tolerances due to their breeding grounds in the necrotic tissue of cacti that is higher in heat, D. mettleri have a lower thermal tolerance because there is no evolutionary advantage to such heat tolerance (ability to exploit the less heat-exposed area of cacti soil). |
Drosophila mettleri | The geography of the area encompassed by the Sonoran Desert gives rise to genetic differentiation among desert Drosophila species who feed on necrotic rot. The Sonoran Desert incorporates the peninsular region of Baja California and mainland regions of California. After the peninsula was formed, the Gulf of California, which lies between the peninsula and the mainland, served as a barrier to dispersal opportunities in insects and land mammals. Another physical geographic barrier is the Gran Desierto de Alter, a large sand dune between the peninsula and the mainland. These physical geographic barriers are the cause of gene flow among Sonoran Desert flies. Studies of allozymes in D. mettleri and D. nigrospiracula show differences in nuclear markers that would otherwise suggest differentiation among the regions of the Sonoran Desert. In D. nigrospiracula, there were markers that showed differences within the species when they were located disparately among the peninsular and mainland regions of the desert. In D. mettleri, however, there were no such nuclear marker differences among members of the species found on the peninsula versus those found on the mainland. These differences show that deviations among D. mettleri can be supported through the stepping stone hypothesis. |
Drosophila mettleri | Each fly species exploits necrotic rot patches on the cactus for nutrients. The largest necrotic patch sizes rank in order from highest to lowest: cardon, saguaro, organpipe, and senita. The size and arm spans of the cacti did not influence the size of the necrotic patches. Instead of rot patch size being regulated by spatial factors, seasonal differences in the growth of the host plants determined how large and how abundant necrotic patches were. Further, temporal factors determined the amount of time a necrotic patch lasted; during the spring, patches are least abundant and during the summer, patches are most abundant. While all other species of the four Sonoran Desert Drosophila showed a correlation between the resource richness of their hosts' necrotic patches and population size, no such distinct correlation was found for D. mettleri. D. mettleri exploits both necrotic patches and soil near rotting cacti; further, this species can thrive on a variety of hosts, leading to more dispersal of these flies under a given spatial region. The overall development periods and availability of host cacti strongly affects the growth of both larvae and the reproductive success of adults. For larvae, optimal host conditions entail long-lived necrotic plots as this gives the larvae enough time to grow and develop into larger, more fit adults. For adults, adequate conditions include hosts that grow more regularly because adults will have a regular site to lay eggs. |
Drosophila mettleri | The courtship behaviors of desert Drosophila of the Eremophila complex are similar. D. mettleri, belonging to this complex, begin courting as soon as they have their first intrasexual contact. Once the male brushes against a female, courting begins and the male begins to follow the female. The male initiates in courtship song through vibration of his wings. The male will choose to either follow a side of the female or follow behind her. Depending on the spot the male decides to occupy will determine the vibrational frequency of the male's wings. The farther the male is to the female, the shorter the wing pulses are. When the female stops moving, vibrational frequency increases. During this courtship song, the male may choose to lick the genitals of the female. If the female chooses to accept a male during his courting song, the female's wings will expand and the male will terminate his song. The flies will begin to copulate soon after. In comparison to other species in the Eremophila complex, males of D. mettleri are more likely to force copulation with females. |
Drosophila mettleri | The costs of having only one reproductive partner due to effects of the plug must be outweighed by the nutrient benefits gained by the ejaculated material. The cost to benefit trade-off is dependent upon resource availability and is highly regulated by the distribution and growth of rot material. In D. mettleri, there has been an evolutionary drive toward greater reproductive success of males donating the best quality and quantity of fluid. Radio-labeling was used to measure the amount of fluid incorporated into female egg production (and thus not removed from the body after 6–8 hours). They found that females with the largest vaginal swellings incorporated the highest amount of sperm from a single male partner than did females who had smaller vaginal swellings (and thus had the option to re-mate). Other Dipterans who do not have females undergoing an insemination process were also observed; no radio-labeled material was found in the eggs of these females, showing that the insemination process characteristic of D. mettleri and other Desert Drosophila is essential in male paternity assurance. |
Drosophila mettleri | To exploit the rotting liquid refuse of dying cacti, D. metlerri has been found to contain mutations leading to evolutionary adaptations. These mutations are thought to be the reason for the fly's xenobiotic resistance. Three families of genes, which include P450s, esterases, and glutathione s-transferases, contain the specific genes known to regulate the detoxification abilities of insects. The CYP28A1 gene has been isolated in lines of dipterans in the metlerri lineage and is upregulated in these flies. The upregulation of this gene is an adaptive response to exposure to toxic alkaloids in host plants. Similarly, the Cyp 28A1 gene expression is also upregulated in D. mettleri that are exposed to more alkaloids in host plants. The P450 family of genes have a protein structure that can be highly altered by few mutations and sequence changes. A site in the Cyp 28A1 gene has a single change from a nonpolar to polar amino acid. This alteration is enough to lead to an up-regulation in gene expression causing a significant change in physical protein structure; the consequence is increased detoxification of toxins in host plants within the D. mettleri tested. |
Drosophila mettleri | Different species of Drosophila will exploit different species of cacti; the host species regularly inhabited by D. mettleri has been shown to determine the thermotolerance differences within this species of fly, despite their geographical dispersal overlap. Species of cacti that are larger and store more water, like the cardon and saguaro cactus, are able to retain cooler internal temperatures during periods of intense heat. Species like the senita are smaller and carry less water; they are prone to reaching higher temperatures in arid climates. D. mettleri is found most commonly near saguaro and senita cacti, characterizing their lower heat tolerance levels than other species of desert Drosophila. The differences in species distribution among host cacti is linked to the physiological differences in the flies on the basis of their detoxification efficiency of the toxins naturally found in the varying cacti species. D. mettleri contains the transcriptional changes needed to detoxify the more cool and temperate environment of the saguaro and cardon cactus. Over time, less necessity to inhabit hotter cacti reduced the genes selecting for higher heat tolerance. |
Prince Hotels | In late 2012 and early 2013, Cerberus proposed that Seibu Railway abolish five non-core lines, along with other restructuring measures throughout the Seibu Holdings group, but management refused to implement these changes. Cerberus then executed a tender offer to increase its stake to 35% as of June 2013, giving Cerberus the power to veto shareholder resolutions. Cerberus had aimed to raise its stake to 44%, bringing it closer to an outright majority, but Seibu management engaged in a massive campaign to thwart the tender offer, including advertising within Seibu trains to passengers who owned stock. The East Japan Railway Company and several financial institutions also planned a support scheme to keep Cerberus from acquiring control of Seibu, but it was ultimately not implemented due to a lack of potential financial benefit for the investors. At the June 2013 shareholder meeting, several proposals by Cerberus were voted down, including the election of outside directors and the abolition of non-core lines. |
Robert Brett | In the 1898 Northwest Territories general election Brett was opposed by Arthur Sifton in Banff and lost the election by a small margin. Election day returns showed Sifton with a plurality of thirty-six votes, but by the time contested ballots were dealt with this had turned into a majority of two votes for Brett. Brett contested the results of the election on grounds of "irregularities" in accordance with Section 106 of The Territories Elections Ordinance. Judge Charles Rouleau of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, in the jurisdiction of Northern Alberta, found in favour of Brett by two votes. Sifton appealed the decision, and a by-election was scheduled for June 27, 1899. Sifton ended up winning the seat by a comfortable margin. One oft-repeated anecdote from the campaign involved a campaign forum for which Brett was late. After giving his own speech, Sifton offered to give the still-absent Brett's speech as well, since he had heard it so many times. He did so, and when Brett eventually arrived to give a speech nearly identical to the one Sifton had given on his behalf he was puzzled by the audience's amusement. |
Goldenhurst Farm | He wrote Cavalcade at Goldenhurst in 1931. During the Second World War the house was requisitioned by the Army and Coward moved temporarily to White Cliffs, a house he rented at St Margaret's Bay. He finally returned to Goldenhurst in December 1951, recording in his diary; "We arrived at 1.55 - the house and land seemed to envelop me in a warm and lovely welcome. We spent the day hanging more pictures etc. Utterly exhausted but deeply and profoundly happy. I am home again." But the post-war tax regime made the expense of running the large house increasingly burdensome and in 1956 Coward sold the farm and his London home on Gerald Road. In a letter to Laurence Olivier the following year, he explained; "Goldenhurst (five gardeners all year round, lighting, heat etc.) was costing a fortune." He moved abroad as a tax-avoidance measure, dividing his time between Chalet Covar, at Les Avants in Switzerland and, firstly Bermuda, and then Firefly, his home in Jamaica. Coward died at Firefly in 1973, and was buried there. |
The Wheels | The band began in 1964, initially known as the Golden Eagles and, for a time, were the house band for the Plaza, a popular local venue. It was during this time that Van Morrison did a brief stint on vocals and saxophone with the band. Later in 1964, not long after changing their name to the Wheels, they were fired from the Plaza, so, in September of that year, they moved to Blackpool in northern England, where they were able to find another club residency and built a strong local following. In 1965, their original rhythm guitarist, Kit Carson, left to and was replaced by Rod Demick, formerly of Tony and the Telstars. They were signed to a record deal with EMI Columbia in 1965. Tommy Scott, who had previously worked with Them, would produce their records for the label. at Regent Sound in London, they recorded and released a cover of the Van Morrison-penned "Gloria" in September '65, which had already been recorded by Them, and would later become a big hit in the USA for the blues-based Chicago garage rock band, the Shadows of Knight. |
Cultural legacy of the Titanic | The sinking of the Titanic has been a popular subject for visual artists, whether in paintings and illustrations or on the screen. The first Titanic newsreel films were released within days of the disaster; one by the Gaumont Film Company was a huge hit and played to packed houses around the world, often accompanied by the audience singing the hymn Nearer, My God, to Thee at the climax of the film. There have also been many drama films set aboard Titanic. The first such film about the disaster, Saved from the Titanic, is now lost. It was released only 29 days after the ship sank and had an actual survivor as its star—the silent film actress Dorothy Gibson. The story of the sinking was also told in heavily fictionalised form as a Nazi propaganda movie and as an American melodrama . The British film A Night to Remember is still widely regarded as the most historically accurate movie portrayal of the sinking, but the most successful by far has been James Cameron's Titanic , which became the highest-grossing film in history up to that time. |
Cultural legacy of the Titanic | The Titanic has gone down in history as the ship that was called unsinkable. However, even though countless news stories after the sinking called Titanic unsinkable, prior to the sinking the White Star Line had used the term "designed to be unsinkable", and other pre-sinking publications described the ship as "virtually unsinkable". Another well-known story is that of the ship's band, led by Wallace Hartley, who heroically played on while the great steamer was sinking. This seems to be true but there has been conflicting information about which song was the last to be heard. The most reported is "Nearer, My God, to Thee", though "Autumn" has been mentioned. Finally, a widespread myth is that the internationally recognised Morse code distress signal "SOS" was first put to use when the Titanic sank. While it is true that British wireless operators rarely used the "SOS" signal at the time, preferring the older "CQD" code, "SOS" had been used internationally since 1908. The first wireless operator on Titanic, Jack Phillips, sent both "SOS" and "CQD" as distress calls. |
Cultural legacy of the Titanic | Several Titanic museums operate in the United States. The Titanic Museum in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, presents the collection of the Titanic Historical Society. It includes artefacts including original blueprints of the ship, the lifejacket of John Jacob Astor (which he gave to his wife when they parted aboard Titanic), and original wireless messages. In Branson, Missouri a Titanic Museum is located inside a half-size replica of the ship, complete with iceberg. It presents replicas of the ship's lobby, cabins and wireless rooms and various items of memorabilia and artefacts. The same company operates the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which recreates the ship's Grand Staircase as well as enabling visitors to experience the cold of the ocean and the heat of the boiler rooms. Titanic The Experience—in Orlando, Florida—likewise recreates the Grand Staircase, the Verandah Café, a first-class suite and part of the Promenade Deck. Actors in period dress provide guided tours to visitors. RMS Titanic Inc., which is authorised to salvage the wreck site, has a permanent Titanic exhibition at the Luxor Las Vegas hotel and casino in Nevada which features a 22-ton slab of the ship's hull. It also runs a travelling exhibition which travels around the world. |
Data General | Data General also brought out a small-footprint "Desktop Generation" range, starting with the DG10 that included both Data General and Intel CPUs in a patented closely coupled arrangement, able to run MS-DOS or CP/M-86 concurrently with DG/RDOS, with each benefiting from the hardware acceleration given by other CPU as a co-processor that would handle (for instance) screen graphics or disk operations concurrently. Other members of the Desktop Generation range, the DG20 and DG30, were aimed more at traditional commercial environments, such as multi-user COBOL systems, replacing refrigerator-sized minicomputers with toaster-sized modular microcomputers based around the microECLIPSE CPUs and some of the technology developed for the microNOVA-based "Micro Products" range such as the MP/100 and MP/200 that had struggled to find a market niche. The Single-processor version of the DG10, the DG10SP, was the entry-level machine with, like the DG20 and 30, no ability to run Intel software. Despite having some good features and having less direct competition from the flood of cheap PC compatibles, the Desktop Generation range also struggled, partly because they offered an economical way of running what was essentially "legacy software" while the future was clearly either slightly cheaper Personal Computers or slightly more expensive "super minicomputers" such as the MV and VAX computers. |
Batman R.I.P. | When Bruce Wayne is seen next, he wakes up in a pile of garbage with no memory of himself. He meets a homeless man named Honor Jackson, who recognizes that Bruce is going through drug withdrawal and helps him. As the two spend time together, traveling in what Honor calls an "odyssey" across the city, Bruce sees more evidence of his forgotten life. The two reflect on the day, and Honor gives Bruce an old broken radio as a sentimental gift. Abruptly, Bruce finds that Honor is no longer sitting next to him and learns from a local dealer that Honor had blown two hundred dollars on smack and overdosed the previous day. This statement leaves Bruce full of despair, grief, and guilt (Bruce, as Batman, had given Honor the two hundred dollars at the end of a car chase, which took place earlier in the story), but also further confuses his sense of reality. At this point, Bruce seems to snap. He makes himself a costume out of red, yellow, and purple rags, and begins referring to the broken radio as the "Bat-radia". He then calls himself "The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh" and begins taking advice from Bat-Mite (written as "might" in this case, as the character is meant to be a voice of reason to Zur-En-Arrh, as in "the Bat might do this"). |
Batman R.I.P. | The term "Zur-en-Arrh" was written all over the city by Hurt as a subliminal trigger to be used when the time was right to break Batman's mind. Dr. Hurt calls off Joker, referring to him as "my good and faithful servant". The straitjacketed Batman is buried in a shallow grave, Hurt's intention being to exhume him once oxygen deprivation has permanently damaged his mind. Back in the asylum, Joker casually murders a Black Glove member and places a bet with those who remain: that Batman will emerge from the grave undamaged and hunt them down, as he always does. While the now mentally stable Batman escapes the shallow grave that the Black Glove put him in, Joker points out that no one has investigated Batman's "Bat-radia". When they do, they activate a transmitter that brings Nightwing, Robin, Damian, and the League of Assassins right to them. Before Joker flees in an ambulance, he promises the remaining Black Glove members that he will collect his winnings from them soon and tells Hurt that he should not have called him his servant. Batman hunts down Hurt, who tries to convince Bruce that he is his father, but Batman believes him to be Mangrove Pierce, an actor who had once been his father's double. As Hurt tries to escape, Batman infiltrates his escaping helicopter, causing it to crash in a blazing explosion. Flying back to her own country, Jezebel Jet's plane is ambushed by Talia's Man-Bat Commandos. Back in present-day Gotham, Le Bossu tells his henchmen that Batman has not been seen in months and that they are free to commit crimes unmolested, when suddenly a Bat-signal-like light comes on above them, bringing the story full circle to its opening image. In the epilogue, young Bruce Wayne is walking home with his parents after seeing a Zorro movie. Bruce wonders what it would be like if Zorro showed up. Thomas Wayne responds, "The sad truth is, they'd probably throw someone like Zorro in Arkham", as he notices someone in front of them. |
Batman R.I.P. | In Paul Dini's Heart of Hush storyline that ran in Detective Comics #846–850, parallel to the main story in Batman (but actually a prologue to it), Thomas Elliot returns to Gotham City to enact a plan to kill Batman before the Black Glove. Also explored in this arc is his connection to the Gotham underworld, and how his family history helped transform Elliot into Hush. This story continues into Detective Comics #852 and Batman #685, a two-part "Faces of Evil" storyline that is also labeled as "Last Rites". In "The Great Leap" storyline that ran in Nightwing #147–150, Two-Face tasks Nightwing to protect an old flame of Harvey Dent's, Carol Bermingham, a witness in a high-profile mob trial. Nightwing is, in fact, protecting Carol from Two-Face himself. In "Scattered Pieces", which ran in Robin #175–176, also parallel to the main story, Batman is missing and rampaging through the city in a delusional state. Nightwing is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum and Robin, fearing that Batman could have lost his sanity and gone rogue, tasks himself with finding his mentor and stopping him if necessary. In "Outsiders No More", which ran in Batman and the Outsiders #11–13, Batgirl, having a reduced roster, takes command and comes to the conclusion that no one can replace the Caped Crusader. She starts seeking out a group of new Outsiders whose combined skills could match Batman's. |
Pitt Stadium | The Pitt Pavilion, located beneath the ramps inside Gate 2 of Pitt Stadium, was the home of the Panthers basketball team from January 6, 1925 (with a loss to Geneva College) to February 26, 1951 with a Backyard Brawl victory. The Pavilion contained both permanent and temporary bleachers for a capacity of approximately 4,000 spectators. However, with only one dressing room, visiting teams were forced to use the visitors' football locker room to dress and then walk 60-yards outdoors to get to the basketball court. Future coach John Wooden and Notre Dame's Moose Krause were basketball stars that played against the Panthers at the Pavilion. While there, the Panthers themselves featured several All-Americans, including Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Hyatt, and recorded the school's only undefeated season in 1928. On February 26, 1951, the Panthers won the final game at the Pavilion, defeating rival West Virginia 74-72 on a last-second shot by Scott Phillips, his only points in the game. The basketball team moved to the Fitzgerald Field House for the 1951-52 season. The Pavilion also hosted WPIAL playoff games and pre-season games of the American Basketball League's Pittsburgh Rens. The Pitt Pavilion was removed in 1994 when ground was broken for the stadium's Duratz Athletic Complex. |
Michael Bérubé | Michael Bérubé is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature at Pennsylvania State University, where he teaches American literature, disability studies, and cultural studies. He is the author of several books on cultural studies, disability rights, liberal and conservative politics, and debates in higher education. From 2010 to 2017, he was the director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at Penn State; from 1997 to 2001 he was the founding director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. He was the 2012 president of the Modern Language Association, and served as vice president from 2010–2011. He served two terms on the National Council of the American Association of University Professors from 2005 to 2011, and three terms on the AAUP's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure from 2009 to 2018. He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes for two terms, 2011-2017. Bérubé was named a University Scholar for research at the University of Illinois in 1995 and was awarded the Faculty Scholar medal for research from Penn State in 2012. |
Michael Bérubé | In 2005-06, Bérubé emerged as a critic of David Horowitz's "Academic Bill of Rights"; an account of that campaign, together with a description of Bérubé's pedagogy in undergraduate classes, makes up most of Bérubé's fifth book, What's Liberal About the Liberal Arts? Classroom Politics and "Bias" in Higher Education . Bérubé also published a number of essays critical of figures on the antiwar left and their response to the terrorist attack of 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan, though he said he opposed the Iraq War; the argument was elaborated in his seventh book, The Left At War, published in 2009. In 2016 Bérubé published two books in disability studies: The Secret Life of Stories, a study of narrative strategies involving varieties of intellectual disability, and Life as Jamie Knows It, a sequel to Life as We Know It written with substantial input from the now-adult Jamie Bérubé. In 2021, the Norton Library (W. W. Norton) published his edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In 2022, he published It's Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and Academic Freedom with Jennifer Ruth, and in 2024, he published The Ex-Human: Science Fiction and the Fate of Our Species. |
Helen E. Hokinson | In 1920, Hokinson moved to New York City to work as a fashion illustrator and study at the School of Fine and Applied Arts (now Parsons School of Design). Encouraged by an instructor she began submitting comic drawings to magazines, and became one of the first cartoonists to be published in The New Yorker, appearing in the magazine for the first time in the July 4, 1925 issue. She specialized in wealthy, plump, and ditsy society women and their foibles, referring to them as 'My Best Girls', those dowager denizens of woman's clubs, beauty parlors, art galleries, summer resorts and Lane Bryant; they were also popularly known as "Hokinson Women". According to James Thurber and Brendan Gill, Hokinson relied on the magazine's staff writers to provide captions for her cartoons, a common practice at The New Yorker in the Harold Ross era, until entering into a professional partnership with James Reid Parker in 1931. Hokinson and Parker also provided a monthly cartoon, "The Dear Man," for the Ladies' Home Journal as well as occasional cartoons for advertising campaigns and other magazines. |
Streets of Rage 3 | As of its sequel Streets of Rage 4, it follows a good ending route's normal mode: It is revealed that the real Chief Ivan Petrov was kidnapped and replaced with a duplicate (one of them is either a disguised Shiva in a bad ending (if players have not saved Ivan) or a robot duplicate. After Ivan is freed, Axel suggest Adam to get Ivan to the city hall before his doppelgänger arrive, then goes to Mr. X's robot factory hideout at forest. Once Dr. Dahm is apprehended to make him confess that all government officials are also being kidnapped and being replaced by their robot doppelganger like Ivan, the real Mr. X is revealed to be reduced to nothing but a brain in a laboratory capsule while controlling all robots with his mind. As the heroes are able to destroy Mr. X's Robot Y and his capsule which kept his brain alive, the bomb timers are neutralized. However, a dying Mr. X attempt to self destruct the lab to die alongside the heroes, until Adam rescues them. With Mr. X now no more, RoboCy is defunct, Dr. Dahm is recovering at asylum after his testimony, and Dr. Zan's name has been cleared. |
Streets of Rage 3 | The Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection includes Bare Knuckle I, II, III (Streets of Rage 1, 2 and 3). These are excluded from releases outside Japan to obtain lower age ratings. Streets of Rage 3 later appeared alongside its other games in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection, and in Sega Genesis Classics. On May 3, 2012, Streets of Rage 3 was released on Valve's Steam platform, both as a stand-alone game as well as part of the Sega Genesis Classics Pack 5. A Streets of Rage Collection, which released under the Sega Vintage Collection series in 2012, features the original trilogy and allows the player to choose between the Japanese, European, or North American versions of them. Streets of Rage 3 is included in the North American and European models of the Genesis Mini 2 microconsole released on October 27, 2022. Although the Japanese Bare Knuckle III, not featured on the Japanese Mega Drive 2 Mini, can be played by changing the language settings, the section in which players can fight against and unlock Ash has been removed from this version of the game. |
Streets of Rage 3 | GamePro commented that the game is little different from previous entries in the series, but praised the new moves and support for the six-button controller. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the new moves and larger levels, though two of them criticized that the soundtrack was well below Yuzo Koshiro's usual standard. Mean Machines Sega said the game had easily outdone the graphics of the first two Streets of Rage games due to the larger sprites, but had failed to significantly advance the gameplay of the series. They concluded it to be overall fun and playable, albeit too easy. Digital Press gave it 8 out of 10. Mega said it was "uninspiring and easy to finish", but later placed the game at #25 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time. Diehard GameFan praised the gameplay and graphics, but took exception to the localization, saying it "neutered" an otherwise fine title, advising readers to import the Japanese version or pass it up entirely. They also were very critical of the music. |
Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some | The singer selected the songs that would make the album, among the new tracks are "I'm Gonna Be Strong", which she previously recorded with the band Blue Angel, in 1984 and a new version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" produced by the DJ Junior Vasquez. The song uses the original lyrics of the 1983 song and includes a short section based on the 1974 hit song "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone. A music video featuring drag queens was shot to accompany this single and it aired heavily on television. It was also featured in the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Also included and released as a single is a song titled "Come on Home" which Cyndi co-wrote with Jan Pulsford, who would work with Cyndi on much of her next album, 1996's Sisters of Avalon. According to the singer, the fact of including new songs on the record is because she believes that "music is a living thing" and for that reason she didn't want to make an album with old songs only, since a new audience was consuming her music at that moment. |
Kolme (group) | The formation of Callme was announced on December 30, 2014, at the final performance of Dorothy Little Happy's 2014 Winter Tour. Their first single, "To shine", was released on March 4, 2015. On July 12, all three members of Callme graduated from Dorothy Little Happy to focus on Callme activities. They released their first album, Who is callme? on October 28. Their second single, "Can not change nothing", was released on April 6, 2016, followed by their third single, "Confession", on June 29. They released their second album, This is callme, on September 28. Their fourth single, "Bring you happiness", was released on March 22, 2017, followed by their fifth single, "One time", on August 9. Their sixth single, "Hello No Buddy", was released on March 7, 2018. On September 29, Callme changed their name to Kolme. They released their third album, Hello Kolme, on January 30, 2019. Their fourth album, Do you know kolme?, was released on November 20, 2019. On January 26, 2022, they released their first EP, Hajimete No Mini Album. |
Independent Contractors Australia | Independent Contractors of Australia (ICA) was established in 1999, with the aim to create a national association to represent independent contractors in the Australian workplace. Independent contractors operate in the workplace by contracting out their services rather than being engaged under an employment agreement. They are able to be distinguished from employees by some key differences. Independent contractors operate their business entity in order to provide a good or service for an agreed price usually stipulated in a commercial contract. Other differences are that in most cases independent contractors are paid for the results they achieve; provide the materials and equipment needed to complete the work they do and are free to delegate their work to others. Also, they are free to accept or refuse work and may make a profit or a loss from the contracts they enter into with their clients. ICA is a not-for-profit association incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act of Victoria. |
25th Signal Battalion (United States) | On 16 March 1984, the battalion was reorganized as the 25th Signal Battalion (Corps Area). It was assigned to the 35th Signal Brigade (Airborne) to extend area communications in support of XVIII Airborne Corps. The battalion consisted of four line companies each responsible for establishing a corps area signal center and a battalion headquarters company. The 25th was capable of worldwide tactical connections to automated message and voice switching networks (AUTODIN and AUTOVON). The battalion provided the XVIII Airborne Corps with sustainment base communications for Operation Just Cause from December 1989 to March 1990 in addition to tasking its FM RETRANS assets for use in Panama during Operation Just Cause. Less than one year later, the 25th Signal Battalion was participating in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the Middle East. The battalion deployed all of its assets to Saudi Arabia less A/25th, which remained at Fort Bragg to provide sustainment base communications. Soldiers from the 25th Signal Battalion supported the Southwest Asia Campaign from September 1990 to July 1991 installing part of the largest tactical network at that time. |
Many-striped canastero | The many-striped canastero is 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 17 to 27 g (0.60 to 0.95 oz). It is a large canastero and the most dramatically striped of them. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a buff-whitish supercilium on an otherwise dark brownish face with buff to whitish streaks. Their forehead is bright tawny-brown or rufescent brown with dark brown stripes that widen to become the brown crown with rufescent streaks. Their upperparts from back to uppertail coverts are dark brown with conspicuous pale buff streaks. Their wing coverts are dark brown with rufous edges and the flight feathers reddish-rufous with dark fuscous tips. Their tail feathers have dark brown inner webs, rufous outer webs, and are narrow producing a spiny appearance. Their chin and upper throat are orange-buff to orange-rufous that fades and becomes duller on their lower throat. Their breast and flanks are whitish with bold dark brown streaks that become paler and less bold on the whitish belly. Their lower flanks and undertail coverts are rufescent brown with indistinct pale streaks. Their iris is brown to dark brown, their maxilla black to dark horn, their mandible black to dark brownish with a blue-gray to gray base, and their legs and feet brown to olive to greenish gray. Juveniles have a fainter throat patch and less distinct streaks than adults. |
British Armed Forces | Since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 (later succeeded by the United Kingdom), the British Armed Forces have seen action in most major wars involving the world's great powers, including the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the First World War and the Second World War. Britain's victories in most of these wars allowed it to influence world events and establish itself as one of the world's leading military and economic powers. The British Armed Forces consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 66 commissioned ships, together with the Royal Marines, a highly specialised amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force, a technologically sophisticated air force with a diverse operational fleet consisting of both fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The British Armed Forces include standing forces, Regular Reserve, Volunteer Reserves and Sponsored Reserves. |
British Armed Forces | The Militia was originally an all infantry force, organised at the city or county level, and members were not required to serve outside of their recruitment area, although the area within which militia units in Britain could be posted was increased to anywhere in the Britain during the Eighteenth Century, and Militia coastal artillery, field artillery, and engineers units were introduced from the 1850s. The Yeomanry was a mounted force that could be mobilised in times of war or emergency. Volunteer Force units were also frequently raised during wartime, which did not rely on compulsory service and hence attracted recruits keen to avoid the Militia. These were seen as a useful way to add to military strength economically during wartime, but otherwise as a drain on the Militia and so were not normally maintained in peacetime, although in Bermuda prominent propertied men were still appointed Captains of Forts, taking charge of maintaining and commanding fortified coastal artillery batteries and manned by volunteers (reinforced in wartime by embodied militiamen), defending the colony's coast from the Seventeenth Century to the Nineteenth Century (when all of the batteries were taken over by the regular Royal Artillery). The Militia system was extended to a number of English (subsequently British) colonies, beginning with Virginia and Bermuda. In some colonies, Troops of Horse or other mounted units similar to the Yeomanry were also created. The Militia and Volunteer units of a colony were generally considered to be separate forces from the Home Militia Force and Volunteer Force in the United Kingdom, and from the Militia Forces and Volunteer Forces of other colonies. Where a colony had more than one Militia or Volunteer unit, they would be grouped as a Militia or Volunteer Force for that colony, such as the Jamaica Volunteer Defence Force, which comprised the St. Andrew Rifle Corps (or Kingston Infantry Volunteers), the Jamaica Corps of Scouts, and the Jamaica Reserve Regiment, but not the Jamaica Militia Artillery. In smaller colonies with a single militia or volunteer unit, that single unit would still be considered to be listed within a force, or in some case might be named a force rather than a regiment or corps, such as is the case for the Falkland Islands Defence Force and the Royal Montserrat Defence Force. The Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Forces collectively were known as the Reserve Forces, Auxiliary Forces, or Local Forces. Officers of these forces could not sit on Courts Martial of regular forces personnel. The Mutiny Act did not apply to members of the Reserve Forces. |
British Armed Forces | The other regular military force that existed alongside the British Army was the Board of Ordnance, which included the Ordnance Military Corps (made up of the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, and the Royal Sappers and Miners), as well as the originally-civilian Commissariat Stores and transport departments, as well as barracks departments, ordnance factories and various other functions supporting the various naval and military forces. The English Army, subsequently the British Army once Scottish regiments were moved onto its establishment following the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England, was originally a separate force from these, but absorbed the Ordnance Military Corps and various previously civilian departments after the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855. The Reserve Forces were increasingly integrated with the British Army through a succession of reforms over the last two decades of the Nineteenth Century and the early years of the Twentieth Century, whereby the Reserve Forces units mostly lost their own identities and became numbered Territorial Force sub-units of regular British Army corps or regiments (the Home Militia had followed this path, with the Militia Infantry units becoming numbered battalions of British Army regiments, and the Militia Artillery integrating within Royal Artillery territorial divisions in 1882 and 1889, and becoming parts of the Royal Field Artillery or Royal Garrison Artillery in 1902 (though retaining their traditional corps names), but was not merged into the Territorial Force when it was created in 1908 (by the merger of the Yeomanry and Volunteer Force). The Militia was instead renamed the Special Reserve, and was permanently suspended after the First World War (although a handful of Militia units survived in the United Kingdom, its colonies, and the Crown Dependencies). Unlike the Home, Imperial Fortress and Crown Dependency Militia and Volunteer units and forces that continued to exist after the First World War, although parts of the British military, most were not considered parts of the British Army unless they received Army Funds (as was the case for the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps), which was generally only the case for those in the Channel Islands or the Imperial Fortress colonies (Nova Scotia, before Canadian confederation, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and Malta). Today, the British Army is the only Home British military force (unless the Army Cadet Force and the Combined Cadet Force are considered), including both the regular army and the forces it absorbed, though British military units organised on Territorial lines remain in British Overseas Territories that are still not considered formally part of the British Army, with only the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and the Royal Bermuda Regiment (an amalgam of the old Bermuda Militia Artillery and Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps) appearing on the British Army order of precedence and in the Army List. |
British Armed Forces | During the later half of the seventeenth century, and in particular, throughout the eighteenth century, British foreign policy sought to contain the expansion of rival European powers through military, diplomatic and commercial means, especially of its chief competitors Spain, the Netherlands, and France. This saw Britain engage in a number of intense conflicts over colonial possessions and world trade, including a long string of Anglo-Spanish and Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as a series of "world wars" with France, such as; the Seven Years' War , the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars . During the Napoleonic wars, the Royal Navy victory at Trafalgar under the command of Horatio Nelson (aboard HMS Victory) marked the culmination of British maritime supremacy, and left the Navy in a position of uncontested hegemony at sea. By 1815 and the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had risen to become the world's dominant great power and the British Empire subsequently presided over a period of relative peace, known as Pax Britannica. |
British Armed Forces | Post–Second World War economic and political decline, as well as changing attitudes in British society and government, were reflected by the armed forces' contracting global role, and later epitomised by its political defeat during the Suez Crisis . Reflecting Britain's new role in the world and the escalation of the Cold War , the country became a founding member of the NATO military alliance in 1949. Defence Reviews, such as those in 1957 and 1966, announced significant reductions in conventional forces, the pursuement of a doctrine based on nuclear deterrence, and a permanent military withdrawal east of Suez. By the mid-1970s, the armed forces had reconfigured to focus on the responsibilities allocated to them by NATO. The British Army of the Rhine and RAF Germany consequently represented the largest and most important overseas commitments that the armed forces had during this period, while the Royal Navy developed an anti-submarine warfare specialisation, with a particular focus on countering Soviet submarines in the Eastern Atlantic and North Sea. |
British Armed Forces | Since the end of the Cold War, an increasingly international role for the armed forces has been pursued, with re-structuring to deliver a greater focus on expeditionary warfare and power projection. This entailed the armed forces often constituting a major component in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions under the auspices of the United Nations, NATO, and other multinational operations, including: peacekeeping responsibilities in the Balkans and Cyprus, the 2000 intervention in Sierra Leone and participation in the UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya . Post-9/11, the armed forces became heavily committed to the War on Terror , with lengthy campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq , and more recently as part of the Military intervention against ISIL . Britain's military intervention against Islamic State was expanded following a parliamentary vote to launch a bombing campaign over Syria; an extension of the bombing campaign requested by the Iraqi government against the same group. In addition to the aerial campaign, the British Army has trained and supplied allies on the ground and the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (British special forces) has carried out various missions on the ground in both Syria and Iraq. |
British Armed Forces | According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United Kingdom is in sixth place in the world's military spending list in 2023. For comparison: Great Britain spends more in absolute terms than Germany, Ukraine, France or Japan, similar to Saudi Arabia, but less than India, Russia, China or the United States. In September 2011, according to Professor Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute, current "planned levels of defence spending should be enough for the United Kingdom to maintain its position as one of the world's top military powers, as well as being one of NATO-Europe's top military powers. Its edge – not least its qualitative edge – in relation to rising Asian powers seems set to erode, but will remain significant well into the 2020s, and possibly beyond." The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 committed to spending 2% of GDP on defence and announced a £178 billion investment over ten years in new equipment and capabilities. On 8 March 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a further £5bn in defence spending with a long-term goal of an increased spending to 2.5% of GDP. |
British Armed Forces | The United Kingdom is one of five recognised nuclear weapon states under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and maintains an independent nuclear deterrent, currently consisting of four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines, UGM-133 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 160 operational thermonuclear warheads. This is known as Trident in both public and political discourse (with nomenclature taken after the UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missile). Trident is operated by the Royal Navy Submarine Service, charged with delivering a 'Continuous At-Sea Deterrent' (CASD) capability, whereby one of the Vanguard-class strategic submarines is always on patrol. According to the British Government, since the introduction of Polaris (Trident's predecessor) in the 1960s, from April 1969 "the Royal Navy's ballistic missile boats have not missed a single day on patrol", giving what the Defence Council described in 1980 as a deterrent "effectively invulnerable to pre-emptive attack". As of 2015, it has been British Government policy for the Vanguard-class strategic submarines to carry no more than 40 nuclear warheads, delivered by eight UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missiles. In contrast with the other recognised nuclear weapon states, the United Kingdom operates only a submarine-based delivery system, having decommissioned its tactical WE.177 free-fall bombs in 1998. |
British Armed Forces | The British Armed Forces historically relied on four Imperial fortress colonies (Bermuda, Gibraltar, Halifax and its environs in Nova Scotia, and Malta), where dockyards were established, naval squadrons based, soldiers garrisoned, and naval and military stores stockpiled. These acted as lynchpins in maintaining British naval supremacy on the Atlantic and its connected seas. As, until the end of the First World War, it was presumed the only navies that might prove a threat were all of countries on, or off, the Atlantic, no Imperial fortress was established in the Pacific or Indian Oceans, to which power would be extended from Bermuda and Malta following the completion of the Panama and Suez canals. Local-service military reserve units were raised in some of the Imperial fortresses (notably Bermuda and Malta), which could be embodied for full time service in war time to reinforce the regular garrisons, and these were funded by the War Office as part of the British Army. After the First World War, the growing belligerence and naval power of the Japanese Empire led to the construction of the Singapore Naval Base. The regular British Armed Forces otherwise were distributed around the world where required to guard against invasion or rebellion, reinforced in some colonies by locally raised reserve forces. In colonies where there was no strategic requirement, regular forces were rarely stationed, with local governments encouraged to maintain and fund military reserve units as contributions to their own defence (although these units were ultimately under the control of the national, i.e. British, Government via the colonial Governors as defence is not a competency that has been delegated to local governments). Under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation alliance, and with the steady reduction of both the British Empire and the British Armed Forces over the decades that followed the Second World War, the significance of the three remaining Imperial fortresses rapidly faded. The Bermuda-based North America and West Indies Station was abolished in 1956, and the last regular army units removed from the Bermuda Command in 1957 (leaving only two part-time reserve units), with the naval dockyard in Bermuda reduced to a base, without repair or refit capabilities, in 1951 and finally closed in 1995, following the Cold War (United States and Canadian bases in Bermuda closed in the same period), leaving only the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Bermuda Sea Cadet Corps there today. Malta became independent in 1964, and the last British armed forces personnel were removed from the former colony in 1979. Gibraltar continues to be used by the regular British Armed Forces, though the naval and military establishment in the colony (now termed a British Overseas Territory) has been reduced to several Royal Naval patrol craft, the locally raised Royal Gibraltar Regiment, and a Royal Air Force Station without aircraft based on it. |
British Armed Forces | Some British Overseas Territories also maintain locally raised units and regiments; The Royal Bermuda Regiment, the Falkland Islands Defence Force, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment, the Royal Montserrat Defence Force, the Cayman Islands Regiment, and the Turks and Caicos Regiment. Though their primary mission is "home defence", individuals have volunteered for operational duties. The Royal Bermuda Regiment is an amalgam of the Bermuda Militia Artillery (which had been part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery) and the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps, raised in the 1890s as Imperial forces funded by the War Office as part of the British Army, and both antecedent units sent contingents to the Western Front during the First World War. They also sent contingents that served in North-Western Europe, and Italy and North Africa during the Second World War. The Royal Gibraltar Regiment mobilised section-sized units for attachment to British regiments deployed during the Iraq War. The Isle of Man, a Crown dependency hosts a multi-capability recruiting and training unit of the British Army Reserve. |
Les Deux Pigeons (ballet) | In the original scenario, set in 18th-century Thessaly, the hero Pépio (danced then by a woman) is discontented with life at home and with the company of his fiancée Gourouli. Their relationship is symbolised by their pas de deux at the start in imitation of two pigeons they have been observing, quarrelling with small irritated movements of the head and then coming together to make up. When a group of gypsies visit their village, Pépio is seduced by the energetic czardas that they dance and flirts with the dusky Djali, eventually leaving his love behind to join in their wanderings. Gourouli's grandmother advises her to follow him disguised as a gypsy, thus providing the ballerina with a dual role. In the first act she had appeared in a pink wig; in the scene at the camp Rosita Mauri danced with her own long black hair unbound and streaming about her. By such means, this elemental Gourouli makes all the men fall in love with her, and she bribes one of them to make Pépio's life miserable. When a storm breaks, the gypsies rob Pépio and flee. He returns home chastened and must ask for forgiveness. |
Les Deux Pigeons (ballet) | Ashton's version of the ballet is set in Paris at the time of the music's composition with anonymous leading roles (Young Man and Young Girl). At the start, a French painter is revealed trying to paint a restless model, his lover, who is sitting on an ornate cast-iron chair. The session is interrupted by the entry of the model's friends and his responsiveness to other female company underlines his restless spirit. A troupe of gypsies that he sees through the garret window, misunderstanding a gesture of his, now crowd in and a quarrel develops over possession of the chair between the model and a hot-blooded Carmen with whom the painter is flirting. Perceiving that they are not welcome, the gypsy leader leaves the studio and the painter dashes off to join them, bewitched by their unfamiliar and seemingly exotic lifestyle. However, his intrusion into their community is resented and he is thrown out of the encampment. Returning to the lover he had left behind, they are reconciled and sit together on the ornate chair that has dominated the room. |
Through the Looking-Glass | The Red Queen reveals that the entire countryside is laid out in squares, like a gigantic chessboard, and offers to make Alice a queen if she can move all the way to the eighth rank in a chess match. Alice is placed in the second rank as one of the White Queen's pawns, and begins her journey across the chessboard by boarding a train that jumps over the third row and directly into the fourth rank, thus acting on the rule that pawns can advance two spaces on their first move. She arrives in a forest where a gnat teaches her about the looking glass insects, creatures part bug part object (e.g., bread and butterfly, rocking horse fly), before flying away. Continuing her journey, Alice crosses the "wood where things have no names". There she forgets all nouns, including her own name. With the help of a fawn who has also forgotten his identity, she makes it to the other side, where they both remember everything. Realizing that he is a fawn, she is a human, and that fawns are afraid of humans, it runs off. |
Through the Looking-Glass | While the first Alice novel took playing cards as a theme, Through the Looking-Glass instead used chess; most of the main characters are represented by chess pieces, with Alice being a pawn. The looking-glass world consists of square fields divided by brooks or streams, and the crossing of each brook typically signifies a change in scene, with Alice advancing one square. At the book's beginning, Carroll provided and explained a chess composition with descriptive notation, corresponding to the events of the story. Although the piece movements follow the rules of chess, other basic rules are ignored: one player (White) makes several consecutive moves while the (Red/Black) opponent's moves are skipped, and a late check (12... Qe8+) is left undealt with. Carroll also explained that certain items listed in the composition do not have corresponding piece moves but simply refer to the story, e.g. the "castling of the three Queens, which is merely a way of saying that they entered the palace". Despite these liberties, the final position is an authentic checkmate. |
Battle of Aleppo (1918) | After the British Empire's victory at the Battle of Megiddo the remnants of the Ottoman Empire's Yildirim Army Group from Amman was pursued by Prince Feisal's Sherifial Force which captured Deraa on 27 September, on the right flank of the 4th Cavalry Division. Meanwhile, the pursuit by the Australian Mounted Division followed by the 5th Cavalry Division of Yildirim Army Group remnants retreating from the Judean Hills, captured Damascus on 1 October 1918, many thousands of German and Ottoman prisoners and many miles of formerly Ottoman Empire territory. A remnant force of Yildirim Army Group managed to escape Damascus, to concentrate at Rayak before retreating back through Homs and Hama towards Aleppo. Huge losses in Desert Mounted Corps from sickness, delayed and depleted their pursuit from Damascus which was continued by 24 cars in three batteries of armoured cars, and three light car patrols armed with machine guns. They were supported by the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade of the 5th Cavalry Division with the remainder of the division following. |
Mahabalipuram (film) | The Times of India gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Mahabalipuram starts off on a slow note but by the time it ends, it leaves one startled and shattered. Seldom has a story in recent times been told in such a gripping fashion that it makes it hard for one not to compliment director Don Sandy for his efforts...He deserves full marks for having made a film that not only scores as an entertainer but also seeks to create an awareness on a form of crime that society urgently needs to address". The New Indian Express wrote, "The screenplay with its twists and turns becomes more interesting as the story progresses. The episodes leading to the finale are handled impressively by the debutant director. At a crisp 111 minutes viewing time, Mahabalipuram is a fairly engaging watch". Rediff gave it 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Though the story line is interesting, the real issue seems to be lost in the poorly-written script...But with a running time of less than two hours, with some enjoyable music by composer K,and good performances, Mahabalipuram is a decent attempt". |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | On 8 September, the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed its "resolute protest against and deep indignation at" the report published a day prior on the appointment of the two hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as exarchs of the Patriarchate for Kiev. The same day, on a social network, Vladimir Legoyda, head of the Synodal Department for Church, Society and Media Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, commented on the topic and stated that "he appointment by the Patriarch of Constantinople of his episcopal representatives in Ukraine, without agreement with the Patriarch of Moscow and His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev , is an unprecedentedly gross incursion into the Moscow Patriarchate's canonical territory These actions cannot be left unanswered". The same day, the UOC-MP published an official declaration on its website which states: "he appointment of the two Exarchs is a gross violation of the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The decision made by the Constantinopolitan Patriarchate contradicts the 2nd Canon of the Second Ecumenical Council (Constantinople), namely that, without being invited, "Bishops must not leave their own diocese and go over to churches beyond its boundaries"." |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | On 17 October, Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, was interviewed by the BBC Russian Service; this interview was published on the official website of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church the very same day. Hilarion declared: "As of today, we have very clearly stated: the fact that the Patriarchate of Constantinople has recognized a schismatic structure means for us that Constantinople itself is now in schism. It has identified itself with a schism. Accordingly, we cannot have the full Eucharistic communion with it." Hilarion added that when members of the Russian Orthodox of Moscow Patriarchate pay visits to the monasteries on Mount Athos, they cannot participate in the sacraments (for example, receive communion), and promised punishment to any priests who participate in the divine services together with the local clergy. It is known that Russia makes large donations to the monasteries on Athos (the sum of $200 million was announced by a source close to the Moscow Patriarchate and confirmed by Hilarion). Hilarion hinted that "istory shows that when Athos is concerned over something, the monasteries on the Holy Mountain do find ways to inform the Patriarch of Constantinople about it" and called on Russian businessmen to switch donations to Russian sacred places. |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | During the month of November, Metropolitan Hilarion gave some interviews to news agencies from different countries which were published on the official website of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church. He declared that "the mechanisms of inter-Orthodox dialogue and cooperation, which were developing for a long while, have been destroyed. he Patriarchate of Constantinople, first in honour, acted as coordinator of the inter-Orthodox activities. Yet, now, when over a half of all the Orthodox Christians in the world are not in communion with it, Constantinople has lost this role". In another interview he said that the Ecumenical Patriarch "claims the power over history itself by revoking decisions made over three centuries ago", that "he danger of destruction of ages-old traditions has been more and more clearly realized now by Primates and hierarchs of Local Orthodox Churches, who speak out in favour of a pan-Orthodox discussion on the Ukrainian problem. In the new situation, which has shaped now, we have to search for new forms of communication of Churches adequate to it", and that the Ecumenical Patriarch could not chair a Pan-Orthodox Council since "he coordinating role that the Throne of Constantinople played, though not without difficulties, in the Orthodox world in the second part of the 20th century, cannot be played by it now" because "he Patriarchate of Constantinople has self-destructed as the coordinating center for Orthodox Churches." In his last interview he declared that the Ecumenical Patriarch's actions "allegedly aimed to heal the Ukrainian schism ctually lead to the deepening of the schism in Ukraine and to creating for the Orthodox Church an unprecedented situation when the whole body of the world Orthodoxy may find itself split into pieces." |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | The Russian Orthodox Church originated in Kiev, not in Moscow, not in St. Petersburg. Kiev is our baptismal font. We respect political borders, but we also expect political leaders to respect self-consciousness of the faithful in Russia, in Ukraine, in Byelorussia, in Moldova, and in other states in which the Russian Orthodox Church has its presence. Recently we have often heard from representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople that it recognizes the Moscow Patriarchate in the borders in which it existed at the end of the 16th century, when the Eastern Patriarchs recognized the Patriarch of Moscow as the fifth among them. They say that what happened afterwards was an unlawful expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is very strange to hear these arguments, for they imply that the missionary work of the Russian Orthodox Church in the territories that were gradually added to the Russian Empire was something unlawful. They imply that the Russian Orthodox Church should have remained within the limits of the Moscow principalities, and that all new lands added to the Russian Empire should not have been an area of missionary activities of the Church. We cannot accept such arguments. We find them foolish and believe that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is very, very wrong in these deliberations. |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | On 17 October 2019, the Holy Synod of the ROC reacted to the announcement that the Church of Greece had recognized the OCU. The Holy Synod stated: "If the Ukrainian schism is really recognized by the Greek Orthodox Church and its Primate — either in the form of a joint service, liturgical commemoration of the leader of the schism or sending official letters to them — it will be a sad testimony to the deepening division in the family of local Orthodox Churches. We cease the prayer and Eucharistic communion with those bishops of the Greek Church who have entered or will enter into communion with representatives of the Ukrainian non-canonical schismatic communities. the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church authorizes his Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia to stop the commemoration of the name of His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and the entire Greece in the diptychs if the Primate of the Greek Church begins to commemorate the head of one of the Ukrainian schismatic groups during divine services or takes other actions indicating the recognition of the Ukrainian schism." |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | Although Ukrainian parliament chairman Andriy Parubiy stated after an October 5 visit to Tbilisi that the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) was in support of Kiev, Georgian Patriarch Ilia II later denied this, and church spokesman Mikhail Botkoveli said: "We need more time to discuss the arguments of the Russian Orthodox Church, after which the Georgian Orthodox Church will announce its position". It is reported that there are sharp divisions within the Georgian Orthodox Church, which analysts see as "the most pro-Russian institution in an anti-Russian country". A major factor in the dispute within the GOC is the role of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church (AOC) which itself broke from the GOC, the Russian Orthodox Church has offered to mediate the dispute between the GOC and the AOC. Some clerics see this as a reason to maintain the goodwill of the Russian Orthodox Church and others viewed the Abkhazian church as already "under the control of Moscow"; some accused Moscow of hypocrisy, with one theologian arguing publicly that "The (Moscow) patriarchate is betraying the biblical principle of 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'". |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | The next day, the official website of the Albanian Orthodox Church published the full text of the letter of October 10, as well as the second letter, dated November 7, through the hosting service DocDroid, in English and in Greek. In his first letter, Archbishop Anastasios declared the 14 September decision of Moscow had "dangerously complicated the whole matter" concerning Ukraine - this passage had not been released among the extracts on the official website of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church. In his second letter, Archbishop Anastasios disagreed with the decisions of the Moscow Patriarchate to break communion with the Church of Constantinople, stating: "It is unthinkable that the Divine Eucharist could be used as a weapon against another Church. We proclaim it is impossible for us to agree to such decisions." He also added that recent developments have made the convocation of a Pan-Orthodox synaxis "extremely difficult" but that the Albanian Orthodox Church was willing to participate in it, if the Pan-Orthodox synaxis was convoked canonically. The second letter was not published by Moscow. |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | According to news media reports, it had been tentatively expected that the official recognition of the OCU would take place on 19 October "in Thessaloniki where Archbishop Ieronymos and Metropolitan Epiphanius w possibly concelebrate the Divine Liturgy." On 19 October, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens jointly celebrated a liturgy in the Church of the Acheiropoietos in Thessaloniki, Greece, at which Metropolitan Epiphanius′ name was commemorated by the Patriarch. The fact was interpreted by Greek medias as a definitive acknowledgement (recognition) of Epiphanius by the Church of Greece. In his speech toward the end of the liturgy, Patriarch Bartholomew thanked Ieronymos II because, Bartholomew said, Ieronymos II "identified with the canonical decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He also wrote the name of Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev and All Ukraine on the pages of the Diptychs." A spokesman of the Moscow Patriarchate contested such interpretation pointing up the fact that Epiphanius' name was not said directly by the Archbishop. |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | In an interview given on 14 November to the Vinnytsia Press Club, Metropolitan Simeon of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC-MP said he did not sign the UOC-MP resolution as he disagreed with some statements in the resolution and considered this resolution as "bad". He also said he would participate in the unification council. On 15 November, most of the clergy of Vinnytsia of the UOC-MP met in emergency, spontaneously and without the prior consent of its hierarchy. Most of the clergy of Vinnytsia publicly expressed its support to the 13 November resolution of the UOC-MP, and made an appeal to Metropolitan Simeon to ask him to hold a general meeting of the Vinnytsia eparchy. On 17 November, in a sermon, Metropolitan Simeon clarified that his refusal was his own decision, because, he stated, "not a single bishop represented the opinion of his eparchy or people at the Council, everyone spoke for themselves". On 20 November, an official monthly general meeting of the Vinnytsia eparchy chaired by Metropolitan Simeon was held; the Eparchial Council "categorically condemned the unauthorized assemblies held in the Vinnytsia eparchy" and "stated that the Resolution of the Bishops' Council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, taken on November 13, 2018, is a document binding on all bishops, clergy and laity of the UOC and confirmed its readiness to comply with the Resolution by the entire Vinnytsia eparchy." |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | On 18 February 2019, the ROCOR published on its official websites a letter by Archbishop Mark of the German diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; the letter was addressed to the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in Germany. In this letter, Mark declared that he writes the letter to "clarify" the position of his diocese "on the current developments among the Orthodox." In his letter, Mark writes that "The unity of the Orthodox in Germany, which is currently represented through the OBKD (Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in Germany), is extremely valuable And yet, all that we have built so far now is threatened by the current developments in Ukraine ." Mark thereafter announced the decision that they "have determined to withdraw the representatives of our diocese from all committees for which the OBKD is responsible and in which their clergy preside as subjects of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In particular, we will stop sending representatives to the Commission on Theology and Education, and we will suspend our participation in the meetings of the OBKD." The ROC published Mark's letter on its official websites. |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | The Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe (AROCWE) was an exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, its primate at the time the archidiocese's dissolution was announced was Archbishop John (Renneteau) . On 18 October 2018, in reaction to the 15 October decision of the Russian Orthodox Church to sever communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the AROCWE released a communiqué. In this communiqué, the AROCWE declared that the AROCWE, "Archdiocese-Exarchate under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate", was "in full communion with the whole Orthodox Church. Indeed, the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not break communion with the Patriarchate of Moscow and continues to commemorate it according to the order of the diptychs. All the Orthodox faithful can therefore participate fully in the liturgical and sacramental life of our parishes." The communiqué concluded by asking all the priests, deacons, monks, nuns and faithful of the AROCWE to pray for the unity of the Church. |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | On Sunday 28 October 2018, the Archpriest George Blatinsky of the AROCWE, rector of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Christ and Saint Nicholas the Thaumaturge in Florence, ceased commemorating during the liturgy the canonical authorities to whom he is responsible, the Ecumenical Patriarch and the archbishop of the AROCWE John of Charioupolis. At the end of the celebration, Blatinsky told the faithful present that from that Sunday onward the parish had been placed under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Hilarion of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) of the Patriarchate of Moscow. He justified this change of jurisdiction by saying that the Ecumenical Patriarchate had fallen into "schism" as a result of its intervention in Ukraine. According to the AROCWE's information, this decision, which was taken unilaterally by George Blatinsky, was thereafter been presented as being the result of a unanimous vote of a "general assembly of the parish", which was contrary to ecclesiastical norms and the civil statutes of the parish since no assembly had been convened for that day in accordance with the rules. Metropolitan Hilarion of the ROCOR assured archpriest George Blatinsky by telephone that he did not need any letter of canonical release from the AROCWE in order to be received into the ROCOR's jurisdiction since, according to Met. Hilarion, "all those who depend on Constantinople are schismatics". |
Reactions of the Eastern Orthodox churches to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism | On October 16, the head of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Germany published a statement on the Metropolis' website saying: "With disappointment and grief I have noted yesterday's decision of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate to sever the eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose metropolitan in Germany I am. As was the case then, this time too applies: particularly affected are the parishes in the so-called diaspora, where there is a coexistence between the two patriarchates, in other words also in Germany. As far as Ukraine is concerned, it is the common concern of all Orthodox Christians how to succeed in solving ecclesiastical cleavages ecclesiastically, not politically; it has to be non-violent and effective. This is the determined and irrevocable intention of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which, as a mother church, has the right to do so and, I believe, is obliged to have the daughter Ukraine grown up into self-employment. That the older daughter Moscow does not recognize it is regrettable." |
Abbath | Immortal was formed in 1991 by Abbath and Demonaz, alongside other former members of the extreme metal bands Old Funeral and Amputation. At various times throughout the band's history, Abbath has been the lead vocalist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and lyricist, due to the difficulties of upholding a stable line-up. During Immortal's early years, Abbath originally served as the band's vocalist, bassist and studio drummer, while Demonaz played guitar. A steady-lineup was secured for a brief time when drummer Horgh joined Immortal. After the release of Blizzard Beasts in 1997, Demonaz was diagnosed with acute tendinitis, and was consequently forced to quit as guitarist, but remained as lyricist and band manager. Immortal released At the Heart of Winter in 1999, with Abbath taking over guitar and bass duties. This album marked a large shift in sound and style for the music of Immortal. In 2000, the band released Damned in Black, with Iscariah on bass. Sons of Northern Darkness was released in 2002, with the same lineup. Soon after the release of the album, Immortal decided to split and cited personal reasons for their break-up. |
Vera Bradford | Vera Bradford was born in Melbourne to a musical family. Her mother Edith was a pianist, and her father Frederick and brother Cec were violinists. She started learning the piano at the age of seven, and she graduated from the University of Melbourne Conservatorium in 1927, with the highest honours. In 1928 she took up a scholarship with Percy Grainger in Chicago. (Grainger and his wife Ella became close friends of Vera's, and Ella always stayed with Vera on Percy's visits to Australia.) She also studied at the Chicago Musical College with Rudolph Ganz and Alexander Raab. It was Raab who introduced her to the technique that made her famous, the 'arm weight' technique of the Russian teacher Theodor Leschetizky, which she had first experienced when seeing Benno Moiseiwitsch perform in Melbourne in the 1920s. It was this which developed the big tone and control that became a feature of her performances of the works of Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Liszt. Raab insisted she not play the piano for a year, so that she could unlearn her previous techniques, and practise with the piano lid down. |
Vera Bradford | Her debut was in 1931 at the Chicago Opera House where she played the Hungarian Gypsy Airs by Sophie Menter, orchestrated by Tchaikovsky. This was followed by a long and triumphant career as a concert pianist in which she gave many first Australian performances – George Gershwin's Concerto in F, Richard Strauss's Burleske in D minor , the Sophie Menter piece mentioned above, Debussy's Feux d'artifices, and works by Bartók and William Walton. She played extensively in Australia and with the fledgling Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) orchestras before World War II, and after the war undertook a number of overseas tours. In 1946 she was the first Australian woman to perform the Brahms concertos, which the ABC and Bernard Heinze had previously considered too difficult for a woman. The critic Neville Cardus wrote of a performance of the D minor concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra: "Miss Bradford put forth a strength which many men might envy or fear. It was virtuoso playing of a rare order". |
Vera Bradford | For many years she was a teacher at Melbourne University. In 1963 she represented Australia at the 2nd International Music Festival in Seoul, Korea and visited Japan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. For some time in the 1960s she taught students in a private home in Frankston and was loved by her pupils. She continued to be active in music well into the 1970s, being the first pianist to perform a recital for Melbourne television However, for a time during this period, she was excluded from any ABC engagements, due to difficulties she had with the General Manager, Sir Charles Moses, and her recordings were banned. However, in 2010, following a listener request to ABC FM broadcaster Colin Fox (Weekend Breakfast) ABC Radio recording were found from the archives and broadcast. In 1968 she formed the Frankston Music Society and the Frankston Symphony Orchestra, and performed with it on a number of occasions. She also arranged for young pianists such as Geoffrey Tozer and Ronald Farren-Price to appear with the orchestra. |
Clayton Compromise | The Clayton Compromise was a plan drawn up in 1848 by a bipartisan United States Senate committee headed by John M. Clayton for organizing the Oregon Territory and the Southwest. Clayton first attempted to form a special committee of eight members, equally divided by region and party, two northern and two Southern men from each of the two great parties, with Clayton of Delaware himself acting as chairman, to consider the questions relating to the extension of slavery. It recognized the validity of Oregon's existing antislavery laws, prohibited the territorial legislatures of New Mexico and California from acting on slavery, and provided for appeal of all slavery cases from the territorial courts to the Supreme Court of the United States. It passed the Senate July 27, 1848, but it was tabled in the United States House of Representatives by a coalition of Southern Whigs led by future Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens. Stephens believed that the compromise would completely surrender Constitutional rights in the territories, as he was certain that the Supreme Court would rule against slavery in the territories. |
Tears of the Prodigal Son | Poem as a term even in the ancient Greco-Roman literature had a more general notion of literary form, which is probably one of the reasons why it remained undetermined by today, embodying the characteristics of all three literary arts: lyrics, epics and drama. Elaborate plot, characters and the narrator are traits of epic poetry, drama is manifested by an extremely intensive internal conflict of the main character and the long monologues, and lyrics is indicated in the form itself, by the emotional vigour, ethical and theological contemplations and numerous poetical devices and figures of speech such as similes, epithets, strong metaphors and numerous contradictory figures—oxymorons, paradoxes and antitheses. The antithesis of "sin/purification" imbues the piece as a whole, so the poem itself can be understood as one big antithesis. Also, it's marked by the prevalent allegory, for the plot on the relationship between the father and the son can be transferred to the relationship of a man and God. |
The Prototypes | The drum and bass duo The Prototypes was first formed by Chris Garvey and Nick White, both DJs who had been involved in the underground rave scene of Brighton, England. After releasing a 2007 remix of Hadouken!'s track "Bad Signal" on Ice Records, in 2010 they released "Work It," on Formation Records, which was their first entirely original track they made together. The Prototypes released the two-track single "Cascade" in September 2010 through Infrared Records. "Cascade" would be included on the album UKF Drum & Bass 2010, the first compilation album put out by UKF Music. It also received support from radio stations such as on BBC Radio 1 with plays by DJs Zane Lowe, Annie Mac, Annie Nightingale, and Fabio & Grooverider. Sub Focus introduced his Radio 1 mix with the track, and the single was also remixed in clubs by artists such as Sub Focus, Andy C and Zane. The Prototypes' first official release with Futurebound's Viper Recordings was in late 2010, when their track "Evolution" was included on Viper Recordings' Summer Slammers compilation album. Also in 2010 they had a track featured on an Essential Mix by Pendulum and released their track "Breathless" on Formation Records. |
The Prototypes | In total, "Pale Blue Dot," "Lights", and "Abyss VIP" all spent around 6 weeks at the top of various Beatport charts. Both "Humanoid" and "Abyss VIP" peaked in the Top 10 selling Beatport tracks of 2014, and as a result, The Prototypes had more tracks in the Top 10 than any other drum and bass artist on Beatport that year. They also had tracks peak high on the Beatport drum and bass chart, and by the time 2014 ended they had four songs which had peaked in the Top 10. After first being released through Viper on 6 July 2014, their track "Just Bounce" was included on Nightlife 6, an album by drum and bass DJ Andy C. The duo also signed to Primary Talent Agency, performing in tours across the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan, and also holding a summer residency on BBC Xtra Talent. "Pale Blue Dot" went on to be nominated for Best Track at the Drum & Bass Arena Awards in 2014, while "Don't Let Me Go" was nominated for Best Music Video. That year the duo was also nominated for Best Producer and Best DJ. |