Lake-effect snow

Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated up by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises up through the colder air above; the vapor then freezes and is deposited on the leeward (downwind) shores.

The same effect also occurs over bodies of salt water, when it is termed ocean-effect or bay-effect snow. The effect is enhanced when the moving air mass is uplifted by the orographic influence of higher elevations on the downwind shores. This uplifting can produce narrow but very intense bands of precipitation, which deposit at a rate of many inches of snow each hour, often resulting in a large amount of total snowfall.

The areas affected by lake-effect snow are called snowbelts. These include areas east of the Great Lakes, the west coasts of northern Japan, the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and areas near the Great Salt Lake, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Baltic Sea, Adriatic Sea, and North Sea.

Lake-effect blizzards are the blizzard-like conditions resulting from lake-effect snow. Under certain conditions, strong winds can accompany lake-effect snows creating blizzard-like conditions; however the duration of the event is often slightly less than that required for a blizzard warning  in both the US and Canada.

If the air temperature is low enough to keep the precipitation frozen, it falls as lake-effect snow. If not, then it falls as lake-effect rain. For lake-effect rain or snow to form, the air moving across the lake must be significantly cooler than the surface air (which is likely to be near the temperature of the water surface). Specifically, the air temperature at an altitude where the air pressure is  (roughly  vertically) should be  lower than the temperature of the air at the surface. Lake-effect occurring when the air at  is much colder than the water surface can produce thundersnow, snow showers accompanied by lightning and thunder (caused by larger amounts of energy available from the increased instability).

Formation

There are some key elements that are required to form lake-effect precipitation and which determine its characteristics: instability, fetch, wind shear, upstream moisture, upwind lakes, synoptic (large)-scale forcing, orography/topography, and snow or ice cover.

Instability
A temperature difference of  (or as past researchers have estimated: between 15 °C and 25 °C) between the lake temperature and the height in the atmosphere (~ at which barometric pressure measures ) provides for absolute instability and allows vigorous heat and moisture transportation vertically. Atmospheric lapse rate and convective depth are directly affected by both the mesoscale lake environment and the synoptic environment; a deeper convective depth with increasingly steep lapse rates and a suitable moisture level will allow for thicker, taller lake effect precipitation clouds and naturally a much greater precipitation rate.

Fetch
The distance that an air mass travels over a body of water is called fetch. Because most lakes are irregular in shape, different angular degrees of travel will yield different distances; typically a fetch of at least  is required to produce lake effect precipitation. Generally, the larger the fetch the more precipitation that will be produced. Larger fetches provide the boundary layer with more time to become saturated with water vapor and for heat energy to move from the water to the air. As the air mass reaches the other side of the lake, the engine of rising and cooling water vapor pans itself out in the form of condensation and falls as snow, usually within  of the lake but sometimes up to about 100 miles.

Wind shear
Directional shear is one of the most important factors governing the development of squalls; environments with weak directional shear typically produce more intense squalls than those with higher shear levels. If directional shear between the surface and the height in the atmosphere at which the barometric pressure measures  is greater than 60 degrees, nothing more than flurries can be expected. If the directional shear between the body of water and the vertical height at which the pressure measures  is between 30 and 60 degrees, weak lake-effect bands are possible. In environments where the shear is less than 30 degrees, strong, well organized bands can be expected.

Speed shear is less critical, but should be relatively uniform. The wind speed difference between the surface and vertical height at which the pressure reads  should be no greater than  so as to prevent the upper portions of the band from shearing off. However, assuming the surface to  winds are uniform, a faster overall velocity will work to transport moisture quicker from the water, and the band will travel much farther inland.

Upstream moisture
A lower upstream relative humidity will make it more difficult and time consuming for lake effect condensation, clouds and precipitation to form. The opposite is true if the upstream moisture has a high relative humidity, allowing lake effect condensation, cloud and precipitation to form more readily and in a greater quantity.

Upwind lakes
Any large body of water upwind will impact lake-effect precipitation to the lee of a downwind lake by adding moisture or pre-existing lake-effect bands, which can re-intensify over the downwind lake. Upwind lakes do not always lead to an increase of precipitation downwind.

Synoptic forcing
Vorticity advection aloft and large upscale ascent help increase mixing and the convective depth, while cold air advection lowers the temperature and increases instability.

Orography and topography
Typically lake-effect precipitation will increase with elevation to the lee of the lake as topographic forcing squeezes out precipitation and dries out the squall much faster.

Snow and ice cover
As a lake gradually freezes over, its ability to produce lake-effect precipitation decreases for two reasons. Firstly, the open ice-free liquid surface area of the lake shrinks. This reduces fetch distances. Secondly, the water temperature nears freezing, reducing overall latent heat energy available to produce squalls. To end the production of lake-effect precipitation, a complete freeze is often not necessary.

Even when precipitation is not produced, cold air passing over warmer water may produce cloud cover. Fast moving mid-latitude cyclones, known as Alberta clippers, often cross the Great Lakes. After the passage of a cold front, winds tend to switch to the northwest, and a frequent pattern is for a long-lasting low-pressure area to form over the Canadian Maritimes, which may pull cold northwestern air across the Great Lakes for a week or more, commonly identified with the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Since the prevailing winter winds tend to be colder than the water for much of the winter, the southeastern shores of the lakes are almost constantly overcast, leading to the use of the term The Great Gray Funk as a synonym for winter. These areas allegedly contain populations that suffer from high rates of seasonal affective disorder, a type of psychological depression thought to be caused by lack of light.

Great Lakes region

North American Great Lakes

Cold winds in the winter typically prevail from the northwest in the Great Lakes region, producing the most dramatic lake-effect snowfalls on the southern and eastern shores of the Great Lakes. This lake effect results in much greater snowfall amounts on the southern and eastern shores compared to the northern and western shores of the Great Lakes.

The most affected areas include the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Central New York, Western New York, Northwestern Pennsylvania, Northeastern Ohio, southwestern Ontario and central Ontario, Northeastern Illinois (along the shoreline of Lake Michigan), northwestern and north central Indiana (mostly between Gary and Elkhart), northern Wisconsin (near Lake Superior), and West Michigan. Tug Hill in New York's North Country region has the 2nd most snow amounts of any non-mountainous location within the continental U.S., only trailing the Upper Peninsula, which can average over  of snow per year.

Lake-effect snows on the Tug Hill plateau (east of Lake Ontario) can frequently set daily records for snowfall in the United States. Tug Hill receives, on average, over  of snow each winter. In February 2007, a prolonged lake-effect snow event left  of snow on the Tug Hill Plateau. Syracuse, New York, directly south of the Tug Hill Plateau, receives significant lake-effect snow from Lake Ontario, and averages  of snow per year, which is enough snowfall to be considered one of the "snowiest" large cities in America.

A small amount of lake-effect snow from the Finger Lakes falls in upstate New York as well. If the wind blows almost the entire length of either Cayuga Lake or Seneca Lake, Ithaca or Watkins Glen respectively can have a small lake effect snow storm.

Lake Erie produces a similar effect for a zone stretching from the eastern suburbs of Cleveland through Erie to Buffalo. Remnants of lake-effect snows from Lake Erie have been observed to reach as far south as Garrett County, Maryland and as far east as Geneva, New York. Because it's not as deep as the other lakes, Erie warms rapidly in the spring and summer and is frequently the only Great Lake to freeze over in winter. Once frozen, the resulting ice cover alleviates lake-effect snow downwind of the lake. Based on stable isotope evidence from lake sediment coupled with historical records of increasing lake effect snow, it has been predicted that Global Warming will result in a further increase in lake effect snow.

A very large snowbelt in the United States exists on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near the cities of Houghton, Marquette, and Munising. These areas average  of snow each season. For comparison, on the western shore, Duluth, Minnesota receives  per season. Lake Superior and Lake Huron rarely freeze because of their size and depth; hence, lake-effect snow can fall continually in the Upper Peninsula and Canadian snowbelts during the winter months. Main areas of the Upper Peninsula snow belt include the Keweenaw Peninsula and Baraga, Marquette and Alger counties, where Lake Superior contributes to lake-effect snow, making them a prominent part of the Midwestern snow belt. Records of  of snow or more have been set in many communities in this area. The Keweenaw Peninsula averages more snowfall than almost anywhere in the United States—more than anywhere east of the Mississippi River and the most of all non-mountainous regions of the continental United States. Because of the howling storms across Lake Superior, which cause dramatic amounts of precipitation, it has been said that the lake-effect snow makes the Keweenaw Peninsula the snowiest place east of the Rockies. Only one official weather station exists in this region. Located in Hancock, Michigan, this station averages well over  per year. Farther north in the peninsula, lake-effect snow can occur with any wind direction. The road commission in Keweenaw County, Michigan collects unofficial data in a community called Delaware, and it strictly follows the guidelines set forth by the National Weather Service. This station averages over  per season. Even farther north, a ski resort called Mount Bohemia receives an unofficial annual average of . Herman, Michigan, averages  of snow every year. Lake-effect snow can cause blinding whiteouts in just minutes, and some storms can last days.

Western Michigan, western Northern Lower Michigan, and Northern Indiana can get heavy lake-effect snows as winds pass over Lake Michigan and deposit snows over Muskegon, Traverse City, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, New Carlisle, South Bend, and Elkhart, but these snows abate significantly before Lansing or Fort Wayne, Indiana. When winds become northerly, or aligned between 330 and 390 degrees, a single band of lake-effect snow may form, which extends down the length of Lake Michigan. This long fetch often produces a very intense, yet localized, area of heavy snowfall, affecting cities such as Laporte and Gary.

Lake-effect snow is uncommon in Detroit, Toledo, Milwaukee, and Chicago, because the region's dominant winds are from the northwest, making them upwind from their respective Great Lakes. However, they too can see lake-effect snow during easterly or north-easterly winds. More frequently, the north side of a low-pressure system picks up more moisture over the lake as it travels west, creating a phenomenon called lake-enhanced precipitation.

Ontario, Canada

Because Southwestern Ontario is surrounded by water on three sides, many parts of Southwestern and Central Ontario get a large part of their winter snow from lake-effect snow. This region is notorious for the whiteouts which can suddenly reduce highway visibility on the world's busiest highway (Ontario Highway 401) from clear to zero. The region most commonly affected spans from Port Stanley in the west, the Bruce Peninsula in the north, Niagara-on-the-Lake to the east, and Fort Erie to the south. The heaviest accumulations usually happen in the Bruce Peninsula, which is between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. So long as the Great Lakes are not frozen over, the only time the Bruce Peninsula does not get lake-effect snow is when the wind is directly from the south.

Toronto and Hamilton are usually spared lake-effect squalls because they are not on the leeward side of Lake Ontario during the dominant northwest winds. However, some central and northern portions of the Greater Toronto Area can be affected a few times each year by lake-effect snow from Georgian Bay. Downtown Toronto and Hamilton get most of their lake-effect snow when the wind comes from the southeast or east, over Lake Ontario. Such easterly winds are usually associated with a winter cyclone passing just to the south of the Great Lakes.

When the wind is from the north, the snowbelt runs north-south from Grand Bend to Sarnia and London. Areas such as Lucan and Kincardine have experienced some of the heaviest snowsqualls from Lake Huron in this region. When the wind is slightly more westerly, the snowbelt runs from Tobermory, Owen Sound, and Grand Bend to as far south and east as Arthur, Orangeville and Caledon. This snowbelt often reaches Kitchener and can affect the Halton and Peel regions of the Greater Toronto Area. These northwesterly winds usually also bring snow southeast of Georgian Bay, which can reach beyond Lake Scugog. A westerly wind sends lake-effect streamers east from Owen Sound to Gravenhurst, Barrie, and Orillia, and may even reach as far south and east as York Region in the Greater Toronto Area. When the wind is from the southwest, lake-effect streamers from Lake Huron and Georgian Bay run from Noelville to Sudbury, Gravenhurst, and Algonquin Provincial Park. Winds from this same direction coming over Lake Ontario will cause squalls to come ashore from Cobourg through the Belleville area to Kingston and the Thousand Islands, with Prince Edward County being the area most vulnerable to extreme snowfall amounts. Some snow bands can occasionally reach Quebec and Maine, while snow originating from Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and even Lake Michigan can impact southern Ontario. Easterly winds primarily affect the Niagara Peninsula. Local lake-effect snowsqualls can occasionally occur downwind of Lake Simcoe when the lake is unfrozen, usually in early winter or late fall.

Lake Superior has its own independent snowbelts, affecting Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Marathon, the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan, and Pukaskwa National Park. Thunder Bay is usually not affected by lake-effect snow, unless it is associated with a winter storm.

Elsewhere in the United States

The southern and southeastern sides of the Great Salt Lake receive significant lake-effect snow. Since the Great Salt Lake never freezes, the lake effect can influence the weather along the Wasatch Front year-round. The lake effect largely contributes to the  annual snowfall amounts recorded south and east of the lake, and in average snowfall reaching  in the Wasatch Range. The snow, which is often very light and dry because of the semi-arid climate, is referred to as "The Greatest Snow on Earth" in the mountains. Lake-effect snow contributes to approximately 6–8 snowfalls per year in Salt Lake City, with approximately 10% of the city's precipitation being contributed by the phenomenon.

Similar snowfall can occur near large inland bays, where it is known as bay-effect snow. Bay-effect snows fall downwind of Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, and Massachusetts Bay when the basic criteria are met, and on rarer occasions along Long Island.

The Finger Lakes of New York are long enough for lake-effect precipitation.

The Texas twin cities of Sherman and Denison are known, in rare instances, to have experienced lake-effect snow from nearby Lake Texoma due to the lake's size (it is the third-largest lake in Texas or along its borders).

On one occasion in December 2016, lake effect snow fell in central Mississippi from a lake band off Ross Barnett Reservoir.

Oklahoma City even saw a band of lake effect snow off of Lake Hefner in February 2018.

The Truckee Meadows and other parts of Northern Nevada which are normally in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada can, when conditions are right, have severe snowfall as a result of lake effect from Lake Tahoe. Recent severe examples of this phenomenon have occurred as recently as 2004, dumping several feet of snow in the normally dry region.

The West Coast occasionally experiences ocean-effect showers, usually in the form of rain at lower elevations south of about the mouth of the Columbia River. These occur whenever an Arctic air mass from western Canada is drawn westward out over the Pacific Ocean, typically by way of the Fraser Valley, returning shoreward around a center of low pressure. Cold air flowing southwest from the Fraser Valley can also pick up moisture over the Strait of Georgia and Strait of Juan de Fuca, then rise over the northeastern slopes of the Olympic Mountains, producing heavy, localized snow between Port Angeles and Sequim, as well as areas in Kitsap County and the Puget Sound region.

While snow of any type is very rare in Florida, the phenomenon of gulf-effect snow has been observed along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico a few times in history. More recently, "ocean effect" snow occurred on January 24, 2003, when wind off the Atlantic, combined with air temperatures in the 30s ºF, brought snow flurries briefly to the Atlantic coast of northern Florida seen in the air as far south as Cape Canaveral.

Elsewhere in Canada
Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis in Manitoba historically have seen lake-effect snow as early as late October, and it is common throughout early to mid November. Towards the end of November the lakes sufficiently cool and begin to freeze ending the lake effect snow. A brief period of lake-effect snow is also common near Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories during early winter (usually early to mid October); however the lake-effect season for both lakes is very short. The lakes are frozen roughly eight months of the year and as a result have very little time to warm during the summer months.

Other small lakes such as Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan and Lake Nipigon in northwestern Ontario produce early season lake-effect snows. Smallwood Reservoir, a man-made lake located in Labrador has on occasion generated lake-effect snow.

The Canadian Maritimes, specifically Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, are often affected by such snow squalls when an Arctic winter airmass moves over unfrozen waters. In PEI, sea-effect snow is often generated when a cold north wind blows over the unfrozen Gulf of St. Lawrence, dumping heavy snow on the north shore. In Nova Scotia, a cold north-west wind can produce sea-effect snow over the Cape Breton Highlands from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Annapolis Valley from the Bay of Fundy; in the latter case, the sea-effect snow season can continue all winter as the Bay of Fundy remains open owing to its extreme tidal currents.

The east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, experiences occasional episodes of sea-effect snow during winter months due to cold easterly outflow winds from the British Columbia interior, typically through the Fraser Valley, crossing the always open waters of the Strait of Georgia.

Eurasia

Lake-effect or sea-effect snow occurs in other countries, near large lakes or large sea areas. In Eurasia, it occurs in the regions of the Black Sea in Georgia and Turkey, the Caspian sea in Iran, the Adriatic Sea in Italy, the North Sea, as well as the Irish Sea and the Aegean Sea, the Balearic Islands, the Baltic Sea as well as areas surrounding the Sea of Japan.

Because the southern Black Sea is relatively warm (around 13 °C or 55 °F at the beginning of winter, typically 10 to 6 °C or 50 to 43 °F by the end), sufficiently cold air aloft can create significant snowfalls in a relatively short period of time. Due to its location on a peninsula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, Istanbul is very prone to lake-effect snow and this weather phenomenon occurs almost every winter. This type of precipitation is generated by the warmer Black Sea temperature and colder air temperature, over the Istanbul area. In February 2005, a lake-effect snowfall left  of snow, and in March 1987, a three-week-long lake-effect snowfall accompanied with strong winds (lake-effect blizzard) left  of snow in Istanbul. The snowfall in the eastern regions of the Black Sea is amplified by the orographic effect of the nearby Caucasus Mountains, often resulting in snowfall of several meters, especially at higher elevations.

In Northern Europe, cold, dry air masses from Russia can blow over the Baltic Sea and cause heavy snow squalls on areas of the southern and eastern coasts of Sweden, as well as on the Danish island of Bornholm and the east coast of Jutland.Southeast Norway can also experience heavy sea snow events with ENE winds. Especially coastal areas from Kragero to Kristiansand have seen incredible snow depths in the past with intense persistent snowbands from Norwegian sea(Coastal city of Arendal recorded 293 cm in a week in late February 2007)

The Sea of Japan creates snowfall in the mountainous western Japanese prefectures of Niigata and Nagano, parts of which are known collectively as Snow country ("Yukiguni"). In addition to the Sea of Japan, other parts of Japan, as well as Korea and Scandinavia, experience these same conditions.

Because the Aegean Sea (Greece), is warm in the winter, when cold air masses from Siberia advance in the area, they pick up lots of moisture, resulting in heavy snowfalls in eastern Central Greece, eastern Thessaly, eastern Peloponnese, south-eastern Chalkidiki, the Cyclades and Crete (more commonly in the mountainous areas). In 2008 a severe snowstorm blanketed Athens dropping 40 cm of snow and causing huge traffic jams.

Moving of polar or Siberian high pressure centers along Caspian Sea regarding to relatively warmer water of this sea can make heavy snowfalls in the northern coast of Iran. Several blizzards have been reported in this region during the last decades. in Feb 2014 heavy snowfall reached two meters in the coast line in Gilan and Mazandaran provinces of Iran. The heaviest snowfall was reported in Abkenar village near Anzali Lagoon

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, easterly winds bringing cold continental air across the North Sea can lead to a similar phenomenon. Locally it is also known as "lake-effect snow" despite the snow coming in from the sea rather than a lake. Similarly during a north-westerly wind, snow showers can form coming in from the Liverpool Bay, coming down the Cheshire gap, causing snowfall in the West Midlands—this formation resulted in the white Christmas of 2004 in the area, and most recently the heavy snowfall of 8 December 2017 and 30 January 2019. A similar phenomenon can affect the city of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, where cold north east winds cause heavy snow to form in the Moray Firth; this was the case with the White Hogmanay of 2009, which caused the street party to be canceled. Northerly and north-westerly winds can cause the effect to occur over the Irish Sea and Bristol Channel feeding snow into south-west England and Eastern Ireland. Western Scotland and the Northern Ireland can also see snow showers from a north or north-westerly wind over the Atlantic.

Since the North Sea is relatively warm (around  at the beginning of winter, typically  by the end), sufficiently cold air aloft can create significant snowfalls in a relatively short period of time. The best-known example occurred in January 1987, when record-breaking cold air (associated with an upper low) moved across the North Sea towards the UK. The end result was over two foot of snow for coastal areas, leading to communities being cut off for over a week. The latest of these events to affect Britain's east coast occurred on November 30, 2017, February 28, 2018 and 17 March 2018 in connection with the 2018 Great Britain and Ireland cold wave. The 2nd event of Winter 2017/18 was particularly severe, with up to  falling in total over the 27th-28th.

Similarly, northern winds blowing across the relatively warm waters of the English Channel during cold spells can bring significant snowfall to the French region of Normandy, where snow drifts exceeding ten feet (3 m) were measured in March 2013.


Chalanbeel Horse Race

The Chalanbil's Horse Races are annual horse races that take place in the Chalan Beel region of Pabna, Natore, Sirajganj, Bogra, and Naogaon district, in Bangladesh.

History
Although there is no record of when the festivals actually started in this region, locals organize it regularly in Baishakh. People of Chalan Beel organize the traditional horse race competitions every year at Notabaria village of Chatmohar Upazila. Horse owners from different districts of Chalanbill region participate in the race every year.

The races were themselves patronized by the Zamindars of Natore, mainly the Dighapatia Raj family. It is a matter of tradition for the local people. "It is the inherited pride of my family that I, my father and grandfather participated in horse race competitions. I hope my next generation will keep the tradition alive." racers say.

Event
The horse race competition is three days long. A fair is also organized at neighboring Notabaria field marking the traditional festival. Over a hundred shops were set up in the village fair. The competition was held in two categories:
 Sprint race using leg combination (called Mill Dour in local language) and
 Hurdle race of horses (called Dhap Dour).

Sources


Opposition to pornography

Reasons for opposition to pornography include religious objections, feminist concerns, and claims of harmful effects, such as pornography addiction. Anti-pornography movements have allied disparate social activists in opposition to pornography, from social conservatives to harm reduction advocates.

The definition of "pornography" varies between countries and movements, and many make distinctions between pornography, which they oppose, and erotica, which they consider acceptable. Sometimes opposition will deem certain forms of pornography more or less harmful, while others draw no such distinctions.

A 2013 Gallup survey reported that, of U.S. adults, 66% believe that pornography is "morally wrong" while 31% believe that it is "morally acceptable". The gender gap in pornography opposition has widened in the recent decades; women remain more opposed to pornography than men, while men's opposition has declined faster.

Religious views

Most world religions have positions in opposition to pornography from a variety of rationales, including concerns about modesty, human dignity, chastity and other virtues. There are numerous verses in the Bible which are cited as condemning pornography or adultery, notably for Christians, Matthew 5:28 in the Sermon on the Mount which states "that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Islam also forbids adultery, and various verses of the Quran have been cited as condemning pornography, including Quran 24:31 which tells men to "restrain their eyes" from looking sexually at women.

Feminist views

Some feminists are opposed to pornography, arguing that it is an industry which exploits women and is complicit in violence against women, both in its production (where they charge that abuse and exploitation of women performing in pornography is rampant) and in its consumption (where they charge that pornography eroticizes the domination, humiliation, and coercion of women, and reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual harassment). They charge that pornography contributes to the male-centered objectification of women and thus to sexism.

However, many other feminists are opposed to censorship, and have argued against the introduction of anti-porn legislation in the United States - among them Betty Friedan, Kate Millett, Karen DeCrow, Wendy Kaminer and Jamaica Kincaid. Some sex-positive feminists actively support pornography that depicts female sexuality in a positive way, without objectifying or demeaning women.

Conservative views
Religious conservatives commonly oppose pornography, along with a subset of feminists, though their reasoning may differ. Many religious conservatives view pornography as a threat to children. Some conservative Protestants oppose pornography because it encourages non-procreative sex, encourages abortion, and can be connected to the rise of sexually transmitted diseases.

Concerned Women For America (CWA) is a conservative organization that opposes same-sex marriage and abortion. When discussing violence against women, the CWA often uses pornography to illustrate their points. The CWA asserts that pornography is a major reason why men inflict harm on women. The CWA argues that pornography convinces men to disrespect their wives and neglect their marriages, thereby threatening the sanctity of traditional marriage. Unlike other issues CWA has tackled, they are less forcefully anti-feminist when it comes to the topic of pornography, as many of their points surrounding why pornography is distasteful parallels those of anti-pornography feminists.

Harm-based views

Dolf Zillmann argued in the 1986 publication "Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography" that extensive viewing of pornographic material produces many unfavorable sociological effects, including a decreased respect for long-term monogamous relationships, and an attenuated desire for procreation. He describes the theoretical basis of these experimental findings:The values expressed in pornography clash so obviously with the family concept, and they potentially undermine the traditional values that favor marriage, family, and children... Pornographic scripts dwell on sexual engagements of parties who have just met, who are in no way attached or committed to each other, and who will part shortly, never to meet again... Sexual gratification in pornography is not a function of emotional attachment, of kindness, of caring, and especially not of continuance of the relationship, as such continuance would translate into responsibilities, curtailments, and costs...

A study by Zillman in 1982 also indicated that prolonged exposure to pornography desensitized both men and women toward victims of sexual violence. After being shown pornographic movies, test subjects were asked to judge an appropriate punishment for a rapist. The test subjects recommended incarceration terms that were significantly more lenient than those recommended by control subjects who had not watched pornography.

Some researchers like Zillman believe that pornography causes unequivocal harm to society by increasing rates of sexual assault. Other researchers believe that there is a correlation between pornography and a decrease of sex crimes.

Pornography is often criticized for presenting an inaccurate picture of human sexuality.

The appropriation of the sexually explicit in American culture is part of what has been called "the pornification of America".

Rape culture is often discussed when it comes to pornography, and is defined by society victim-blaming women because of their rape. It is known as society making rape less substantial. Some of the most searched titles on pornography websites is rape scenes.

Allegations of pornophobia

Pornophobia, from Greek roots pornē, "whore" and phobia, literally means fear of prostitutes. It may also refer to fear of sexual expression, in particular, fear of pornography.

Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, uses the coinages "pornophobia" and "pornophobes" when referring to attitudes of pro-censorship and conservatives to the imagery of nudity, which they often refer to as "pornography". Strossen states that incidents have occurred at several colleges such as the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan Law School where feminist students have physically attacked exhibits of photographic self-portraits claiming that they must be taken down because these exhibits had sexual themes.


Perfect Stride

Perfect Stride is an upcoming indie skateboarding video game developed by Arcane Kids. Announced by the studio in 2013, the game, an online, first-person skateboarding simulator where players can do skateboarding tricks and socialize, depicts what would have happened in an apocalyptic alternate universe in which pro skater Tony Hawk had never landed the 900 at the X Games and achieved widespread recognition, and thus had never "triggered an explosion of corporate skateboarding", leading to the rise-in-power of an immortal "time wizard" who uses his abilities to prevent anybody from dying. The player's overarching goal is to venture through the various islands within the game's dystopian environment and find what is rumored to be the very last bullet to exist on Earth and use it to kill the Time Wizard once and for all. According to the game's developers, it also takes place within a metaphorical depiction of Yahoo! Geocities and serves as a symbol of the "dying web," noting that the various pieces of architecture are representative of personal web pages.

Gameplay-wise, Perfect Stride takes inspiration from early movement exploits in first-person shooting games. Making use of only the computer mouse, it utilizes a unique control scheme in which the player clicks the left and right buttons to build up force and moves the mouse in that direction to gain momentum. A "rewind" feature allowing players to correct mistakes is also present in the game, included out of the developers' experiences with other games and a desire to make the gameplay fair. The rewind gimmick is also tied into the game's plot; the player is unable to die at any point at all in the game, as time is frozen whenever they are about to and they are forced to rewind out of it.

The concept for Zineth was inspired by developer and co-creator Ben Esposito's early attempts to modify Half-Life 2, in which he mistakenly produced an unorthodox style of control that he felt would be interesting as a game of its own. Esposito brought the idea to co-developer Russell Honor, who took a full month in order to faithfully recreate the style of movement that Esposito had described. The game is meant to simulate the social atmosphere of a real-life skate park, taking heed from early mods and online chat rooms, and is intended to provide a laid-back multiplayer experience, with the team referring to it as a "lifestyle game".

An early access alpha version of Zineth was first made available to backers of the Kickstarter campaign for L.A. Game Space in August 2013. Due to its ambitious nature, the game is still in development and planned for an eventual release via Steam, with intentions to include a level editor and a full-fledged multiplayer feature separate from the story mode.


The Microsoft Institute for High Performance Computing was created in November 2005 at the University of Southampton. The only one of its kind in the UK. It is one of nine such institutes worldwide.

History
The creation of the institute was announced by Bill Gates during the International Supercomputing Conference in 2005, and the institute itself is currently led by Professor Simon J. Cox while Dr Kenji Takeda, co-director, left the University of Southampton to join Microsoft.

In 2006 Microsoft was working on a proof-of-concept implementation of a bespoke engineering workflow software for BAE Systems. The large British aerospace company wanted to run their SOLAR software on the Microsoft Cluster Server. The teams at the University of Southampton, BAE Systems and Microsoft managed to build a demonstrator in just 3 weeks. This comprised an SQL Server back-end and a Net 2.0 Web Service.

Research
The institute has conducted research in:
 Computational fluid dynamics
 Computational electromagnetics
 Electrical grid technologies
 Conference XP
 SQL
 WinFS
 Windows Communication Foundation
 Microsoft Cluster Server

Reception
Microsoft Visual Studio's Product Manager Dennis Crain referring to the MIHPC in Southampton said:

List of MIHPCs worldwide
 University of Southampton
 TACC - University of Texas Austin
 University of Utah
 University of Stuttgart
 Shanghai Jiao Tong University
 Nizhny Novgorod University
 University of Tennessee
 Tokyo Institute of technology
 Shanghai Supercomputer Center

Notes

External links
 Blog

Institute for High Performance Computing


Belgium at the 2006 Winter Olympics

Belgium sent four athletes to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Figure skating

Short track speed skating

Key: 'ADV' indicates a skater was advanced due to being interfered with.

Speed skating


Raphael Grinage

Raphael Grinage was an American jazz and folk musician and composer.

Early life
Raphael Grinage (aka Les Grinage) was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 4, 1931, the third of four sons. His father, Jose, was an African-American Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister, and his mother, Lathrope Tull, taught piano. His family moved to Kentucky when he was a teenager, and from there, after graduating high school, Raphael joined the Army and was sent to Korea. Upon his discharge, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in music. He had already participated in bands during high school, and decided to become a professional bassist.  His formal music training was obtained at the Manhattan School of Music.

Music career

As a bassist, Grinage accompanied many of the jazz greats of the era such as vocalist Carmen McRae and legendary pianist Bill Evans, among others. He increased his versatility by playing cello and learning to play the Japanese Koto and the Dilruba (a bowed version of the Indian sitar).

In the 50s, he was a member of the musicians who accompanied the Alvin Ailey Company, and joined them in several international visits, on behalf of the US State Department. In the 1960s, he joined folksinger Odetta, and accompanied her for over five years, travelling around the world. It was while he was in Japan with Odetta that he met the woman he would marry, and that decision changed his life’s trajectory.

Returning to the United States in 1969, Raphael joined with Hamilton Camp and two other musicians to form the group, The True Brethren. The four composed the music for Paul Sills' Story Theatre, which previewed at Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.  Later it was taken to Broadway where it played for a year before it went on tour and became the basis of a TV series. The show was nominated for best Broadway show of the year in 1971.  Grinage also played and composed music for the Broadway Show, Paul Sills adaptation of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Grinage played at many Bay Area venues, including the musical based on the famous song "Stompin' at the Savoy", which ran in San Francisco for several months.  He also played with many Bay Area musicians, including Earl Hines.

In 2012 four live recordings of the True Brethren from 1969 were released for the first time by one of the members of the original group.  In these rare recordings, Grinage plays two of the instruments he spent a lifetime playing: the cello and dilruba.

Personal life

Raphael fathered four sons.  His career was impacted by his having become a double amputee as a result of diabetes. On December 15, 1993, at Raphael's home in Oakland, California, the Oakland police animal control attempted to quarantine his son Luke's pitbull, which had bitten three people.

After a brief conversation, and some scuffling, during which Luke refused to hand over the dog, Luke retrieved a shotgun from his home and opened fire on police, killing Officer William Grijalva. Police returned fire, killing both Luke and his father Raphael. Luke's dog was also killed.

External links


Anunnaki

The Anunnaki (also transcribed as Anunaki, Annunaki, Anunna, Ananaki, and other variations) are a group of deities who appear in the mythological traditions of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. Descriptions of how many Anunnaki there were and what role they fulfilled are inconsistent and often contradictory. In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which come from the Post-Akkadian period, the Anunnaki are the most powerful deities in the pantheon, descendants of An and Ki, the god of the heavens and the goddess of earth, and their primary function is to decree the fates of humanity.

In Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld, the Anunnaki are portrayed as seven judges who sit before the throne of Ereshkigal in the Underworld. Later Akkadian texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, follow this portrayal. During the Old Babylonian period, the Anunnaki were believed to be the chthonic deities of the Underworld, while the gods of the heavens were known as the Igigi. The ancient Hittites identified the Anunnaki as the oldest generation of gods, who had been overthrown and banished to the Underworld by the younger gods. The Anunnaki have featured prominently in modern pseudoarchaeological works, such as the books of Erich von Däniken and Zecharia Sitchin.

Etymology

The name Anunnaki is derived from An, the Sumerian god of the sky. The name is variously written "da-nuna", "da-nuna-ke4-ne", or "da-nun-na", meaning "princely offspring" or "offspring of An".

The Anunnaki were believed to be the offspring of An and his consort, the earth goddess Ki. Samuel Noah Kramer identifies Ki with the Sumerian mother goddess Ninhursag, stating that they were originally the same figure. The oldest of the Anunnaki was Enlil, the god of air and chief god of the Sumerian pantheon. The Sumerians believed that, until Enlil was born, heaven and earth were inseparable. Then, Enlil cleaved heaven and earth in two and carried away the earth while his father An carried away the sky.

Worship and iconography
The Anunnaki are chiefly mentioned in literary texts and very little evidence to support the existence of any cult of them has yet been unearthed. This is likely due to the fact that each member of the Anunnaki had his or her own individual cult, separate from the others. Similarly, no representations of the Anunnaki as a group have yet been discovered, although a few depictions of its individual members have been identified. Deities in ancient Mesopotamia were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. The deities typically wore melam, an ambiguous substance which "covered them in terrifying splendor". Melam could also be worn by heroes, kings, giants, and even demons. The effect that seeing a deity's melam has on a human is described as ni, a word for the physical tingling of the flesh. Deities were almost always depicted wearing horned caps, consisting of up to seven superimposed pairs of ox-horns. They were also sometimes depicted wearing clothes with elaborate decorative gold and silver ornaments sewn into them.

The ancient Mesopotamians believed that their deities lived in Heaven, but that a god's statue was a physical embodiment of the god himself. As such, cult statues were given constant care and attention and a set of priests were assigned to tend to them. These priests would clothe the statues and place feasts before them so they could "eat". A deity's temple was believed to be that deity's literal place of residence. The gods had boats, full-sized barges which were normally stored inside their temples and were used to transport their cult statues along waterways during various religious festivals. The gods also had chariots, which were used for transporting their cult statues by land. Sometimes a deity's cult statue would be transported to the location of a battle so that the deity could watch the battle unfold. The major deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon, which included the Anunnaki, were believed to participate in the "assembly of the gods", through which the gods made all of their decisions. This assembly was seen as a divine counterpart to the semi-democratic legislative system that existed during the Third Dynasty of Ur ( 2112 BC —  2004 BC).

Mythology

Sumerian

The earliest known usages of the term Anunnaki come from inscriptions written during the reign of Gudea ( 2144 — 2124 BC) and the Third Dynasty of Ur.  In the earliest texts, the term is applied to the most powerful and important deities in the Sumerian pantheon: the descendants of the sky-god An.This group of deities probably included the "seven gods who decree": An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna.

Although certain deities are described as members of the Anunnaki, no complete list of the names of all the Anunnaki has survived and they are usually only referred to as a cohesive group in literary texts. Furthermore, Sumerian texts describe the Anunnaki inconsistently and do not agree on how many Anunnaki there were, or what their divine function was. Originally, the Anunnaki appear to have been heavenly deities with immense powers. In the poem Enki and the World Order, the Anunnaki "do homage" to Enki, sing hymns of praise in his honor, and "take up their dwellings" among the people of Sumer. The same composition twice states that the Anunnaki "decree the fates of mankind".

Virtually every major deity in the Sumerian pantheon was regarded as the patron of a specific city and was expected to protect that city's interests. The deity was believed to permanently reside within that city's temple. One text mentions as many as fifty Anunnaki associated with the city of Eridu. In Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld, there are only seven Anunnaki, who reside within the Underworld and serve as judges. Inanna stands trial before them for her attempt to take over the Underworld; they deem her guilty of hubris and condemn her to death.

Major deities in Sumerian mythology were associated with specific celestial bodies. Inanna was believed to be the planet Venus. Utu was believed to be the sun. Nanna was the moon. An was identified with all the stars of the equatorial sky, Enlil with those of the northern sky, and Enki with those of the southern sky. The path of Enlil's celestial orbit was a continuous, symmetrical circle around the north celestial pole, but those of An and Enki were believed to intersect at various points.

Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian

Akkadian texts of the second millennium BC follow similar portrayals of the Anunnaki from Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld, depicting them as chthonic Underworld deities. In an abbreviated Akkadian version of Inanna's Descent written in the early second millennium, Ereshkigal, the queen of the Underworld, comments that she "drink[s] water with the Anunnaki". Later in the same poem, Ereshkigal orders her servant Namtar to fetch the Anunnaki from Egalgina, to "decorate the threshold steps with coral", and to "seat them on golden thrones".

During the Old Babylonian Period ( 1830 BC — c. 1531 BC), a new set of deities known as the Igigi are introduced. The relationship between the Anunnaki and the Igigi is unclear. On some occasions, the categories appear to be used synonymously, but in other writings, such as The Poem of Erra, there is a clear distinction between the two. In the late Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic, the Igigi are the sixth generation of the gods who are forced to perform labor for the Anunnaki. After forty days, the Igigi rebel and the god Enki, one of the Anunnaki, creates humans to replace them.

From the Middle Babylonian Period ( 1592 — 1155 BC) onward, the name Anunnaki was applied generally to the deities of the underworld; whereas the name Igigi was applied to the heavenly deities. During this period, the underworld deities Damkina, Nergal, and Madānu are listed as the most powerful among the Anunnaki, alongside Marduk, the national god of ancient Babylon.

In the standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh ( 1200 BC) Utnapishtim, the immortal survivor of the Great Flood, describes the Anunnaki as seven judges of the Underworld, who set the land aflame as the storm approaches. Later, when the flood comes, Ishtar (the East Semitic equivalent to Inanna) and the Anunnaki mourn over the destruction of humanity.

In the Babylonian Enûma Eliš, Marduk assigns the Anunnaki their positions. A late Babylonian version of the epic mentions 600 Anunnaki of the underworld, but only 300 Anunnaki of heaven, indicating the existence of a complex underworld cosmology. In gratitude, the Anunnaki, the "Great Gods", build Esagila, a "splendid" temple dedicated to Marduk, Ea, and Ellil. In the eighth-century BC Poem of Erra, the Anunnaki are described as the brothers of the god Nergal and are depicted as antagonistic towards humanity.

A badly damaged text from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 — 612 BC) describes Marduk leading his army of Anunnaki into the sacred city of Nippur and causing a disturbance. The disturbance causes a flood, which forces the resident gods of Nippur to take shelter in the Eshumesha temple to Ninurta. Enlil is enraged at Marduk's transgression and orders the gods of Eshumesha to take Marduk and the other Anunnaki as prisoners. The Anunnaki are captured, but Marduk appoints his front-runner Mushteshirhablim to lead a revolt against the gods of Eshumesha and sends his messenger Neretagmil to alert Nabu, the god of literacy. When the Eshumesha gods hear Nabu speak, they come out of their temple to search for him. Marduk defeats the Eshumesha gods and takes 360 of them as prisoners of war, including Enlil himself. Enlil protests that the Eshumesha gods are innocent, so Marduk puts them on trial before the Anunnaki. The text ends with a warning from Damkianna (another name for Ninhursag) to the gods and to humanity, pleading them not to repeat the war between the Anunnaki and the gods of Eshumesha.

Hurrian and Hittite

In the mythologies of the Hurrians and Hittites (which flourished in the mid to late second millennium BC), the oldest generation of gods was believed to have been banished by the younger gods to the Underworld, where they were ruled by the goddess Lelwani. Hittite scribes identified these deities with the Anunnaki. In ancient Hurrian, the Anunnaki are referred to as karuileš šiuneš, which means "former ancient gods", or kattereš šiuneš, which means "gods of the earth". Hittite and Hurrian treaties were often sworn by the old gods in order to ensure that the oaths would be kept. In one myth, the gods are threatened by the stone giant Ullikummi, so Ea (the later name for Enki) commands the Former Gods to find the weapon that was used to separate the heavens from the earth. They find it and use it to cut off Ullikummi's feet.

Although the names of the Anunnaki in Hurrian and Hittite texts frequently vary, they are always eight in number. In one Hittite ritual, the names of the old gods are listed as: "Aduntarri the diviner, Zulki the dream interpress, Irpitia Lord of the Earth, Narā, Namšarā, Minki, Amunki, and Āpi." The old gods had no identifiable cult in the Hurrio-Hittite religion; instead, the Hurrians and Hittites sought to communicate with the old gods through the ritual sacrifice of a piglet in a pit dug in the ground. The old gods were often invoked to perform ritual purifications.

The Hittite account of the old gods' banishment to the Underworld ultimately became the source for the Greek poet Hesiod's narrative of the overthrow of the Titans by the Olympians in his Theogony. The Greek sky-god Ouranos (whose name means "Heaven") is the father of the Titans and is derived from the Hittite version of Anu. In Hesiod's account, Ouranos is castrated by his son Cronus, just as Anu was castrated by his son Kumarbi in the Hittite story.

Pseudoarchaeology

Over a series of published books (starting with Chariots of the Gods? in 1968), Swiss pseudoarcheologist Erich von Däniken claimed that extraterrestrial "ancient astronauts" had visited a prehistoric Earth. Von Däniken explains the origins of religions as reactions to contact with an alien race, and offers interpretations of Sumerian texts and the Old Testament as evidence.

In his 1976 book The Twelfth Planet, Russian-American author Zecharia Sitchin claimed that the Anunnaki were actually an advanced humanoid extraterrestrial species from the undiscovered planet Nibiru, who came to Earth around 500,000 years ago and constructed a base of operations in order to mine gold after discovering that the planet was rich in the precious metal. According to Sitchin, the Anunnaki hybridized their species and Homo erectus via in vitro fertilization in order to create humans as a slave species of miners. Sitchin claimed that the Anunnaki were forced to temporarily leave Earth's surface and orbit the planet when Antarctic glaciers melted, causing the Great Flood, which also destroyed the Anunnaki's bases on Earth. These had to be rebuilt, and the Anunnaki, needing more humans to help in this massive effort, taught mankind agriculture.

Ronald H. Fritze writes that, according to Sitchin, "the Annunaki built the pyramids and all the other monumental structures from around the world that ancient astronaut theorists consider so impossible to build without highly advanced technologies." Sitchin expanded on this mythology in later works, including The Stairway to Heaven (1980) and The Wars of Gods and Men (1985). In The End of Days: Armageddon and the Prophecy of the Return (2007), Sitchin predicted that the Anunnaki would return to earth, possibly as soon as 2012, corresponding to the end of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Sitchin's writings have been universally rejected by mainstream historians, who have labelled his books as pseudoarchaeology, asserting that Sitchin seems to deliberately misrepresent Sumerian texts by quoting them out of context, truncating quotations, and mistranslating Sumerian words to give them radically different meanings from their accepted definitions.


Vincenz Liechtenstein

Prince Vincenz of Liechtenstein, known in Austria as Vincenz Liechtenstein, (30 July 1950 in Graz – 14 January 2008 in Deutschfeistritz, Styria) was an Austrian politician (ÖVP). He was a grandson of Charles I of Austria, the last Austrian Emperor. He was born a Prince of Liechtenstein. He never renounced his succession to the Liechtensteiner throne, but since the nobility in Austria was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he did not use his princely title or honorific (Serene Highness) in his Austrian civic life.

Ancestry
Born His Serene Highness Prince Vincenz Karl Alfred Maria Michael of Liechtenstein (Germ. Seine Durchlaucht der Prinz Vincenz Karl Alfred Maria Michael von und zu Liechtenstein), the first child of Prince Heinrich of Liechtenstein and Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria. Prince Heinrich was a son of Prince Alfred of Liechtenstein (himself a son of Prince Alfred of Liechtenstein) and Princess Theresia Maria of Oettingen-Oettingen. Vincenz was thus a male-line great-great-great-grandson of Johann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein. Vincenz' mother, Archduchess Elisabeth, was the youngest daughter of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria, and his wife, Zita of Bourbon-Parma. Vincenz Liechtenstein is a female-line great-grandson of Robert I, the last sovereign Duke of Parma.

Marriage
Vincenz was 1,300th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Austria. On 7 March 1981, at the church of St Louis des Invalides in Paris, he married Hélène Herminie Marie Hyacinthe de Cossé-Brissac (1960–), a descendant of the French Ducs de Brissac, with Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein as page boy.

They had two daughters:
 Her Serene Highness Princess Adelheid Marie Beatrice Zita (b. Vienna, 25 November 1981), married in  Schloss Waldstein on 31 January 2009 Count Dominik Cornelius Valentin Gerold Eugene von Coudenhove-Kalergi (b. London, 7 October 1973), son of Count Hans Heinrich von Coudenhove Kalergi and Cornelia Carter Roberts. They have three daughters:
 Countess Xenia Marie Cornelia Hélène Zita Anna Therese Hildegard et omnes Sancti von Coudenhove-Kalergi (b. Graz, 21 October 2011)
 Countess Tatiana Maria Mitsuko Benedikta Zita Sophie Ferdinandine Gisela et omnes Sancti von Coudenhove-Kalergi (b. Graz, 6 May 2013)
 Countess Olympia Marie Gladys Zita Barbara Mauricette Elena et omnes Sancti von Coudenhove-Kalergi (b. Graz, 1 September 2016)
 Her Serene Highness Princess Hedwig Maria Beatrice Hermine (b. Vienna, 28 November 1982), married in Waldstein Castle on 10 May 2008 Comte Olivier de Quélen (b. Paris, 25 April 1980), son of Jean-Louis, Comte de Quélen, and Nicole, Comtesse de Quélen (née Nicole Cansou). They have four children:
 Mademoiselle Maïwenn Marie Eléonore de Quélen (b. 23 April 2010)
 Mademoiselle Béatrice de Quélen (b. 10 June 2011)
 Mademoiselle Raphaëlle de Quelen (b. 10 June 2011)
 Count Taliesin Amedeo Francios de Quelen (b. 29 August 2015)

Vincenz and Helene divorced in 1991 and the marriage was annulled in 1994.

He then married Roberta Valeri Manera (1953–) in Venice on 19 June 1999: the couple had no children.

Career
Vincenz studied at the Bundesrealgymnasium in Graz (1960–1969) and subsequently studied law at the University of Graz (1969–1975). He worked at a forestry company before becoming a politician. He was co-founder of the 1974 JES students initiative. He was a member of the board of the Catholic Family Association and the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft.

Vincenz was a member of the Nationalrat from 1988–1996 and again from 1997–2004. From 2004–2006 he was a member of the Bundesrat. He caused a mini-scandal in 2005 when he interrupted a Nationalrat meeting because of alleged drunkenness. He apologised shortly afterward.

Liechtenstein died unexpectedly on 14 January 2008 at his home, Waldstein Castle,  at Deutschfeistritz near Graz, following a short illness. He had left his sickbed to attend the funeral of his uncle Archduke Carl-Ludwig in Vienna.


The Hounds of Spring

The Hounds of Spring is a concert overture for winds, written by the American composer, Alfred Reed in 1980.

Reed was inspired by the poem Atalanta in Calydon (1865), by Victorian era English poet, Algernon Charles Swinburne, a recreation in modern English verse of an ancient Greek tragedy. That poem includes the line "When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces."

It was Reed's desire to capture the dual elements of the poem - high-spirited youthful jauntiness and the innocence of tender love.

The Hounds of Spring was commissioned by, and dedicated to, the John L. Forster Secondary School Concert Band of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and its director, Gerald Brown. The world premiere was in Windsor on May 8, 1980, conducted by the composer. Ever since then it has been a popular concert piece played by high school ensembles around the world.


Special Operations Regiment (Macedonia)

The Special Operations Regiment () is the main special operations unit of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia. Under the command of the Special Operations Regiment are the Ranger Battalion as well as the Special Force Battalion "Wolves". The Wolves unit was formed on 1 March 1994. The Special Operations Regiment is responsible for defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia from foreign hostiles. This unit is fully compatible with NATO standards.

History

 On 1 March 1994 for the first time in the Army of the Republic of Macedonia a Special Purpose Unit was founded under the name of "the Wolves";
 It operated as Special Units Command from 2002-2003;
 In December 2003 with the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Republic of Macedonia the unit is restructured into Special Purpose Squad;
 In November 2006 the Unit is restructured into Special Operations Regiment (SOR).

Mission

Provides fully organized, trained and equipped units for performing special operations and specific conventional operations, independently or in cooperation with other units of the ARM and other coalition forces, in all weather and land conditions in peacetime, crisis and war so as to support peace and to prevent conflict as part of the overall efforts to support internal security and foreign policy of the Republic of Macedonia.

Tasks

1. Focus on planning, organizing, equipping and training for successful execution of the mission;
2. Provide intelligence support for successful execution of the mission;
3. Provide ISTAR capabilities necessary for successful carrying out the mission of the ARM;
4. Share declared forces in planning, organizing and training in order to carry out operations within stabilization operations, peace maintenance, conflict prevention and regional conflicts and crisis management as part of and/or led by internationally agreed
Alliances outside the Republic of Macedonia;
5. Cooperation (bilateral and multilateral) aimed at trust building and regional and global peace and stability promotion;
6. Performing operations in support of the Ministry of Interior forces in dealing with threats, risks and threats to the security and defense of the Republic of Macedonia.
7. Performing operations in support of the government institutions in the event of natural disasters and accidents on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.
8. Provide necessary combat and service support of units carrying out duties;
9. Ensure proper personnel management (human resources management);
10. Ensure proper financial management and budgeting;
11. Provide adequate CIS for the mission needs;
12. Provide effective civil and military relations, civilian structures coordination (governmental and non-governmental organizations and associations) in order to support the mission.

Missions outside North Macedonia

 Special Operations Regiment from June 2003 to June 2008 attended by 11 contingents of rotations in the "Iraqi Freedom"
 Participation in Peacekeeping "ISAF-Phoenix" in Afghanistan from May to December 2010
 Participation of individuals within the missions in Bosnia, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

Received award:
 Order of Merit assigned to 14/08/2012, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Dr. Ivanov marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Army of Republic of Macedonia;
 Medal for bravery ........................ 6 members;
 "Bronze star" .................................. 8 members;
 "Achievement medal" ...................... 43 members;
 "ARCOM medal" ........................... 68 members;
 "NATO medal" .............................. 46 members;
 "Altea medal" ................................. 2 member.

Special Forces Battalion "Wolves"

History
On 1 March 1994, Special Forces Unit (6th Squad), called ‘Wolves’ was founded within the Army of Republic of Macedonia for the first time. In 1998, the first team formation of the unit was formed and it was renamed into Special Forces Unit. In 2001 the unit became a part of CTU (Counter terrorism unit), and after founding SU Command, it became a part of it as a Squad. In 2003, the unit was reformed into Special Forces Battalion.

The forming of this unit has marked the process of becoming professional army for ARM. Since the beginning the candidates for joining this unit have been selected through special selection criteria and they are required to be physically and mentally prepared, regardless of the rank.

Foreign missions

Special Operations Battalion took part in several peacekeeping missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The servicemen of Special Operations Battalion were awarded with a large number of medals of courage, merit and achievement, commendations, and similar awards.

Tasks:
 To plan, organize, equip and train for conducting special operations in order to destroy and disable enemy forces and facilities;
 To maintain the ability to organize, train, consult and help in peace support operations within or led by international organizations out of R. Macedonia;
 To plan, organize, equip and train for operations supporting state institutions in case of natural disasters.

Rangers Battalion

History

The Rangers Battalion was formed in 2004. It consists of the former Reconnaissance battalion as well as servicemen from other ARM units.
The Rangers Battalion has a respectable experience and is a significant ARM representative which is continually preparing for successfully conducting its mission.

Since 2004 the unit went through an intensive developing period and put maximum efforts improving the operative ability and is always ready to manage all challenges of the modern time.

As a result of its readiness and interoperability with NATO units, the deep in enemy territory observation unit as part of the Rangers Battalion in the period from 2007 to 2010 has successfully finished the self-assessment level 1, NATO assessment level 1 – CREVAL and self-assessment level 2 – TACEVAL.

The unit consists of professional staff educated and trained according to NATO programs and standards. The servicemen are young and psychophysically well prepared and motivated professionals who are trained for combat and are able to perform operations under different conditions.

Missions abroad
Members of the Rangers Battalion took part in a few peacekeeping missions in Iraq from 2004 to 2009 and in Afghanistan in 2010.
The participants in the missions have been rewarded with a big number of certificates of appreciation and with medals and other stimulating decorations.

Gallery

Equipment


Viktor Myasnikov

Viktor Nikolayevich Myasnikov () (born 3 September 1948) is a retired hurdler who represented the USSR. He won two medals at the European Indoor Championships. Myasnikov trained at Dynamo in Minsk.

Achievements


Ka-fe Beau

Ka-fe Beau is a town in Saint George Parish, Grenada.  It is located at the southern end of the island, on the western coast.


North Harbour (women's field hockey team)

The North Harbour women's field hockey team are an amateur sports team based in New Zealand. The team competes annually in the Ford National Hockey League (NHL).

North Harbour have won the Women's NHL a total of 3 times, last winning the championship in 2010.

Team Roster
The following is the North Harbour team roster for the 2017 Ford NHL:

Head coaches: Sam Bartholomew

Jana Teschke
Kate Ivory
Kathryn Henry
Petrea Webster
Courtney Winterbottom
Erin Goad
Claudia Hanham
Ella Hyatt-Brown
Josephine Ackroyd
Samantha Polovnikoff
Stephanie Elliott
Kirsten Pearce
Tori Robinson
Stephanie Dickins
Hattie Jones
Alex Conway
Madeleine Williamson (GK)
Brooke Roberts (GK)


Mehrabad, Hamadan

Mehrabad (, also Romanized as Mehrābād and Mahrābād; also known as Mīhrābād) is a village in Haram Rud-e Olya Rural District, in the Central District of Malayer County, Hamadan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 696, in 176 families.


Thakurpukur Maheshtala

Thakurpukur Maheshtala is a community development block (CD block) that forms an administrative division in the Alipore Sadar subdivision of South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Geography
Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block is located at . It has an average elevation of .

The Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block is bounded by Barisha, a neighbourhood in Kolkata, in the north, parts of Behala neighbourhood of Kolkata and the Sonarpur CD block in the east, the Bishnupur I and Bishnupur II CD blocks in the south and the Budge Budge I CD block in the west.

The South 24 Parganas district is divided into two distinct physiographic zones: the marine-riverine delta in the north and the marine delta zone in the south. As the sea receded southwards, in the sub-recent geological period, a large low lying plain got exposed. Both tidal inflows and the rivers have been depositing sediments in this plain. The periodical collapse of both the natural levees and man-made embankments speed up the process of filling up of the depressions containing brackish water wetlands. The marine delta in the south is formed of interlacing tidal channels. As non-saline water for irrigation is scarce, agriculture is monsoon dominated. Some parts of the wetlands are still preserved for raising fish.

The Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block has an area of 63.08 km2. It has 1 panchayat samity, 4 gram panchayats, 80 gram sansads (village councils), 39 mouzas and 33 inhabited villages, as per the District Statistical Handbook, South Twenty-four Parganas. Maheshtala, Bishnupur and Rabindranagar police stations serve this block.Headquarters of this CD block is at Behala.

Gram panchayats of Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block/panchayat samiti are: Ashuti I, Ashuti II, Chatta and Rasapunja.Joka I and Joka II are now included in Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Demographics

Population
According to the 2011 Census of India, Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block had a total population of 176,203, of which 90,180 were rural and 86,023 were urban. There were 89,152 (51%) males and 87,051 (49%) females. There were 18,079 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The Scheduled Castes numbered 60,372 (34.26%) and the Scheduled Tribes numbered 505 (0.29%).

According to the 2001 Census of India, Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block had a total population of 136,866, out of which 70,420 were males and 66,446 were females. The Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block registered a population growth of 35.09 per cent during the 1991-2001 decade. Decadal growth for the South 24 Parganas district was 20.89 per cent. Decadal growth in West Bengal was 17.84 per cent.

Census Towns in the Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block (2011 census figures in brackets): Joka (9,302), Chata Kalikapur (24,985), Ganye Gangadharpur (5,210), Rameswarpur (7,200), Asuti (6,272), Hanspukuria (3,887), Kalua (15,735), Ramchandrapur (5,272) and Samali (7,180).

Large villages (with 4,000+ population) in the hakurpukur Maheshtala CD block (2011 census figures in brackets): Khanberia (4,682), Rasapunja (8,036), Banagram (4,098), Chak Rajumolla (5,308), Sarsuna (5,563), Purba Barisha (5,965) and Chak Thakurani (5,891).

Literacy
According to the 2011 census, the total number of literates in the Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block was 132,097 (83.54% of the population over 6 years) out of which males numbered 70,300 (87.95% of the male population over 6 years) and females numbered 61,797 (79.03% of the female population over 6 years). The gender disparity (the difference between female and male literacy rates) was 8.92%.

According to the 2011 Census of India, literacy in the South 24 Parganas district was 77.51 Literacy in West Bengal was 77.08% in 2011. Literacy in India in 2011 was 74.04%.

According to the 2001 Census of India, the Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD Block had a total literacy of 74.80 per cent. While male literacy was 82.00 per cent female literacy was 67.10 per cent. South 24 Parganas district had a total literacy of 69.40 per cent, male literacy being 79.20 per cent and female literacy being 59.00 per cent.

See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

Language and religion
In the 2001 census, Bengali was the mother tongue for 97.9% of the population of the district, followed by Hindi with 1.5%, Urdu 0.3%, Odia and Telugu (0.1% each).

The West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Bill, 2012, included Hindi, Santhali, Odiya and Punjabi as official languages  if it is spoken by a population exceeding 10 per cent of the whole in a particular block or sub-division or a district.  Subsequently, Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Kurmali were also included in the list of minority languages by the West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018.However, as of 2019, there is no official / other reliable information about the areas covered.

In the 2011 Census of India, Hindus numbered 118,615 and formed 67.32% of the population in Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block. Muslims numbered 46,945 and formed 26.64% of the population. Others numbered 10,643 and formed 6.04% of the population. Amongst the others,  Christians numbered 9,954.

The proportion of Hindus in South Twenty-four Parganas district has declined from 76.0% in 1961 to 63.2% in 2011. The proportion of Muslims in South Twenty-four Parganas district has increased from 23.4% to 35.6% during the same period. Christians formed 0.8% in 2011.

Rural poverty
As per the Human Development Report for the South 24 Parganas district, published in 2009, in the Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block the percentage of households below poverty line was 6.44%, the lowest amongst all the CD blocks in the district. As per rural household survey in 2005, the proportion of households in the South 24 Parganas with poverty rates below poverty line was 34.11%, way above the state and national poverty ratios. The poverty rates were very high in the Sundarbans settlements with all the thirteen CD blocks registering poverty ratios above 30% and eight CD blocks had more than 40% of the population in the BPL category.

Economy

Livelihood

In the Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block in 2011, among the class of total workers, cultivators numbered 2,320 and formed 3.41%, agricultural labourers numbered 2,894 and formed 4.26%, household industry workers numbered 4,080 and formed 6.00% and other workers numbered 58,687 and formed 86.33%. Total workers numbered 67,981 and formed 38.58% of the total population, and non-workers numbered 108,222 and formed 61.42% of the population.

The District Human Development Report points out that in the blocks of region situated in the close proximity of the Kolkata metropolis, overwhelming majority are involved in the non-agricultural sector for their livelihood. On the other hand, in the Sundarbans settlements, overwhelming majority are dependent on agriculture. In the intermediate region, there is again predominance of the non-agricultural sector. Though the region is not very close to Kolkata, many places are well connected and some industrial/ economic development has taken place.

Note: In the census records a person is considered a cultivator, if the person is engaged in cultivation/ supervision of land owned by self/government/institution. When a person who works on another person's land for wages in cash or kind or share, is regarded as an agricultural labourer. Household industry is defined as an industry conducted by one or more members of the family within the household or village, and one that does not qualify for registration as a factory under the Factories Act. Other workers are persons engaged in some economic activity other than cultivators, agricultural labourers and household workers.  It includes factory, mining, plantation, transport and office workers, those engaged in business and commerce, teachers, entertainment artistes and so on.

Infrastructure
There are 33 inhabited villages in the Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block, as per the District Census Handbook, South Twenty-four Parganas, 2011. 100% villages have power supply. 32 villages (96.97%) have drinking water supply. 4 villages (12.12%) have post offices. 33 villages (100%) have telephones (including landlines, public call offices and mobile phones). 20 villages (60.61%) have pucca (paved) approach roads and 12 villages (36.36%) have transport communication (includes bus service, rail facility and navigable waterways). 1 village (3.03%) has an agricultural credit society and 5 villages (15.15%) have banks.

Agriculture
The South 24 Parganas had played a significant role in the Tebhaga movement launched by the Communist Party of India in 1946. Subsequently,Operation Barga was aimed at securing tenancy rights for the peasants. In the Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block 98.96 acres of land was acquired and vested. Out of this 19.20 acres or 19.40% of the vested land was distributed. The total number of patta (document) holders was 47.

According to the District Human Development Report, agriculture is an important source of livelihood in the South Twentyfour Parganas district. The amount of cultivable land per agricultural worker is only 0.41 hectare in the district.  Moreover, the irrigation facilities have not been extended to a satisfactory scale. Agriculture mostly remains a mono-cropped activity.

As per the District Census Handbook, the saline soil of the district is unfit for cultivation, but the non-salty lands are very fertile. While rice is the main food crop, jute is the main cash crop.

In 2013-14, there were 8 fertiliser depots, 7 seed stores and 24 fair price shops in Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block|

In 2013-14, Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block produced 1,018 tonnes of Aman paddy, the main winter crop from 624 hectares, 1,179 tonnes of Boro paddy (spring crop) from 376 hectares.

Pisciculture
In the Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block, in 2013-14, net area under effective pisciculture was 185 hectares, engaging 1,550 persons in the profession, and with an approximate annual production of 16,080 quintals.

Pisciculture is an important source of employment in the South 24 Parganas district. As of 2001, more than 4.5 lakh people were engaged in pisciculture. Out of this 2.57 lakhs were from the 13 blocks in the Sundarbans settlements.

Banking
In 2013-14, the Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block had offices of 23 commercial banks and 8 gramin banks.

Backward Regions Grant Fund
The South 24 Parganas district is listed as a backward region and receives financial support from the Backward Regions Grant Fund. The fund, created by the Government of India, is designed to redress regional imbalances in development. As of 2012, 272 districts across the country were listed under this scheme. The list includes 11 districts of West Bengal.

Transport

The Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block has 13 originating/ terminating bus routes.

Santoshpur, Akra, Nangi and Budge Budge are staions on the Sealdah–Budge Budge line.

Education
In 2013-14, the Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block had 56 primary schools with 6,668 students, 1 middle school with 109 students, 7 high schools with 2,152 students and 11 higher secondary schools with 8,853 students. Thakupukur Maheshtala CD block had 1 technical/ professional institution with 948 students and 209 institutions for special and non-formal education with 10,292 students. Maheshtala municipal area (outside the CD block) had 2 general degree colleges with 1,855 students.

See also – Education in India

According to the 2011 census, in Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block, among the 33 inhabited villages, 2 villages did not have a school, 13 villages had two or more  primary schools, 11 villages had at least 1 primary and 1 middle school and 10 villages had at least 1 middle and 1 secondary school.

Healthcare
In 2014, the Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block had 1 block primary health centre and 7 private nursing homes with total 219 beds and 32 doctors (excluding private bodies). It had 19 family welfare subcentres. 154 patients were treated indoor and 29,942 patients were treated outdoor in the hospitals, health centres and subcentres of the CD block.

According to the 2011 census, in Thakurpukur Mahestala CD block, 1 village had a community health centre, 2 villages had primary health centres, 10 villages had primary health subcentres, 2 villages had maternity and child welfare centres, 12 villages had medicine shops and out of the 33 inhabited villages 9 villages had no medical facilities.

Sarsuna Block Primary Health Centre at Sarsuna, with 15 beds is the major government medical facility for Thakurpukur Maheshtala CD block.


Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier (Bernini)

The Busts of Cardinals Agostino and Pietro Valier are two portrait sculptures executed by the Italian artists Gianlorenzo Bernini and his studio. They were commissioned in 1627. It is likely that the bust of Pietro was done largely by Andrea Bolgi following Bernini's design. The more lively portrait of Agostino is probably Bernini's design and execution.

The two sculptures remain in the Seminary in Venice, for which they were originally built.


Mt. Vernon Register-News

The Mt. Vernon Register-News was a newspaper that served Mount Vernon, Illinois. The newspaper's marketing slogan was "We Are Mt. Vernon."

The Register-News traced its origin back to 1884, when the Mt. Vernon Daily Register was launched. The Mt. Vernon Daily News was founded in 1891, and the two papers merged in 1920 to create the Register-News, which published six days a week until cost-saving measures were employed in 2017 that reduced the newspaper to printing just three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Former owner Thomson sold the paper to Hollinger in 1996. CNHI acquired the paper in 2000. The last edition of the Register-News was printed on February 6, 2018; the following day, CNHI announced the closure of both the Register-News (due to the “challenging market and economic conditions of Mount Vernon”) and the McLeansboro Times-Leader.


Frantsevo

Frantsevo (Францево) is a village in the Pervomaysky District, Tomsk Oblast. It is part of the Komsomolsk selo.

History
The village was historically served by the Komsomol Narrow Gauge Rail, until its destruction by the logging company that owned it in 2015.

Population
In 2015, its population was reported at 97 people, down from 104 in 2012.


Thomas H. Rynning

Thomas Harbo Rynning (February 17, 1866 – June 18, 1941) was an officer in the United States Army who served with Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders during the Spanish–American War. He was also the captain of the Arizona Rangers, warden of Yuma Territorial Prison, and a United States Marshal in San Diego, California.

Biography

Early life and military career
American Indian Wars
Thomas Rynning was born in Christiana, Norway on February 17, 1866. At the age of two, his parents emigrated to the United States and settled in Beloit, Wisconsin. By 1885, Rynning was in Texas when he decided to enlist in the United States Army's 8th Cavalry Regiment. His first battle was against the Cheyenne while serving under General Philip Sheridan. After the Cheyenne were defeated, he was transferred with his regiment to Arizona Territory. Under Lieutenant Samuel Fountain, Rynning engaged in Geronimo's War and was present when Geronimo was captured by Leonard Wood. In 1888, Rynning participated in the Great March, the longest cavalry ride in American history, from Arizona Territory to Dakota Territory. In Dakota, the 8th Cavalry relieved the 7th Cavalry and eventually went on to fight in the Ghost Dance War against Chief Sitting Bull. Rynning was honorably discharged in 1891 with a record of seventeen battles against natives. He then went to California, but, two years later, he settled in Tucson, Arizona, where he became a successful building contractor.

Spanish–American War
In 1898, Rynning discovered that the war with Spain had begun and that his old friend, Colonel Leonard Wood, was raising a volunteer cavalry regiment, which later became known as Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. He enlisted as a private and returned from the war a second lieutenant in Troop B, 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. During the Battle of San Juan Heights, Rynning took command of the American line following the death of Captain Buckey O'Neill. A few minutes later he led the Rough Riders up Kettle Hill and was the first American to reach the summit. Under heavy fire from the nearby San Huan Hill, Rynning ordered his men to wave the regiment's flag to rally the others and it was during this time that the flag was badly holed. The flag is now preserved by the Department of Library and Archives in the state capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona. After that, Rynning joined Theodore Roosevelt in the charge up San Juan Hill, which ended the battle with an American victory.

Later life and death
Arizona Rangers
After returning from Cuba, Rynning went back to Arizona and continued working as a contractor. However, in 1902, his friend and fellow Rough Rider, Alexander Oswald Brodie, was elected governor of Arizona and one of his first appointments was making Rynning the new captain of the Arizona Rangers. Rynning was living in Douglas at that time so, after becoming captain, he moved his headquarters there from Bisbee. In 1903, Rynning played an important role in helping keep the peace during the Clifton and Morenci riots. In 1906, Rynning commanded a large posse of American militia that assisted Colonel Emilio Kosterlitsky in quelling the riot at Cananea, Sonora. In June, authorities received a telegram from mine owner William D. Greene reporting that American citizens were being attacked by rioting caused by a strike among the workers at the Cananea Consolidated Copper Company. A volunteer force of 275 armed men was quickly organized and Rynning, with five rangers and seventy others armed with rifles, boarded a train at Naco and entered Sonora with orders to suppress the rioting and protect American lives and property. Although Governor Rafael Izabal was alerted to the possibility of the escalation of the conflict between the Arizona Rangers and the largely unarmed strikers, the governor simply refused to intervene commenting that the men were "on their own". The fighting had long since ended as a truce had been arraigned by the strikers and local officials by the time of Rynning's arrival. Placed between the strikers and the office buildings of the Cananea Company, Rynning's men guarded the property during negotiations until asked to leave by Mexican officials several hours later.

On September 4, 1906, Rynning led Arizona Rangers and immigration officers in a raid on an underground cell of the Partido Liberal Mexicano during a meeting in Douglas. Discovering dynamite, pistols and banners, seven members were arrested for violation of the Neutrality Law. The group had been gathering weapons and ammunition for a major expedition into Mexico which included capturing custom houses on the border, blowing up railways, cutting telegraph wires and raiding stores for weapons and supplies. The Douglas group had also commissioned Javier Huitemea to negotiate with the Yaqui to support them promising the tribe the return of the land which had been taken from them. Extensive evidence of correspondence with Saint Louis Junta provided American authorities with evidence of other groups operating in Mowry and Patagonia.

Yuma Territorial Prison and Florence State Prison
Resigning his position with the Arizona Rangers in March 1907, he was appointed superintendent of the Yuma Territorial Prison in Yuma by President William Howard Taft. He then immediately began the process of abandoning the old prison complex and building a new one in Florence. Rynning supervised the construction and brought convicts from Yuma to help with the work. When Arizona became a state in 1912, a Democratic government under George W. P. Hunt took over and removed Rynning from his post. However, after Thomas Edward Campbell was elected, Rynning was again appointed superintendent of the prison in 1921.

Death
In his later lafe, Rynning moved to San Diego, California, where he received a commission as a deputy marshal in 1934. He also served as an undersheriff there. Rynning died in San Diego on June 18, 1941, at the age of seventy-five, and was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

In popular culture
 Rynning was portrayed by Tristram Coffin (1909–1990) in the 1957–1959 syndicated television series 26 Men. Kelo Henderson co-starred as Deputy Clint Travis.


Muir Beach, California

Muir Beach is a census designated place (CDP), unincorporated community, and beach that is located  northwest of San Francisco in western Marin County, California, United States. It is named for John Muir. The population was 310 at the 2010 census. The community itself flanks the northwest side of the beach.

Located about 2 miles (3 km) from the entrance to Muir Woods National Monument, the beach is about 1000 feet (305 m) long and 200 feet (61 m) wide, with coarse sand and several large boulders. Redwood Creek empties into the beach. There is a parking lot at the beach, which is accessible via a footbridge.

The beach was formerly called Big Lagoon after a freshwater lagoon that was located where the parking lot is now. Damage from 20th century dairy farms interfered with the flow of the creek and the lagoon.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), all of it land.

The beach is one of the cleanest in the state.

Demographics

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Muir Beach had a population of 310. The population density was 629.0 people per square mile (242.9/km²). The racial makeup of Muir Beach was 283 (91.3%) White, 5 (1.6%) African American, 1 (0.3%) Native American, 12 (3.9%) Asian, 1 (0.3%) from other races, and 8 (2.6%) from two or more races.  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7 persons (2.3%).

The Census reported that 95.8% of the population lived in households and 4.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.

There were 141 households, out of which 27 (19.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 79 (56.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4 (2.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3 (2.1%) had a male householder with no wife present.  There were 11 (7.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 39 households (27.7%) were made up of individuals and 11 (7.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11.  There were 86 families (61.0% of all households); the average family size was 2.47.

The population was spread out with 38 people (12.3%) under the age of 18, 10 people (3.2%) aged 18 to 24, 56 people (18.1%) aged 25 to 44, 138 people (44.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 68 people (21.9%) who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 52.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.6 males.  For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 106.1 males.

There were 162 housing units at an average density of 328.7 per square mile (126.9/km²), of which 73.8% were owner-occupied and 26.2% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. 75.2% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 20.6% lived in rental housing units.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 295 people, 131 households, and 69 families residing in the CDP.  The population density was 596.8 people per square mile (232.4/km²).  There were 144 housing units at an average density of 291.3 per square mile (113.5/km²).  The racial makeup of the CDP in 2010 was 89.7% non-Hispanic White, 0.8% non-Hispanic African American, 3.9% Asian, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.3% of the population.

There were 131 households out of which 19.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.67.

In the CDP, the population was spread out with 14.2% under the age of 18, 2.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 46.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males.  For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $125,402, and the median income for a family was $152,174. The per capita income for the CDP was $66,476.  None of the families and 10.5% of the population were living below the poverty line.

Education
Muir Beach is in the Mill Valley School District, Tamalpais Union High School District, and the Marin Community College District.  Students attend public schools in or near Mill Valley at Tamalpais Valley Elementary School (kindergarten - grade 5), Mill Valley Middle School (grades 6 - 8), and Tamalpais High School (grades 9 - 12).

Local government
Muir Beach is unincorporated, receiving general government services from Marin County, including law enforcement, land-use planning, library, public health, and code enforcement. A special district, the Muir Beach Community Services District, provides local services, including fire protection, water, road maintenance, and recreation. The District has a board of directors, with five members elected to four-year terms.  The District includes all of the Muir Beach CDP, plus Green Gulch Farm. (See map of MBCSD.)


Pierre Julien

Pierre Julien (20 June 1731 – 17 December 1804) was a French sculptor who worked in a full range of rococo and neoclassical styles.

He served an early apprenticeship at Le Puy-en-Velay, near his natal village of Saint-Paulien, then at the École de dessin of Lyon, then entered the Parisian atelier of Guillaume Coustou the Younger. In 1765 he won a Prix de Rome for sculpture with a bas-relief panel of a subject from Antiquity and entered the École royale des élèves protégés, which offered a special course of study under the direction of the painter Louis-Michel van Loo. He was a pensionnaire at the French Academy in Rome,  1768 to 1773, where he was influenced by the tide of neoclassicism that affected his fellow students. As pensionnaires were expected to do, he sent back to France a marble copy from the Antique, slightly reduced in scale, of the so-called Cleopatra, the Vatican's Sleeping Ariadne, which remains at Versailles.

On his return to France and his former master, he worked on the sculpture for the mausoleum of Louis, le Grand Dauphin in the cathedral of Sens. After a failed try in 1776, with his Ganymede, he was received by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1778, with a Dying Gladiator for his morceau de réception He was named one of the original members of the Institut de France, 1795, and a chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur, 1804.

He received  commissions from the comte d'Angiviller, director of the Bâtiments du Roi, on behalf of Louis XVI for figures in a suite of life-size portraits of the great men of France: he realized a Jean de La Fontaine and a Nicolas Poussin, whom he elected to represent in his nightclothes, approximating the draperies of a Roman toga. While fulfilling commissions in Paris, for the Church of Sainte-Geneviève (now the Panthéon, Paris), or at the Pavillon de Flore of the Louvre, he sculpted in 1785 a virtuoso marble ensemble of the nymph Amalthea and the goat that nurtured Jupiter for the Queen's fastidiously-appointed Dairy (La Laiterie) at the Château de Rambouillet; for his model, he adapted the pose of the famous Capitoline Venus. Bas-reliefs from the Laiterie, reckoned among his masterpieces, were sold at auction in 1819, but were retrieved by the State in  2005, thanks to a gift from the son of the great dealer-collector Daniel Wildenstein.

Major works
 Gladiateur mourant, marble, 1779, Musée du Louvre.
 Ganymède versant le nectar à Jupiter changé en aigle, marble group, 1776–1778, Paris, musée du Louvre
 Jean de La Fontaine, marble, 1783-85. Musée du Louvre
 Nicolas Poussin, marble, 1789 - 1804. Musée du Louvre
 Nicolas Poussin  terracotta sketch model, about 1787 - 1788. Musée du Louvre
  Amalthée et la chèvre de Jupiter, marble group, 1787 for the Laiterie at Rambouillet. Laiterie de la Reine at Rambouillet
 La Jeune fille à la chèvre, terracotta statuette, 1786. Musée du Louvre
 Sainte Geneviève rendant la vue à sa mère, terracotta bas-relief, 1776. Musée du Louvre

Notes


Internet Society – Bulgaria

Internet Society – Bulgaria is a non-governmental organization (NGO) for public benefit, founded on December 4, 1995, in Sofia by a group of Bulgarian Internet professionals.

History
ISOC-Bulgaria was founded in 1995. It became known worldwide in 1999, when it successfully sued the government of Ivan Kostov against the proposed licensing of the Internet Service Providers in Bulgaria.

In 2001, through ISOC-Bulgaria's influence, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) remained outside of the monopoly of the national telecom, which allowed a great variety of new Internet service providers to start operating in Bulgaria.

Activities
ISOC-Bulgaria has been involved in a number of projects, related to usage and promotion of free and open source software, among them:
 - the Free and Open Source Software Project for South East Europe;
 - towards Open Source Software adoption and dissemination;
 - Free/Libre/Open Source Software: Worldwide impact study.

In 2005 — 2006 ISOC-Bulgaria launched the Bulgarian version of Creative Commons.

ISOC Bulgaria was a key player during the WSIS (2002–2005).

Before that, in 1999 and in 2001 through its influence, Bulgaria became the first country to legally accept full freedom of access to the Internet by changing its Telecommunications Law, which leaves the domain name system and the IP Address allocation outside of the control of the government.

ISOC Bulgaria has been actively involved in the  Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI), headed by George Sadowsky, and has contributed to formation of governmental IT-policy in a number of countries, not only in Bulgaria.

Since 2002 ISOC Bulgaria has been running, together with Access to Information Program, the Bulgarian edition of the Big Brother Awards, with their latest edition in 2019. The awards are given to institutions, organizations and individuals, who violate citizens' privacy in Bulgaria.

Members
Among hundreds of its members are former Bulgarian presidents Georgi Parvanov and Peter Stoyanov, former prime ministers Sergey Stanishev and Ivan Kostov, many politicians, IT-experts, journalists, and many others.

Board
ISOC-Bulgaria board consists of:
 Veni Markovski - chairman
 Dimitar Ganchev - vice-chairman
 Georgi Kirov - member

More information
ISOC-Bulgaria is an official chapter of the international Internet Society, based in Reston, Virginia and Geneva, Switzerland.
More information can be found at ISOC-Bulgaria's web site, and on their blog.